Aston Martin’s pre-season plans took a massive hit earlier this week after Lance Stroll announced that he had suffered an injury while training on his bicycle in Spain.
While neither Stroll nor Aston Martin have shared any specific details of the injury, Spanish media have reported that the Canadian driver was spotted leaving a hospital with his arm in a cast.
Recent rumours have even suggested that Stroll has broken both of his wrists, an injury which would certainly rule him out of the Bahrain Grand Prix.
While Aston Martin still remain quiet about Stroll’s recovery progress, London Insider has exclusively revealed that the 24-year-old will not be fit to compete in the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix.
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This news will come as a massive hit to Aston Martin, who were forced to compete in the first two rounds of last season without Sebastian Vettel.
Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich will replace Stroll in Bahrain, having stood in for the 24-year-old during Aston Martin’s three days of pre-season testing this week.
Former F1 driver Stoffel Vandoorne was the preferred option for Aston Martin to replace Stroll in testing but the Belgian driver was unavailable due to his Formula E commitments this week in Cape Town.
While Aston Martin will have had the option of choosing between Drugovich and Vandoorne when it comes to replacing Stroll for the Bahrain Grand Prix next week, the team have opted for the Brazilian driver.
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It is believed that the team preferred to call up Drugovich once again due to his experience in the AMR23, having got to grips with the car during testing, while Vandoorne would have to jump in the car completely fresh.
Aston Martin expect that Stroll will be fit to return to action for the second round of the season in Saudi Arabia, which comes after a week break following the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Both team and driver have remained silent on the matter so far, but an official announcement of Stroll’s replacement for the Bahrain Grand Prix is expected in the immediate future.