Lance Stroll confident he can continue racing this Bahrain weekend as he resists stepping down from his drive, despite what one might think given his difficulties in Friday’s free practice. Canadian Lance Stroll is expected to be at the wheel of his car for the rest of the Formula 1 weekend in Bahrain.

Canadian Lance Stroll has said he will be able to compete in the Bahrain Grand Prix despite the images everyone saw on Friday of him holding his steering wheel in a peculiar way on track.

Lance Stroll was forced to sit out the three days of winter testing in Bahrain last week due to a wrist injury sustained in a bike crash during practice in Spain. The Aston Martin driver underwent ‘minor’ wrist surgery and was determined to be back in the car for the first Grand Prix weekend of the year in Bahrain.

Denies any issues driving

However, in the second free practice session on Friday, the onboard camera in his car showed the Canadian driver struggling to turn his wheel on some corners, with Stroll using his left hand as a ‘lever’ to turn his wheel correctly.

When asked after the session, Lance Stroll said he would be able to race for the rest of the weekend: “Yes I feel good, it’s a bit stiff, but overall I feel good in the car,” he told the media.

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“It was so great to be back in the car today and do my first real laps in 2023. It’s only been 13 days since my accident and at that point I wasn’t sure I’d be back in an F1 car so soon, so to be here with the team is amazing.”

“We lost a bit of time in FP1 with an ignition problem, but once that was resolved we ran well and collected important data to work with tonight.”

“It’s clear that the team has made very good progress over the winter break; the car was fun to drive and I’m excited to get back behind the wheel tomorrow.”

At the end of the free practice session, Canal+ cameras caught the Aston Martin driver struggling to extract himself from the cockpit of his single-seater (see video below).