Three days before Bahrain’s pre-season test, Aston Martin announced Stroll would miss testing after sustaining injuries during a training ride in Malaga the previous weekend. Those injuries were later revealed to include fractures in both wrists as well as a broken toe.
While reserve driver Felipe Drugovich took over Stroll’s testing duties, the Canadian underwent surgery by famed MotoGP surgeon Xavier Mir as he faced a race against the clock to recover in time for last weekend’s season opener.
Stroll had screws inserted into his right wrist and, following a simulator session last Wednesday, he was cleared to take part in the Bahrain race weekend.
Aston enjoyed a leap in performance with its new AMR23 and Stroll’s painful endeavour paid off with a sixth-place finish, while team-mate Fernando Alonso took a shock podium.
After revealing that doctors were projecting him to only be fit for round three in Australia, Stroll opened up on what he called the “most insane two weeks of my life” as he felt his “whole world was just crumbling in front of me”.
“It was the most insane two weeks of my life,” Stroll told the F1 Nation podcast.
“I fell off my bike and I went down really hard. And I knew right away both wrists were crushed. I only noticed my toe at the end of the day, because I was so focused on my wrists.
“My whole world was just crumbling in front of me, because I was already thinking I’m probably going to miss a few races. All those thoughts are going through your head and like horrible timing, four days before the test.”
Stroll judged that getting help from Doctor Mir, who has worked with numerous injured MotoGP riders, gave him the best chance of making an unlikely Bahrain appearance.
“He did that surgery on my right wrist and then put me in a cast on the left wrist,” Stroll revealed.
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin F1 Team, shares a laugh with Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“He said: ‘We’re going to immobilise you for two to four weeks on the left wrist but we don’t know how long it’s going to take the right wrist… hoping [in] Bahrain you’ll start to get some movement. You may be able to drive and then the toe is going to just take time.'”
After watching the test from his hotel room in Barcelona, Stroll said he still wasn’t expecting to make the race because he was “so far from being fit to drive”.
But rapid progress early last week meant his chances improved and as Mir…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – Formula 1 – Stories…