Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll will not race in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix after withdrawing from the event, the team have confirmed.
Stroll qualified 14th for Sunday’s race in Barcelona, more than half a second behind Aston Martin team-mate and two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso.
Why has Lance Stroll withdrawn from the Spanish Grand Prix?
The Canadian found himself under investigation by the FIA stewards for failing to be weighed immediately after his exit was confirmed at the end of Q2.
In a statement issued to PlanetF1.com, Aston Martin have announced that Stroll will not compete in Sunday’s race due to pain in his hand and wrist and is set to undergo a ‘procedure’ to rectify the complaint.
It comes after Stroll sustained multiple fractures in a bike accident in early 2023, which ruled him out of that year’s pre-season testing schedule in Bahrain.
Aston Martin said: “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 and he will undergo a procedure to rectify these issues before focusing on his recovery.”
Lance Stroll vs Fernando Alonso: Aston Martin head-to-head scores for F1 2025
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
Stroll’s withdrawal means Aston Martin will field only one car in the Spanish Grand Prix with Alonso poised to start from 10th place on the grid.
It is unclear whether Stroll will be fit in time to return to the cockpit at the next race of the F1 2025 season, the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, which is due to be held on June 15.
Who could temporarily replace Lance Stroll at Aston Martin?
Aston Martin officially have two reserve drivers on their books in the shape of Felipe Drugovich and Stoffel Vandoorne.
Drugovich has held the role since the end of his title-winning F2 season in 2022 and deputised for Stroll during pre-season testing in 2023 as the Canadian recovered from injury.
Vandoorne, meanwhile, made 42 F1 appearances for the McLaren team across 2017/18, scoring a total of 26 points. The Belgian, 33, also won the all-electric Formula E series in 2022.
However, Drugovich and Vandoorne are both set to compete at next month’s Le Mans 24 Hours race, which clashes with the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.
More on Lance Stroll and Aston Martin from PlanetF1.com
The squad also has Jak Crawford at its disposal, the 20-year-old American part of the organisation’s development program.
That saw the 20-year-old American at the wheel of an AMR23 at Zandvoort earlier this month having driven older spec cars during F1 2024. He drive the AMR24 at last year’s post-season test in Abu Dhabi.
Crawford is currently competing with DAMS in the Formula 2 Championships, where he sits fifth in the standings with two race wins – including one in Monaco – to his name this season.
Formula 2 does not compete in Canada meaning, should Stroll be unavailable, Crawford would be available though it’s believed he would need a Super Licence dispensation as he fails to meet the points criteria.
Aston Martin does could call on Mercedes reserve driver Valtteri Bottas, with the Brackley-based team historically making their reserve drivers available to their customer teams, though there is no such arrangement currently in place.
Bottas conducted a private test with fellow Mercedes customers McLaren at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in March.
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