Lance Stroll says he felt it was unwise to keep driving as the pain increased in his wrist during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend.
The Aston Martin driver withdrew from that event after qualifying but has returned for this weekend’s round, his home event at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
“It was bothering me for a few weeks over in Imola and Monaco and then Barcelona was just really brutal throughout the weekend,” he said. “I got a procedure done and drove this week, and I was feeling pretty good, so I’m confident.”
Stroll did not elaborate on what his medical procedure involved. He had surgery on his right wrist in 2023 after injuring it when he came off his bike. “It’s just the old injury that I had a couple of years ago. It just started to bug me again so I just got it sorted.”
He withdrew from the event after being eliminated in the second round of qualifying. According to the FIA Stroll “sought urgent medical attention for the pain” after Q2, which was why he failed to report to be weighed after the session.
“As an athlete in any sport you’re always trying to push through pain, discomfort, as much as you can to try and 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 I just didn’t feel it was sensible to push anymore. I felt like the damage was getting worse, and I needed to do something more serious about it.
“I don’t really 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, and I like to keep that confidential. But all I can say for sure is I’m feeling a lot better. I’m looking forward to the race weekend.”
Asked about reports claiming he had been angry in the aftermath of his Q2 elimination, Stroll said: “I was frustrated, for sure. Frustrated about my wrist and the last three races from Imola.
“It was just inhibiting my driving. So I knew that Sunday was going to be tricky, probably impossible. And at that point, I was pretty frustrated about it.”
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2025 Canadian Grand Prix
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