F1: Lance Stroll will race in Bahrain

Lance Stroll will compete in the Bahrain Grand Prix race weekend for Aston Martin.

Lance Stroll will make a comeback at this weekend’s Grand Prix, after missing the preseason test. Both Felipe Drugovich and Stoffel Vandoorne will remain on-site at the Bahrain Grand Prix as reserve drivers.

Stroll injured his wrist in a bicycle accident, which resulted in minor surgery required to his right wrist. The 24-year-old is on the back foot after missing three days of testing at the Bahrain circuit.

Since Stroll sustained his injury, he has been training on the simulator at Silverstone, to test his strength. He has since been given the all-clear by the team to race, after testing his strength with load testing.

Lance Stroll will have two-time World Champion, Fernando Alonso as his teammate this season. Alonso will move from the Alpine team, with high hopes for this season, after finishing ninth in the combined testing standings.

At the preseason test in Bahrain, Felipe Drugovich replaced the Canadian driver and would spend three sessions in the car. Drugovich ended preseason testing in 12^th position, in the combined times.

Stoffel Vandoorne did not attend the preseason test in Bahrain, after racing in Formula E in Cape town. Vandoorne has F1 experience after racing for McLaren from 2016 to 2018. Since leaving F1 he has won the 2021-22 Formula E Championship for the Mercedes team.

The Canadian finished 15^th in the F1 standings last season, racing for the Aston Martin team. His best result came in Singapore, with a sixth-place finish under the lights, he would also finish ahead of his teammate, Sebastian Vettel.

Lance Stroll said: “It was frustrating not to be out in Bahrain for the pre-season test and I was disappointed to miss the three days of running. However, given the injury to my wrist, the team and I felt it was best to focus on recovery so that I would be ready for this weekend and the long season ahead.

“It was an unfortunate accident – I fell from my bike when my tyre caught a hole in the ground – but thankfully the damage was not significant and a successful minor surgery on my right wrist fixed the problem very quickly. Since then, I’ve been working hard with my team to ensure that I am fully fit to compete this weekend.

“I would like to thank the F1 community for their support and privacy, as well as the team who have helped my recovery. Now I’m ready to get my head down and concentrate on racing this weekend – something I’m really looking forward to.”

Image credit: Pirelli