Lance Stroll has revealed it was his decision to continue racing even though he had been feeling pain in his wrist and hand for a “couple of months.”

Stroll broke his right wrist and suffered some damage to his left when he crashed while cycling in early 2023.

Lance Stroll: I wanted to keep racing

The injury kept him out of the car in pre-season testing but he was back for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix where he took an impressive P6 just 10 days after his crash.

But while the Aston Martin driver did not publicly indicate that his hand and wrist still caused him issues, it reached the point where it became too much, and he withdrew from the Spanish Grand Prix to undergo a medical procedure to rectify the problem.

That left the team with just one car on the Barcelona grid as Fernando Alonso raced to ninth place to score his first points of the F1 2025 World Championship.

Questions, though, were asked about how it even got to the point.

F1 2025: The season’s winners and losers

👉 The results of the F1 2025 championship

👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings

Amidst speculation of a post-qualifying meltdown that included a helmet that was thrown against a wall, Sky F1’s David Croft told The F1 Show: “I don’t buy the [claim that] ‘we’ve been monitoring this for six weeks’.

“If they’ve been monitoring it for six weeks, then surely for the good of the team they wouldn’t have put Lance into the car in qualifying if it’s got to a point whereby he might not be fit enough to do the race. They’d bring Drugovich in.

“Lance puts in a lap that takes him P7 in Q1. He’s obviously fit enough to drive well at some stage during that qualifying session.”

But according to the Canadian, who is back for the Montreal race, it was his call and one he didn’t want to make as he wanted to continue racing.

“It’s feeling good,” he said ahead of his return to the F1 paddock.

“I started to feel some pain in my wrist and hand a couple of months ago, but I wanted to keep racing.

“However, the discomfort just became too much, and we made the decision to have medical intervention.

“Naturally, I was disappointed to miss the race in Barcelona but it was the right call at the time, and I’m looking forward to getting back to racing this weekend.”

Aston Martin confirmed on Wednesday that the 26-year-old would be back in the AMR25 for the Canadian Grand Prix, taking up his position alongside Alonso.

He completed a few laps in a private test at the Paul Ricard circuit earlier this week to check his fitness.

“I got some laps in at Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France before heading to Canada, so I’ve been back behind the wheel before the race weekend begins, which is really beneficial,” he said. “I felt good in the cockpit so now my full focus is on this weekend.”

Last year Stroll bagged his best result at the Canadian Grand Prix when he brought his Aston Martin home in seventh place.

This year he’s hoping to thank his fans for their support with another stellar performance.

“I’m really looking forward to racing in front of my home crowd in Montreal,” he said. “Come rain or shine, the fans are loud and passionate for our sport in Canada and the support they give me as a local driver really does mean a lot.

“It’s always special to see so many fans wearing Aston Martin Racing Green in the grandstands.

“The support from fans has always pushed me on, but it’s been extra motivation over the last couple of weeks. I’d like to thank all my fans for their kind words of support and the messages they’ve sent me.

“Hopefully we can fight for some more points this weekend.”

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