Formula 1 driver Lance Stroll, who injured his wrist in a bicycle accident in February, will be present at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the opening round of the F1 season this weekend, his Aston Martin team announced on Tuesday Thursday with.

However, the Canadian walks away at a huge disadvantage having missed the three days of pre-season testing here in Bahrain last week due to injury. He had been replaced by Brazil’s Felipe Drugovich, reserve pilot for the England team.

“It was frustrating not to have been in Bahrain for pre-season testing (…) but the team and I thought it best to focus on recovery to be ready for this weekend and the long season ahead ‘ Stroll said in a statement.

“It was an unfortunate accident – I fell off my bike in a hole while riding – but fortunately the damage wasn’t extensive and successful minor surgery on my right wrist fixed the problem quickly,” Stroll said.

The Canadian will be teaming up this season with two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso, who will be making his first GP at the wheel of an Aston Martin after two seasons with French team Alpine.

At the wheel of the AMR23, the Spaniard also made a strong impression during the tests and regularly placed his single-seater formula car at the level of the best teams in the field.

Three months after the last Grand Prix of the 2022 season in Abu Dhabi, F1 returns to the Sakhir route on Friday for the first of the 23 GPs expected this season – a record.