Lance Stroll 'sheds tear' of agony after escaping Alonso crash

Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso — Photo: © LAT Images

Aston Martin

Stroll 'sheds tear' of agony after escaping Alonso crash

The Aston Martin driver put in a heroic performance on comeback from injury

Ewan Gale

Sunday 5 March 2023 18:43 Updated: 20:10

Lance Stroll has revealed he 'shed a few tears' with his wrists burning through pain after his collision with Aston Martin team-mate Fernando Alonso at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Canadian was racing through the pain barrier having broken both wrists and a toe two weeks ago, consequently missing pre-season testing.

With Alonso battling for position at turn four on the opening lap of the season, Stroll broke late behind to try and better George Russell, running into the back of the Spaniard as he attempted a switchback at the apex.

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Both survived without damage, allowing Alonso to secure a podium at the end of the 57 laps and Stroll to bag points for sixth despite his agony.

"I am in pain, but I was grinding it out at the end just thinking about picking up those points," Stroll told Sky Sports F1.

"The last two weeks have been the most insane two weeks of my life.

"A terrible time to crash on a bicycle, the doctors were telling me maybe Australia [for a return], maybe Baku and the light at the end of the tunnel was very hard to see.

"But I had an incredible medical team that helped me along the way."

Stroll on Alonso crash

Addressing his collision with Alonso, Stroll explained: "I was down the inside of Russell, trying to stay ahead of him and brake late and then Fernando tried to cut back so really stopped the car in the middle of turn four.

"We just came together, so really horrible timing for all of those things to happen with the great car we had but very fortunate that we both saved it and went on to have a good race and score some points."

Stroll was forced to catch a major slide as the AMR23 oversteered after contact and added "My wrists were on fire after that, I was kind of shedding a few tears after that.

"But most importantly we both stayed on track and went on to have a good race, so dodged a bullet there."