F1 star withdraws from Spanish GP and taken for surgery after completing qualifying

have confirmed that will not drive for the team at the , just hours before the race is scheduled to get underway in Barcelona. The team announced that Stroll has been suffering with a hand and wrist injury over the past six weeks and he will undergo surgery to rectify the issue.

The Canadian driver managed to come through qualifying, beating six drivers to finish 14th, and was expected to begin the race in a hopeful weekend for Aston Martin. Team-mate starts in P10 and has a realistic chance of securing his first points of the season.

Aston Martin cannot name a replacement as any stand-in drivers need to compete in qualifying or practice to be eligible for the Grand Prix. Felipe Drugovich is the team's reserve driver.

A team statement read: "Over the course of the past six weeks Lance has been experiencing pain in his hand and wrist, which his medical consultant believes is in relation to the procedure he underwent in 2023.

"As a result his medical team have confirmed that he will not race tomorrow and he will undergo a procedure to rectify these issues before focusing on his recovery."

Stroll and was summoned to the Spanish GP stewards after qualifying. He was accused of breaching Article 35.1 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations and noncompliance with Race Director's Event Notes in Spain, with the Aston Martin driver allegedly failing to be weighed immediately after qualifying.

The driver and a team representative were required to report to the FIA immediately after qualifying, to be weighed in the FIA's garage area in the pit lane. However, Stroll remained in the Aston Martin garage before heading to the FIA space to be weighed.

"After the second Qualifying session, the driver Lance Stroll, car number 18, did not follow the post Qualifying drivers weighing procedure as laid out in the Race Director's Event Notes, item 13," said FIA Formula 1 technical delegate Jo Bauer.

"Firstly the driver stayed five minutes in the teams garage before proceeding to the scales and secondly he did not proceed through the pit-lane."

Stroll, who has not claimed any points since his ninth-placed finish at China in March, admitted that he was going through a "tricky" weekend at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

"I think it's just been tricky," he said after qualifying, before pulling out of the Grand Prix. "I don't have all the answers. From the first lap of the day it was just tricky to get on top of the balance and the car was moving."