18 September 2023 , 16:35
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Aston Martin have confirmed Lance Stroll will race at this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.
The Canadian driver sat out Sunday's race in Singapore after suffering a hefty crash in qualifying. He was cleared to race by medics at the track, but on the morning of the Grand Prix it was clear that he was still feeling the effects of the high-speed impact.
The decision was taken that he would not race. Fernando Alonso represented the team on his own as a result, but had a horrible evening in a car he described as "undriveable", picking up a penalty and enduring a 25-second pit stop after a problem getting the right-rear tyre on.
Aston Martin needed some good news after a Grand Prix to forget. And they have it – team principal Mike Krack confirming there is "zero" chance Stroll will not be fit for this weekend's race at Suzuka.
"He's generally sore," Krack said of the Canadian. "If you have an incident like that, you stress your muscles anyway. The analogy is like if you spend a very hard day in the gym, then also you feel not great, so this is where we're at.
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"I think it's the right decision to be ready for Japan, because it's already in a couple of days' time. The important thing is that he is fine and everything else is secondary."
Stroll has not had a great deal of luck lately. He has just three points to show for his efforts at the last six race weekends. And, during the summer break, there was speculation sparked by Sky Sports commentator David Croft that the 24-year-old might not be fully committed to his F1 career.
Krack pointed out that the nature of his crash, suffered while pushing hard to progress in qualifying for the Singapore race, is evidence that Stroll's passion for the sport endures. "It's proof that he's full in, to all the guys that are thinking he's not," asserted the Luxembourger.
"To go into this corner at that speed, you have to have some commitment. This is proof that he fully has it. Lance is very strong. He's much stronger than you think. You saw him in the TV pen after this. So, I'm not concerned at all there will be anything. He will go in the car [at Suzuka] and he will be fast."