Lance Stroll will be absent from the grid for Aston Martin as the Spanish Grand Prix takes place today.
The Canadian driver qualified in 14th place for this afternoon’s race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after being eliminated in Q2 on Saturday.
However, Aston Martin announced later in the evening that Stroll would not be taking part in the grand prix, leaving only 19 cars on the starting grid.
F1 veteran Fernando Alonso will be the team’s sole runner at his home race, where he will start in 10th - between Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon of Williams - and is a two-time winner in 2006 and 2013.
World championship leader Oscar Piastri beat Lando Norris to pole position as he looks to increase a lead over his McLaren team-mate in the drivers’ standings that was cut to just three points following Norris’ victory at the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend.
Why is Lance Stroll not driving at the Spanish Grand Prix?
After Stroll was ousted in Q2 in qualifying on Saturday to settle for 14th place on the grid in Spain, Aston Martin released a statement late in the evening to reveal that he would not be competing in the remainder of the race weekend due to a medical issue.
They explained that the 26-year-old, son of team owner Lawrence Stroll who joined in 2019 during the Racing Point era after spending his first two years in F1 at Williams, had been dealing with long-standing hand and wrist pain and needed to undergo a procedure.
Stroll underwent initial surgery back before the 2023 F1 season after suffering fractures to both wrists and a broken toe in a cycling accident in Spain, missing some of testing in Bahrain before returning to the car.
Team statement:
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) May 31, 2025
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.
As a result his medical team have confirmed that he will not race tomorrow…
“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.
“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.”
Why can’t Aston Martin replace Lance Stroll?
Aston Martin’s statement on Stroll ended: “Due to the sporting regulations Fernando will be our only car competing in tomorrow’s Spanish GP.”
The regulations they mention relates to the F1 rule that states that a driver cannot be replaced for a race if he has taken part in qualifying.
Stroll would have had to have been withdrawn before qualifying on Saturday for Aston Martin to be able to replace him for the grand prix.
Brazil’s Felipe Drugovich and former McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne are the reserve drivers for Aston Martin this season, as well as American youngster Jak Crawford.
It remains to be seen if Stroll is in danger of missing more races, with grands prix on home soil in Canada and then Austria also coming up in June.
To further complicate matters, Drugovich and Vandoorne are both due to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the same weekend as the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, while 20-year-old Crawford does not yet have enough Super License points to drive in F1.
It has already led to speculation that Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas could potentially fill in for Stroll if needed, with Aston Martin using Mercedes engines this season.
