Lance Stroll admitted, ahead of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, that his pre-season cycling injuries take time to heal, that he’s not at 100% yet.
The Canadian driver took part in the 2023 Formula 1 season opener in Bahrain almost two weeks ago with injured wrists and toe following a cycling accident over the winter break and just ahead of pre-season testing in Bahrain which he missed.
Despite not having any experience with Aston Martin’s impressive AMR23, Stroll delivered a respectable performance in Sakhir, qualifying in Q3 and scoring points for his team.
However that came at a price; pain the day after. Asked about the matter, Stroll the media: “Yeah. Well, pretty painful on the Monday after, but it was a good weekend for the team. So worth a bit of pain.
“I’ve been getting better every day, feeling better every day,” he added in response to a question regarding an update on his injuries.
“So, I think the worst part is behind me. Still not 100 per cent. It takes a bit of time for these things to heal, but I’m definitely feeling much better than I was 10 days ago, or whatever we were in Bahrain,” he pointed out.
Bahrain was a much needed experience in the car
Stroll appreciated the seat time he had in the AMR23 in Bahrain, especially after missing testing; he said: “It was nice to get in the car in Bahrain, at least for the race, to get a few laps under my belt.
“Not ideal missing the test. But you know, Bahrain, the race weekend was almost just like, every lap was just more and more experience in the car and getting to grips with it and learning more about the car every lap. So it was just a good experience to be in the car during the weekend.
“I was happy to make it, really also just for that, for a bit of seat time and all that. So, yeah, getting more and more comfortable every lap in the car in Bahrain. Looking forward to this weekend,” Stroll added.
Asked if Aston Martin can bring their A-Game to the streets of Jeddah this weekend as well, Stroll said: “We hope so for sure. The car was really competitive throughout the whole weekend in Bahrain.
“I think the guys have done an incredible job over the winter to build this car and I think we’re still learning about it. So, it’s still a work in progress and I’m excited to see how we how we go this weekend.
“It’s a very different kind of track. Bahrain’s low speed and here’s much higher speeds. So I think we’ll learn a lot more this weekend, and see how we how we go,” the one-time pole sitter maintained.