Lance Stroll has revealed the extent of his injuries following his bike accident that forced him to miss pre-season testing in Bahrain.
As well as the injuries to his wrist, the Aston Martin driver broke his big toe on his right foot. He admits he’s extremely grateful to be racing in Bahrain this weekend.
“If someone offered me a 1% chance to be here I would take it,” said the Canadian after qualifying.
“I mean, I was coming out of surgery 12 days ago, it’s exactly two weeks today since my accident. I couldn’t move both hands, I couldn’t walk. I had a broken toe as well. Big toe, right foot.
“So yeah, the light was very far at the end of the tunnel. I came out of surgery 12 days ago, got out of the hospital 10 days ago. I’m pretty grateful and just happy to be here.”
Asked if he was concerned about the shape he will be in tomorrow over a long race distance, Stroll is happy things are getting better each day – and is getting into a better groove as he plays catch up on learning the AMR23.
“Every day is getting easier and I’m not as not as worried now as I was a week ago,” he stated.
“I’m feeling better every lap, I’m starting to just get more and more trust in my body and what my hands can do.
“And also just the car, I mean, missing the three days of testing and getting into the rhythm and feeling different set-up items and all that kind of stuff.
“It’s just time in the car. But at the end, I started to feel like I was getting in a better rhythm.”
On what’s better with the 2023 machine versus 2023? “We’ve improved everywhere – balance, grip. We’ve just improved everything.”
On how far off 100% he feels, Stroll could not put a number on it. However, he feels he was going well by the end of Q3.
“It’s hard to say, it’s hard to put a number on it,” he said.
“I mean, sometimes you drive the car for three days and you still have a terrible qualifying session just because it doesn’t work out and the grip’s not there and whatever. I felt like I got in a pretty good place towards the end of qualifying where I was happy to push the car and feel decent.
“But always more laps in a Formula 1 car helps.”
Stroll starts P8 tomorrow, three places behind teammate Fernando Alonso. The Canadian is hopeful of a good result as the team looking extremely strong on the long runs during testing and free practice.
“We have great pace in the long run – or it looks like we have great pace in the tests and all that.
“It’s a long race tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it.”
Photo: Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team
