Lance Stroll has had a ‘successful’ op and will be back on the grid in Canada

Lance Stroll has been declared fit to race at his home grand prix in Canada this weekend after missing out in Spain a fortnight ago with pain in his hand and wrist.

The Aston Martin driver withdrew from the Spanish Grand Prix in the hours after qualifying – meaning only 19 cars lined up on the grid – with the team revealing that he'd been in discomfort for several weeks.

Apparently his symptoms dated back to a procedure he had two years ago following a nasty cycling accident in which he fractured both wrists, his left hand and his big right toe. Barely three weeks later he’d made a (genuinely Herculean) recovery in time for the first race of 2023.

This latest episode has meant another trip to the operating theatre, but once again he’s bounced back in double quick time.

“Lance had a successful medical procedure to resolve the symptoms he has been experiencing,” said Aston in a statement. “Lance is feeling fit and healthy, and is excited to compete in front of his home crowd.

And Lance himself added: “I am excited to get back behind the wheel with the team for my home Grand Prix this weekend. I was always going to fight hard to be ready to race in front of the Montreal crowd.

“I’m feeling good after my procedure and put some laps in at Paul Ricard this week to prepare. Thanks for all the support, see you guys this weekend!”

Now, the elephant in the room: when all this unfolded two weeks ago, reports quickly surfaced that Stroll had lost his temper in the Aston garage after qualifying, having been half a second slower than teammate Fernando Alonso.

There was some suggestion that Stroll’s, er, behaviour had made his injuries worse, and while Aston denied some specific details, the general thrust of the reports weren’t refuted.

So we’re none the wiser to what actually happened. No doubt it’ll come up in every interview before FP1 in Canada…

This wouldn’t be the first time Stroll’s emotions had gotten the better of him: in 2023 he had to apologise after shoving his trainer in full view of the television cameras having knocked out of quali in Q1.