Lance Stroll pulled out of the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, hours before the race was due to begin, following a huge crash in qualifying that destroyed his Aston Martin.
Stroll was pushing hard to progress from the first qualifying session on Saturday night when he lost control after running over the kerbs at the final turn and careered into the barriers opposite the pit lane at the Marina Bay street circuit.
The remains of the car, with Stroll in the cockpit, bounced back onto the track to be narrowly avoided by the McLaren of Lando Norris as red flags halted the session.
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The Canadian driver got out of the car unaided and later was cleared of injury by the official Formula One medical team.
But hours before the lights were due to go out on Sunday’s night race in Singapore, the Aston Martin team issued a statement saying Stroll was still not 100 percent and would sit out in order to recover fully for next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
“Following Lance’s crash in qualifying during the Singapore Grand Prix, Lance and Aston Martin have jointly agreed that he will not participate in the Singapore Grand Prix this evening,” Aston Martin said.
“The team face a huge job repairing the car today and understandably Lance is still sore following such a high impact. Lance’s focus now shifts to fully recovering ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.”
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Carlos Sainz took pole position for Ferrari for the Singapore Grand Prix, but championship leader Max Verstappen will start from the back half of the grid after a “shocking” qualifying session.
Verstappen was eliminated in Q2 after finishing 11th fastest in an “undriveable” Red Bull and then escaped penalties that could have demoted him to last place.
Verstappen faced stewards late on Saturday after being accused of impeding cars in the pit lane and twice more on the track as he tried to create a gap for his qualifying laps.
The stewards cleared the driver of one offence and issued reprimands each for the other two, meaning Verstappen retains his place on the sixth row.
“It’s going to be a long evening for us. It’s hard to pass around here,” Verstappen told Sky Sports pre-race.
“That’s the beauty of this Grand Prix, a lot of things can happen around here and I hope we can score a few points.
“I expected it to be tough but hopefully we get a surprise and can still have a decent result.”
Australian Oscar Piastri, meanwhile, starts 17th on the grid after being caught out by the red flag caused by Stroll’s crash.
STARTING GRID FOR SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX:
Front row Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari) George Russell (GBR/Mercedes)
2nd row Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren)
3rd row Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas)
4th row Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin) Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine)
5th row Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Haas) Liam Lawson (NZL/AlphaTauri)
6th row Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine)
7th row Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull) Alexander Albon (THA/Williams)
8th row Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri) Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Alfa Romeo)
9th row Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren) Logan Sargeant (USA/Williams)
10th row Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Alfa Romeo) Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin)
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