Lance Stroll will miss this week’s pre-season test in Bahrain after Aston Martin announced he was involved in a cycling accident while training.
The team confirmed that Stroll suffered a “minor accident” while training on his bicycle ahead of this week’s test, which begins on Thursday.Missing testing threatens to severely compromise Stroll’s preparation for the 2023 season, as the three-day test in Bahrain is the only opportunity teams and drivers have to run their new cars ahead of the start of the championship. Practice for the opening race of the season will begin at the same circuit six days after testing concludes.
“I’ve had an unfortunate accident whilst training on my bike in preparation for the season,” Stroll confirmed. “I am determined to get back in the car and I am excited about the season ahead with the team. I am motivated to bounce back from this setback as quickly as possible.”
Aston Martin have not confirmed if Stroll will be replaced for the three-day test, or if Fernando Alonso will participate over all three days. The team is expected to issue an update on their plans on Tuesday.
Aston Martin retain reserve drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and junior driver Felipe Drugovich, last year’s Formula 2 champion, to call upon if needed to step for Stroll for the opening race. Vandoorne is the only one of the pair with prior F1 race experience but is due to compete in the Formula E round in South Africa this weekend.
In a statement, Aston Martin said that Stroll’s fitness will be regularly assessed, but the team expected him to recovery soon from his injuries.
“Lance is expecting a quick recovery and return to driving duties,” the team said. “His fitness to return to the cockpit will be assessed daily and the team will issue an update ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
“The team wishes Lance a speedy recovery and looks forward to his usual energy and commitment within the team.”
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2023 F1 season
- FIA president cleared of alleged interference in two 2023 races
- First week viewing figures for new Drive to Survive season fall again
- Max who? Drive to Survive season six prefers its favourite faces
- RaceFans’ complete 2023 season review
- The F1 drivers who pulled off the 10 biggest charges through the field in 2023
Jere (@jerejj)
20th February 2023, 16:08
I didn’t see something like this coming so close to testing.
Judging from the outside is always easy, but perhaps he should’ve been more cautious to avoid getting injured with insufficient lead time for a full recovery. I’m positive he’ll be ready for the season-opener.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
20th February 2023, 16:35
Having been run over twice by idiots in cars on my bike, I don’t see how caution helps against that.
Caution is good, it can help you avoid your own idiocy, but alas it doesn’t help against all the others on the road.
Dex
21st February 2023, 5:01
I don’t think he’s extremely determined from what I hear (that isn’t coming from his team or PR), but in this case it doesn’t seem that he did something wrong; at least based on the news. Riding a bicycle is a standard form of training, I suppose all drivers do it, or most. When you’re riding a bicycle anything could go wrong, like with any other training. Additionally, you have no control over traffic and other stuff around you; so you may not even be your mistake if something goes wrong. Besides, his new teammate had an accident doing the same thing, also preseason, and it made his comeback to F1 even tougher.
I don’t know what happened exactly and what daddy’s boy could do better or not, but I see no reason to put any blame on him, from what I do know. Honestly, I don’t care to know it all, I don’t like gossips. It’s his career.
MacLeod (@macleod)
21st February 2023, 8:05
Even in the Netherlands you can get a bicycle accident and your right ofcourse that training on bicycles is common for the legs and endurance and i think most drivers do it (Max, Charles and Alonso are the ones i saw on a bike)
If they don’t say what the injury is (which is their right) it’s hard to say for us if he miss the test. If he wants to drive the first race he can beter skipp the test if his arm, hands or fingers are bruised (lightly) or scraped.
petebaldwin (@)
20th February 2023, 16:18
Bad time to get injured – hope he recovers quickly. Good news for Alonso though huh? Unless there are rules around testing that don’t allow it, I assume he’ll get all 3 days to get used to the new car now.
Jere (@jerejj)
20th February 2023, 17:38
@petebaldwin Norris drove all three Bahrain test days last year, so nothing against doing so in the rules.
