The Singapore Grand Prix this past weekend arguably produced one of the most enthralling races of the 2023 season where Carlos Sainz won the race by beating good friend Lando Norris by the narrowest of margins. Even though the race did produce a spectacle for the fans, there was also a horrifying incident that took place when Lance Stroll crashed into the barriers. The 24-year-old ended up missing the main race due to the “after-effects” he suffered as a result of his crash. Since Stroll could not manage to compete in the race on Sunday, there were also fears that he may miss this weekend’s race at Suzuka. On reading such rumors online, several fans wanted Sebastian Vettel to replace the Aston Martin driver. Since such rumors continued to gain steam, Stroll himself has rubbished them now via his Twitter handle(Now X).
Stroll missed the race last weekend in Singapore as he was still “sore” after the crash he had during qualifying. The former Williams driver collided into the wall after he suffered from oversteer and ran over the kerbs at the final turn.
Lance Stroll rubbished Sebastian Vettel replacement rumors
A few days after Lance Stroll suffered a nasty crash at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, he took to social media and provided his fans with an update. The 24-year-old first thanked everyone for their “kind messages” before adding, “Ready to race this weekend.”
The Aston Martin driver issued this update to his fans after a journalist took to their official social media account and posted that Aston Martin have confirmed that the Canadian will not be able to race at the Japanese Grand Prix. Even though the journalist deleted their post soon after, it did not stop fans from creating further speculations about who could be Stroll’s potential replacement.
[@alobatof1] (Deleted tweet) Lance Stroll will not race in the Japanese Grand Prix, as confirmed by Aston Martin. The aftermath of his severe accident on Saturday in Singapore has forced this decision to be made
byu/TheTacomax informula1
Since Sebastian Vettel has confirmed that he would be at Suzuka this weekend, some fans, such as Laura wanted Aston Martin to replace Stroll with the German. They believe that it would be a good gesture for the 36-year-old, who would then be able to make 300 Grand Prix starts in his career.
Look, if, IF Lance Stroll can’t race in Japan then his replacement needs to be…
…Sebastian Vettel. Who is going to be at Suzuka anyway. So why not make it a nice round 300 GPs in his career? pic.twitter.com/q2IlbBKIpC
— Laura Leslie (@LauraLeslieF1) September 19, 2023
On similar lines, another fan too hoped that Vettel could replace Stroll this weekend.
LANCE STROLL WON’T RACE IN JAPAN??
It was stated in a now deleted tweet by Antonio Lobato (Spanish F1 TV) that the aftermath of his crash on Saturday has forced him to make this decision.
Guess who’s at Suzuka this weekend? pic.twitter.com/0iYvaLnwbH— Formula God (@formula1god) September 19, 2023
However, with Stroll having confirmed that he is fit to compete this weekend, Aston Martin reserve driver Felipe Drugovich will have to wait for his opportunity.
Why couldn’t Drugovich replace Stroll last weekend at Singapore?
The Aston Martin F1 team competed with just one driver, Fernando Alonso, during the main race of the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend. Even though the team do have Felipe Drugovich as a reserve driver, the Brazilian could not step in for Lance Stroll because of an F1 rule.
As per this rule, a reserve driver needs to have taken part in at least one session during a Grand Prix weekend to be eligible to compete during the main race. Since Stroll took part in all three practice sessions and qualifying, Aston Martin could not announce Drugovich as a replacement driver.
