Stroll to miss Singapore GP after qualifying crash

SINGAPORE — Aston Martin has decided to withdraw Lance Stroll from Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix after he was involved in a huge accident during qualifying on Saturday evening.

Stroll lost control of his car in the 150 mph final corner and smashed into the barriers on the exit at high speed.

The impact decimated his car, leaving debris strewn across the race track as well as damage to the barriers, which took 30 minutes to repair.

Stroll walked away from the incident and was cleared of any injuries by the on-site medical team the same evening, but on Sunday afternoon the team announced it had jointly agreed with the Canadian driver not to race that evening.

“The team face a huge job repairing the car today and Lance is still sore following such a high impact,” a statement said. “Lance’s focus now shifts to fully recovering ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.”

Stroll, who is enduring a tough season alongside Fernando Alonso, was due to start the race from 20th after the accident left him last in qualifying.

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack added: “The whole team are relieved that Lance was able to step out of the car after yesterday’s accident — however, he is still feeling the after-effects of such a high-impact crash.

“Our priority now is that he makes a full and speedy recovery.

“Together, we have decided that he will sit out this evening’s race and instead focus fully on returning to the cockpit for next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.”