In a last-minute call from the Aston Martin Formula 1 team, Canadian racer Lance Stroll missed out on the Spanish Grand Prix due to medical reasons. Stroll sat the race out as a result of complications stemming from a bike accident in 2023, but news of the resurfaced injury leaves the team in a sticky situation ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.
Stroll first injured his wrists while cycling ahead of the 2023 F1 season. The Canadian crashed off his bike while training, fracturing both wrists and breaking a toe. As a result, he missed testing for the season but was signed off to enter the first grand prix in Bahrain.
Now, the injury appears to have resurfaced, with the Canadian pulling out of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix just hours after qualifying in 14th for the race.
"Over the course of the past six weeks Lance has been experiencing pain in his hand and wrist, which his medical consultant believes is in relation to the procedure he underwent in 2023," Aston Martin said at the time.
"As a result his medical team have confirmed that he will not race tomorrow and he will undergo a procedure to rectify these issues before focusing on his recovery."
Stroll has since undergone another medical procedure, but Aston hasn’t shared an update on his condition or recovery as it says it “will not be giving a running commentary on personal medical matters”.
Now, with just over a week until F1’s next race – Stroll's home grand prix in Canada, no less – questions are swirling about whether he will be able to compete and, if not, who could replace him at the team in green.
Mike Krack, chief trackside officer at Aston Martin, told reporters that “plan A is to have Lance in the car” after the Spanish Grand Prix.
But should the side need to “pull plan B”, then it has two reserve drivers on its roster at present: Stoffel Vandoorne and Felipe Drugovich. The squad also has young drivers in Jak Crawford, who races in F2, and Tina Hausmann in F1 Academy.
Vandoorne is out of the question, as we understand that he is tied up with Peugeot's Le Mans WEC round as the historic French race runs over the same weekend as F1’s Canadian Grand Prix.
It’s a similar story for Drugovich as well, as he races with Cadillac and is currently slated to run the 24-hour race with the American side. However, the former Formula 2 champion confirmed this week that his “priority has always been Formula 1”, hinting that he would be happy to miss Le Mans if it meant making his F1 debut.
Cadillac hasn’t commented on its position, nor has Aston Martin, but Drugovich told reporters: "At the moment, I don't even know exactly how things will happen from now on.
“First of all, we have to wish Lance the best. For Le Mans, in that regard, my priority has always been Formula 1, so that's what must be maintained until then."
If the Cadillac Whelen squad isn’t prepared to lose the Brazilian for the biggest weekend in endurance racing, then Aston will have to look elsewhere.
F2 racer Crawford is the next logical option for Aston, but it isn’t believed that he currently has an FIA superlicence that would allow him to race in F1. The same is true for F1 Academy driver Hausmann and the team’s driver ambassador, Jessica Hawkins.
This potentially leaves Aston out of in-house options should a super-sub be needed for the Canadian Grand Prix. In this scenario, teams have previously looked to reserve drivers from their counterparts – usually from teams that share engine suppliers.
Merecedes-powered teams on the grid include McLaren, Williams and, of course, the Mercedes factory side. McLaren and Williams don’t have backup drivers of their own, meaning that Aston would have to call on Mercedes reserves Valtteri Bottas or Frederik Vesti.
Vesti previously took part in a young drivers' test for Mercedes at Abu Dhabi in 2022 and has logged laps in F1 machinery during practice sessions at the Mexico, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain grands prix. However, the Dane is also currently scheduled to race in Le Mans in the very same Cadillac as Drugovich.
This leaves Bottas, who would be a safe bet for the team as he has 246 F1 race starts under his belt – including 10 race wins and 67 podiums. The Finnish driver, who last raced for Sauber in 2024, admitted he was “not done” with F1 earlier this week, and an outing with Aston could be the push he needs to secure a seat back on the grid for 2026.
