David Croft claims Lance Stroll threw helmet in Aston Martin garage incident
“Lance has got form for punching walls before, albeit partition walls that wouldn’t necessarily hurt him. I’ve heard that before in his time at Aston Martin.”
Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft has claimed Lance Stroll threw his helmet into the wall after qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Stroll was forced to withdraw from the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after they revealed he was “experiencing pain in his hand and wrist”.
Ahead of the race, the BBC reported that Stroll had damaged equipment in the garage and swore at some of his Aston Martin mechanics following a disappointing session.
On Sunday, Aston Martin confirmed to Crash.net that Stroll’s frustration in the garage wasn’t linked to his injury.
They also said that he was “upset with the result” when asked by Crash.net whether Stroll had lost his temper.
Harry Rush, a mechanic for Aston Martin, dismissed the BBC’s story when replying to a post on Instagram.
However, Croft has suggested Stroll launched his racing helmet at the wall.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Sky F1 podcast, Croft said: “I understand that a helmet was thrown, to the extent that the helmet might have been damaged, such was the force that it hit the wall. There was a lot of shouting and swearing going on as well.
“Lance has got form for punching walls before, albeit partition walls that wouldn’t necessarily hurt him. I’ve heard that before in his time at Aston Martin.”
Croft ‘doesn’t buy’ Aston Martin explanation
In a statement released by Aston Martin, they said: “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.”
Croft has questioned Aston Martin’s statement.
“I don’t buy the [claim that] ‘we’ve been monitoring this for six weeks’.
"If they’ve been monitoring it for six weeks, then surely for the good of the team they wouldn’t have put Lance into the car in qualifying if it’s got to a point whereby he might not be fit enough to do the race. They’d bring Drugovich in.
“Lance puts in a lap that takes him P7 in Q1. He’s obviously fit enough to drive well at some stage during that qualifying session.”
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