Lance Stroll has revealed he suffered two broken wrists and a broken toe in a bike crash two weeks to the day before coming back to seal a strong qualifying performance for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
After his participation in the Formula One 2023 season opener was cast in doubt, the 24-year-old Canadian said the last week had been “pretty insane”.
“If someone had offered me a one per cent chance to be here, I'd have taken it,” Stroll, whose wrist injuries were made known earlier in the week, told reporters.
“It's exactly two weeks today since my accident. I couldn't move both hands, couldn't walk. I had a broken big toe on the right foot as well. The light was very far at the end of the tunnel.
“I came out of surgery 12 days ago, got out of the hospital 10 days ago kind of thing. Pretty grateful and just happy to be here."
Stroll, who missed three days of F1 pre-season testing and was seen struggling to extricate himself from the car after Friday practice, said he was feeling better with every lap and was starting to get more trust in what his hands could do.
He said he was also finding more of a rhythm and was confident he would be fine for the race in a car that was a lot of fun to drive. The Canadian will start alongside the Mercedes of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
“I think every day is getting easier. I'm not as worried now as I was a week ago,” added the son of billionaire team owner Lawrence.
Stroll said the broken toe was painful “but not anything that's limiting me to drive” and that he is taking painkillers to help get through his time in the car.
