As the Le Mans week got underway with Felipe Drugovich and Stoffel Vandoorne in action for their respective hypercar teams, so too began the countdown for Aston Martin to announce Lance Stroll’s replacement for the Canadian GP.

That is, of course, if it is necessary.

Will Lance Stroll be fit for the Canadian GP?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Stroll withdrew from the Spanish Grand Prix hours after qualifying at the Barcelona circuit where the Canadian driver was over half a second slower than his team-mate Fernando Alonso in Q2.

In a statement issued to PlanetF1.com, Aston Martin said: “Over the course of the past six weeks Lance has been experiencing pain in his hand and wrist, which his medical consultant believes is in relation to the procedure he underwent in 2023.

“As a result, his medical team have confirmed that he will not race tomorrow and he will undergo a procedure to rectify these issues before focusing on his recovery.”

There was speculation of a ‘temper’ tantrum exacerbating the situation as Sky F1’s David Croft claimed “a helmet was thrown, to the extent that the helmet might have been damaged, such was the force that it hit the wall. There was a lot of shouting and swearing going on as well.”

“Lance,” he added, “has got form for punching walls before, albeit partition walls that wouldn’t necessarily hurt him. I’ve heard that before in his time at Aston Martin.”

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack brushed that aside as “typical” stories.

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But while Stroll underwent a procedure carried out by renowned MotoGP surgeon Dr Xavier Mir in the days after the Spanish Grand Prix, neither the driver nor Aston Martin gave a timeframe for his return.

All Krack would say is that there is a Plan B.

“It’s quite simple,” he told the media, including PlanetF1.com. “The ‘Plan A’ is to have Lance in the car. That is the ‘Plan A’, and that is what we are working to.

“And if the ‘Plan A’ does not work, then we need to pull ‘Plan B’.

“Obviously we always knew that Le Mans was going to happen, so we also had plans in place that if we need a driver that is doing Le Mans, we will bring him.

“But at the moment this is not the only question. We wait what the next days are bringing, and then we take a decision.”

Plan B is understood to be either Felipe Drugovich or Stoffel Vandoorne, although Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas is also an option should Stroll not be fit enough to race in Montreal.

However, two of the Aston Martin Plan B drivers have other commitments this weekend as they are racing in the 24 hours of Le Mans.

As practice for the iconic endurance race began, Drugovich was 13th fastest in the hypercar division for Cadillac Whelen while Vandoorne was P21 for Peugeot.

With their cars having already undergone the traditional technical and administrative checks, known as Pesage in French, last week, as well as the official test day, Drugovich and Vandoorne’s next appearance will be at a fan event on Tuesday.

That’s followed by additional test runs and the high-stakes hyperpole shootout with the fastest 15 hypercars in action on Thursday.

The 24-hour race gets underway at 16:00 CET on Saturday, 14 June.

Both teams have named replacement drivers should either Drugovich or Vandoorne be called up by Aston Martin with Earl Bamber in line for Drugovich’s Cadillac seat while Theo Pourchaire is listed as the replacement for the Peugeot teams.

Aston Martin theoretically have until Friday evening in Canada to make the call on Stroll’s fitness.

F1 regulations state that a driver must contest one of the sessions prior to qualifying to be eligible for qualifying and the Grand Prix, a rule that meant the team was only able to field one car at the Spanish GP given Stroll’s late withdrawal.

Article 32.2 a) of the F1 sporting regulations states: “Provided any change proposed after the end of initial scrutineering receives the consent of the stewards, a change of driver may be made… At each Competition where a sprint session is not scheduled, at any time before the start of the qualifying session.”

All in all, taking into account the time difference between France and Montreal, Aston Martin have until the end of FP2 to decide their line-up for the weekend.

The team has some leeway to run Stroll in the practice sessions on Friday to evaluate his fitness, but they would need to make the call almost immediately after to ensure his replacement, if needed, arrives in time and refreshed for FP3.

The clock is ticking…

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