Stroll given medical all-clear after heavy Q1 crash

Lance Stroll has been evaluated by the FIA medical team and given the all-clear, following his heavy head-on accident at the end of the first round of Saturday's qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Canadian had been pushing hard to avoid elimination, but carried too much speed into the final corner on his final flying lap and ended up hitting a kerb which sent him spinning off.

“We just weren’t really improving on that last lap with the out-lap being really bad," Stroll explained later. “So I sent it into the last corner, tried to make up some time, but it wasn't really doable.

“It happened quickly, but I know why I crashed. It was just because I wasn’t going fast enough to get through [to the second round]."

The Aston Martin sustained heavy damage in the impact with the barrier, with much of the left hand side of the car disintegrating, and a wheel bouncing back onto the track into the path of cars still completing their laps.

Lando Norris nearly ended up running into the crash, but Stroll “assumed the red flag would be out” and said he wasn't worried about being hit by another car coming around the blind corner at high speed.

• Read also: Sainz captures Singapore pole after Red Bull shocker and Stroll crash

The red flag did mean that a number of drivers didn't get to set their final lap time. But fortunately Stroll himself was able to climb out of the wrecked AMR23 without assistance.

“I was just checking if everything felt okay on my body, that was the main thing," he commented. “Once I realised everything was okay, it was just shitty because we had a rough session and it’s been rough lately for a while now."

As marshals repaired the barriers, removed the debris and tended to fluid that had spilled out onto the track, Stroll was transferred to the in-field care facilities in the medical delegate's car which had been quick to arrive at the scene.

“He got out of the car unaided and was taken to the medical centre for a precautionary assessment,” the Aston Martin team confirmed in a statement issued subsequently.

“Lance was cleared by the on-site medical team and returned to the team at track," the statement continued, which paid tribute to the “ongoing work of the FIA and the safety measures of current F1 cars.”

While it means that Stroll is cleared to take part in tomorrow's race, it's an altogether different picture for the car itself. A replacement chassis will have to be built-up by the team overnight.

"I’m frustrated as we have a big job – in the garage and on the race track – ahead of us," Stroll sighed. Looking back, the driver said that traffic had been the fundamental cause of his problems today.

“Quali just didn’t go our way at all with bad out-laps, traffic, poor tyre preparation. Around here, when those things pile up, it’s such a negative spiral. The result of that was having the crash.

"I was struggling for grip throughout the qualifying session. We had a bad out-lap with traffic ahead of my final push, and then we got stopped for the weighbridge.

"That put us at the back of the queue, then I had to try and pass a bunch of cars to get my lap in before the end of the session.

"I had a lot of traffic, guys trying to make the line at the end," he continued. “I started my lap two seconds behind [Pierre Gasly], which is really not ideal for aero performance.

"It didn’t play out the way we’d planned. When I saw my lap wasn’t improving, I pushed really hard in the last corner to try and make up that extra time, and that’s when it went wrong.

"Let’s see what we can salvage tomorrow in the race," he concluded.

The clean-up work caused a 28 minute delay to the proceedings. Stroll's team mate Fernando Alonso did manage to progress to the final round and will start Sunday's race from seventh on the grid.

"I’m glad to see that Lance is okay," Alonso commented. "I will try and gain some places tomorrow, but it will be a tough race."

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