Lance Stroll has talked about his “frustration” amid rumours he had caused damage within Aston Martin’s garage after qualifying for the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix.
The Canadian arrives at his home race this weekend, having been declared fit to participate after being pulled from proceedings last time out in Barcelona.
Having failed to make it into Q3, the team announced that he was withdrawing from the event owing to persistent pain, dating back to the injuries he sustained in a cycling accident in 2023.
There was speculation that Stroll may miss this weekend’s race, with further rumour that, in the immediate aftermath of falling short in qualifying in Barcelona, he had lost his temper and damaged equipment in the garage.
Stroll offered an explanation of feeling “frustration” in the moment, but neither confirmed nor denied such an outburst of rage.
“Yeah, I was frustrated for sure,” he told media including Motorsport Week. “Frustrated about my wrist and the last three races from Imola and it was just inhibiting my driving.
“I knew the Sunday was going to be tricky, probably impossible, and at that point I was just pretty frustrated about it.”
Stroll coy on recovery details out of ‘privacy’
Stroll was prodded to provide some detail on what sort of treatment and subsequent recovery he had undergone in order to make a swift return.
However, he declined to delineate much further, saying: “I don’t want to get into detail about what I had to do and how I had to do it, because it’s just my medical privacy”.
In terms of the suffering he had gone through prior to reaching an apparent point of no return, Stroll explained he was hiding, to some level, the true extent of the pain he was in.
“As an athlete in any sport, I think you’re always trying to push through pain, discomfort as much as you can to try to get a good result at the end of the weekend,” he said.
“In that situation I was struggling and I was trying to push through it but it just didn’t feel sensible to push anymore.
“It felt like the damage was getting worse and I needed to do something more serious about it.
“I’m feeling a lot better. I’m looking forward to the race weekend. Being here in Montreal is always special. Good memories of coming here racing every year. Good results over the years, points-scoring results.
“I just love coming back here and racing in front of the home crowd and looking forward to the weekend.”
Stroll was also asked why his right hand had been in his pocket for the majority of the press conference, and understandably tried to dodge the question.
However, a source has since told Motorsport Week that Stroll is conserving use of his hand, and that he has been “[closing] the right-hand car door with his left hand, while literally holding nothing in it. His right hand is empty.”
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