Lance Stroll intends to race at the Bahrain Grand Prix despite only having surgery last week on a broken wrist sustained in a pre-season training accident.
The Aston Martin racer was cycling in Spain when he suffered a crash, leaving him in need of surgical intervention. He has pins in his right wrist while the left also sustained some damage, leading to severe doubts over his chances of racing this weekend.
Felipe Drugovich stepped in for Stroll during pre-season testing. Given his injuries and the fact the Formula 2 champion was able to get some experience of the AMR23 under his belt, it was assumed that Drugovich would most likely be racing in the Bahrain race.
But that is no longer the plan. Stroll is in the Gulf country and took part in media day on Thursday, during which he shed a little more light onto his accident and recovery efforts since as he gears up for the race weekend.
"I got surgery on the right one and the left one is just a bit banged up," he told reporters as he sported tape and obvious bruises on that more severely injured wrist.
"They're feeling good. A big push over the last 12 days since my accident to get me here. They're feeling good. I was in the sim yesterday, the day before. Feeling pretty strong.
"We're professional athletes. In every sport we're sometimes in a bit of discomfort. If I felt it was not smart or there was a risk or I felt my bones were not ready, I wouldn't do it. F1 is a long season, it's 23 races, it's not all about being here in Bahrain. But I feel confident, doctors feel confident, so here I am.
"It was a day by day thing. With the injuries its always hard to tell. It's not a really clear answer how long it will take. The first few days were rough, it looked like it was going to be tough but then the last four or five days it's really been improving a lot every day."
Meanwhile, it was claimed on social media by one paddock visitor that reserve driver Drugovich was "very angry" about the situation and that he was not told that Stroll would be making the trip. But he responded with a GIF making it clear that it was "absolutely not true."
