Lance Stroll reveals injury details as Aston Martin confirm he will race

Lance Stroll has revealed that he has had ‘minor surgery’ on his wrist in order to be fit in time for the Formula One season opener in Bahrain this weekend.

On Thursday, Aston Martin announced that Stroll would race in Sakhir having missed pre-season testing after getting injured in a bicycle accident last week.

The exact nature of the injury was not shared at the time and although it was described as ‘minor’ some rumours suggested the Canadian driver had broken his wrist which would certainly have ruled him out of the first race of 2023.

Clearly, this has not proven to be true, but the 24-year-old did say that it was severe enough to require surgery: ‘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.’

Last Sunday, Aton Martin announced that should Stroll be unable to drive this weekend, that reserve driver Felipe Drugovich would take his seat alongside Fernando Alonso.

The team today confirmed that last year’s Formula 2 champion will remain at the Bahrain International Circuit alongside fellow reserve Stoffel Vandoorne in case they are needed.

It will be interesting to see how Stroll fares in the desert having not driven the AMR23 yet, especially after the car looked very promising in testing with many tipping Alonso to finish on the podium come Sunday’s race.

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