Despite his wrist, Stroll “only thought about scoring points”

Eclipsed by the incredible podium of Fernando Alonso, his teammate Lance stroll also achieved a real performance during the first Grand Prix of the season: finishing in the points with a still fragile wrist.

Reminder of the facts: before the winter tests, Lance Stroll suffered a cycling accident. The result is clear, his wrists are affected and the Canadian will have to miss the three days of pre-season testing. Replaced at short notice by Felipe Drugovich, his participation in the first round of the 2023 campaign remained uncertain.

It's an ailing Lance Stroll who takes the wheel for the two Free Practice sessions on Friday, but the planet F1 wonders about his ability to last the duration of the race in the heat and the night of Bahrain. But Stroll silences the doubts, and places his Aston Martin in 6th position: « It was very painful, he says. But I hung on until the end, I only thought about scoring points. It's been a crazy time, probably the craziest two weeks of my life. »

Two weeks of a race against time for the British garage driver, who “the doctors said that [the return] would be in Australia, or even in Baku (Azerbaijan)”, “the light at the end of the tunnel was difficult to see”, he admits.

But a whole medical team worked around Stroll to ensure that the driver did not miss the inaugural Grand Prix of the season: « My osteopath Henry [Howe] who was with me 10 hours a day, my surgeon in Spain, Dr. [Xavier] Mir, without whom I would not be here and without whom it would be impossible for me to ride, Rob Madden in the United Kingdom …There is a list of people I could name and without whom I would not be here » and without whom car No. 18 would not score the precious 8 points pocketed by Stroll. Points which have just added to the podium of his Spanish teammate, so that Lawrence Stroll's team finds itself second in the Manufacturers after this first checkered flag. Alone Red Bull was able to do better with a double.

On the verge of a nightmare for Stroll and Alonso

But this happy ending could have changed at turn 4 of the Bahrain track. The Canadian hit Alonso at the right rear, which could have caused a slow puncture or even the retirement of the Spaniard... or both drivers: « I dove inside on Russell to try to stay in front of him, I braked late, and Fernando passed Lewis so I really stopped the car in the middle of turn 4 and we hung on. It was really bad timing with the competitive car we had today. Luckily we both got through it and scored some good points. »

Before adding: « He will recover, he finishes on the podium. »

And Aston Martin will be hoping to rack up good results like this, validating the impressive progress made by the Greens over the winter. Stroll affirms, his “right wrist is getting stronger and stronger », and hopes to have regained his form for the next meeting of the season in Jeddah (March 17 – 19).

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