In the midst of so many doubts about the participation of Spear Stroll at the opening of the 2023 World Cup season Formula 1the discussions all took place outside the Aston Martin. Inside, there was some clarity on one thing: if he passed the medical tests of the FIA, rush. Past, run and left sakhir bigger than it happened. It was an epic start to what is by far Stroll’s most significant season in F1.
The background scenario is well known, because it was the big talk of the two weeks before the start of the championship: Stroll had an accident during bike training To Spain February 18, 15 days before the start of the season. He injured both wrists and the big toe, all with a fracture, in addition to other abrasions on the body. Immediately, the hammer was beaten: it had come out of pre-season testing.
Treatment for the injuries was wrist surgery as soon as possible two days later. Medical predictions indicated that the wrist would heal enough to regain its space inside the cockpit of the car. April 2 only, in the third race of the season. But Lance insisted. Went to immediate physical therapy. It also helped him find a team willing to wait.
Aston Martin gave the car to Felipe Drugovitch in two of six rounds of testing, but indicated he would wait until it was possible. So two days before race weekend work started, Stroll left. The next day he took the FIA medical tests – and passed them.
But have you really been able to? The silence over the days was answered only by “It’s a private matter”but he was gaining responses as the weekend progressed.
“It was a private matter, I was already taking care of a lot of things. There was a lot going on, I was going to surgery, I was dealing with recovery. There was no clear answer as to the time it would take to recover, and I was focused and motivated to get to Bahrain, where I had my mind set.
“It was just minor surgery on my right wrist, and I injured my left. [também]», Reinforced after accelerating the car. “It was a painful accident: I just fell off the bike and landed really hard. That’s all, and I did almost everything to get back in shape, to get back on the grid. The doctor and my physiotherapist were amazing and thanks to them I am here in Bahrain”, said later.
“It was pretty crazy. It has been exactly two weeks since my accident, 12 days since the operation and a week since I left the hospital. I couldn’t move my hands, walk, broke my big toe… Being at the season opener was a very distant light at the end of the tunnel,” commented.
And, once approved, hit the trail. In the first meters of the track, an ignition problem caused the car to stop. Free practice on Friday would end in dramatic fashion, with Stroll saying on the radio that was unable to make a certain movement with the car requested by the team and, at the end, need help to get out of the cockpit.
But the car was good, and the performance followed, although it wasn’t the same as Fernando Alonso. AT classificationeighth place to close the cycle of four teams above the others: Red Bull, Ferrari, mercedes and specifically Aston Martin. The race was missing. On Sunday, Lance proved that he was in good shape: he rode well, overtook and took the position of george russell on the way and finished in sixth placeincluding the abandonment of Charles Leclerc. This after hitting Alonso early on, but the almost mess is in a footnote as it ended up happening nothing.
“Lance was my hero today. Amazing performance from him! praises Alonsoon the radio shortly after the end of the race.
“My wrists were on fire and I shed a few tears” admitted at the end of the race.
Stroll had two more weeks to recover before the Saudi Arabia GP. More than eight points off sixth place, he earned general respect in the paddock for holding on and coming back. It’s no secret that the persistent pain culture reverberates among pilots. Becoming Alonso’s “hero” is a way of seeing that it was definitely not just the two-time champion.
It was the perfect way to start this season which has everything to be the most important of his career: the Canadian is in the seventh lap on the grid of Formula 1 and he is still remembered as a paying driver even after being on pole and on the podium at different points in his career. Now, finally, he has a spectacular car in his hands, as expected a few years ago.
Riding side by side with Alonso is a challenge, of course, as he is one of the most talented riders in the F1 have you seen. But enjoying the big car and battling it out with the main names on the grid will do wonders for how it’s seen. It remains to be seen whether when the epic is over and the obstacle-clearing story becomes a memory, Lance Stroll, pure, simple and whole, will be able to launch into the moment and change levels.
A Formula 1 continues the season with the GP of Saudi Arabia, on the urban circuit of Jeddah, between March 17 and 19.
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