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Aston Martin Try to Hold the Ship Together Amid Lance Stroll’s “Precautionary” Absence With F2 Champ on Standby

Published 02/24/2023, 8:45 AM EST

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via Reuters

Just a few days ago, the team of Lance Stroll tried to downplay the seriousness of his bike injury. But as per the latest reports, Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has come forward to reveal that the Canadian racer has fractures in both his wrists. Krack, however, first claimed the injury is not that major. The news of his son’s severe injury might be worrying Lawrence Stroll. But at the same time, this might be a blessing in disguise for a team member.

The person we are talking about is Felipe Drugovich, the current Formula 2 champion, who is on Standby and may have a chance to compete in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

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After Stroll’s injury, Drugovich was chosen to be the second driver to sit behind the wheel of the Aston Martin for the first day of preseason testing in Bahrain. But as per the new developments, if Stroll’s recovery from his injury is too slow, the Brazilian driver may step in for him in the first few races of the 2023 Formula One season.

While conversing with Formula 1.com, Mike Krack initially tried to play down Stroll’s absence by telling the media that it was merely precautionary. He said, “He was training, trying to improve, or to work on his fitness last week, so he was cycling. He had a small incident, hurt himself, and for precautionary reasons we decided it’s better to wait a little bit and be ready next week.”

When pressed a little farther, he added, “This is a personal thing. He’s injured on the hand, on the wrist, but I don’t want to go into detail, because this is also privacy.”

Aston Martin appears to be attempting to maintain stability over Lance Stroll’s absence in order to prevent fans from wreaking havoc before the start of the season.

Although there were two candidates to replace Stroll, Stoffel Vandoorne and Felipe Drugovich, the squad chose the Brazilian-Italian racer. The question might arise in the mind of an F1 enthusiast why not the other reserve driver was picked by Aston Martin for the pre-season testing?

Why Stoffel Vandoorne wasn’t picked by Aston Martin?

Stroll was likely to miss the preseason testing because of a wrist injury. We also know that the team decided to use Felipe Drugovich, the current F2 champion, to assist Fernando Alonso throughout the testing in Stroll’s place. The chance Drugovich has received might lead several of us to wonder whether the 22-year-old received this chance just because of his F2 victory. The short answer is no, and the major reason Stoffel Vandoorne couldn’t participate in F1 is his preoccupied with Formula E

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via Reuters

Formula E driver, who is in Cape Town for the race, spoke to RTBF and said, “We discussed the situation. I knew and the team knew it. I am taken by Formula E this weekend in Cape Town, I will not be able to participate in the tests in Bahrain unfortunately.”

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“And the race next Sunday? It is quite a difficult scenario for me. If Lance is not available, I wouldn’t be surprised if Felipe made the race. It’s a little frustrating for me, but on the other hand, you have to understand it.”

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The supporters wish for a quick recovery for their Lance, and in the coming days, it will become evident whether the Brazilian has struck it rich. Having said that, do you believe Felipe Drugovich will have an opportunity to compete in the Bahrain Grand Prix?

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Written by:

Aditya Srivastava

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Aditya Srivastava is an F1 Author at EssentiallySports. Although he has completed his undergrad in History, due to his passion for the field, he couldn't hold himself back from entering the world of Sports Journalism. Being a huge fan of Formula 1, Aditya has taken up multiple internships and freelancing gigs where he got to pen down his thoughts about the most prestigious form of motor racing in the world.
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Edited by:

Ranvijay Singh