I assume Alonso will do the same unless he gets tired.
nick---0 (@nick-0)
20th February 2023, 17:55
The McLaren was basically broken though with their brake problem and so the runs were short, so it wasn’t as physically challenging as it could have been.
Cycling seems to be one of the worse things an F1 driver can do pre-season. I suppose this is over many years, but still it’s taken out Webber, Alonso…and now Stroll.
Sham (@sham)
20th February 2023, 16:18
Oh no, this is bound to hurt his championship chances.
All sarcasm aside, hope he recovers quickly.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
22nd February 2023, 3:40
Ahah, it’s a good joke though, especially in light of alonso’s recent comments.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
20th February 2023, 17:15
Alonso can give him some pointers about pre-season cycling injuries.
NS Biker (@rekibsn)
20th February 2023, 18:02
Mark Weber would also be an experienced biker/racer to consult.
One of the most common cycling injuries, besides road rash, is a collar bone fracture.
With surgical intervention, he could be back in 3 weeks at best, 6 for full recovery. If this is the case, he will miss the first two races. One can hope it is less than broken bits.
Alonso is going to relish the concept of getting 3 days in the car.
Wonder if The Hulk can drive two cars.? My money on Drugovich to get the nod.
Not the preferred sort of news, but nice to see one that isn’t about Mercedes, Wolff or Lewis.
Jere (@jerejj)
20th February 2023, 18:55
@rekibsn While Drugovich driving would give a non-regular a rare-ish chance, I assume Alonso will do all driving responsibilities like Norris in last year’s Bahrain test unless he gets tired.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
20th February 2023, 19:19
Yes, this sounds a great idea. Another possible substitute for Lance is Mick Schumacher, who is one of the Mercedes and McLaren reserve drivers. Aston Martin should use the best drivers they can get.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
20th February 2023, 18:21
Would be a nice change to see the F2 Champion driving an F1 car.
Even if he doesn’t end up racing it, and just gets the boring systems checks and paint-splattered aero tests with trellises on.
Jere (@jerejj)
20th February 2023, 18:56
@bullfrog Yes, but somewhat unlikely.
mmertens (@mmertens)
20th February 2023, 19:11
Yes, maybe giving Drugovich half day testing for aero correlation etc will be a great opportunity for him to acclimatize himself with new car, and let Alonso focus on performance/ tire evaluation.
Qeki (@qeki)
20th February 2023, 20:47
What it is with bicycle accidents and formula 1 drivers
They could give Alonso all 3 days of testing but I don’t know what Daddy stroll wants to do with the second driver now when his son isn’t driving
Mog
20th February 2023, 21:10
Sabotage?? ;)
Who would benefit I wonder?
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
20th February 2023, 23:20
The incident was in Spain, was it?
Next we’ll be told there was “a middle aged man” involved.
satellite
21st February 2023, 0:18
formuladank on Reddit has a video of the incident that you’ll find interesting.
Roy Beedrill
20th February 2023, 22:02
I don’t get it. It happens every year, and yet nobody still won’t do anything about it.
F1 drivers regularly get injured in bike accidents.
It’s time to make HALO mandatory on all bikes! I don’t care about so called “bicycle DNA” some old folks keep nagging about. It will SAVE LIVES, period.
#makehalomandatoryforbikes #halosaveslives
Todfod (@todfod)
21st February 2023, 3:49
Good news for Fernando if he gets all 3 test days. He’ll be completely comfortable with the car and have a good setup ready by the time he hits FP1 on the first race weekend. Stroll might never catchup to his performance level all season.
Jack (@jackisthestig)
21st February 2023, 5:07
Ring Ring…. “Hi Seb, are you busy for the next couple of weeks?”
Todfod (@todfod)
21st February 2023, 7:26
@jackisthestig
Alonso and Vettel testing the same car? That would be awesome. Who would have ever thought???
Melbourne '96 (@melbourne-96)
21st February 2023, 13:14
Looks like the Honda duo may be reunited if you ask me.