Scenario for a comeback – surprise Vettel at the Bahrain GP

Lance Stroll injured his wrist while training on his bike in Bahrain last week.

The Canadian rider missed the three-day development tests that ended at Sakir on Saturday (02/25) and for now it remains doubtful whether he will be able to compete in the first GP of 2023 in the same country over the next three days 3-5. March.

Stroll’s place at the Bahrain test has been taken by Aston Martin reserve driver Felipe Dugovic (along with Stoffel Vandoorne), with the 2022 Formula Two champion preparing for the possibility of replacing Stroll – who made his F1 debut at the Bahrain race .

Aston Martin is currently keeping a low profile about Lance Stroll’s health. Team boss Mike Krak said the young Canadian suffered a wrist injury but declined to elaborate on the driver’s “personal issues”.

So crack will no doubt have to prepare a backup plan for Bahrain in case Stroll is unable to compete next weekend.

That back-up plan includes Drugovic, the much more experienced – from his McLaren tenure alongside Fernando Alonso – Stoffel Vandoorne, but also last year’s star of the team, Sebastian Vettel.

The four-time German champion decided to retire from the sport last year but hasn’t ruled out making an occasional GP appearance at his favorite Suzuka circuit in Japan should the opportunity arise. And after Stroll’s injury, his name as a possible replacement for the Canadian has been at the center of speculation in recent days.

Asked about this possibility by reporters in Bahrain with Mike Krak, the Luxembourg-born Aston Martin boss did not rule it out: “We had a few phone calls with Sebastian, but that has happened before and will happen in the future.” said Crack. And when asked if the German was interested in returning, he replied: “I won’t tell you”.

Crack also described the scenario as “very, very hypothetical” that F1 newcomer Drugovic climbs into the cockpit of the Aston Martin AMR23 at Bahrain, a conventional track, and then – if necessary – brings in Vettel for racing at the Jeddah city circuit in two weeks later where Vettel’s experience will be most useful.

Cracker continued: “Don’t forget one thing. Vettel had a very clear plan in mind for his retirement. And I think that’s something that has to be respected. We’ll see how it goes.”

Crack explained that Lance Stroll “Obviously it’s Plan A, we want him back in the car, but we’ll have to see what he says and what the doctors say. We have some B plans, but we will decide on one of them when it becomes clear Plan A doesn’t work We’ll see how the situation develops in the next few days It’s a bit like football where you have players, who are a bit injured and you wait until the last minute to see if they can play or not.”

Discussing Drugovic and the Brazilian’s tests in Bahrain (first morning and second afternoon of the three days), Crack concluded: “It is very important to prepare because we have a situation that is not 100% clear. Felipe has done a very good job. We must not forget that this is all new for him. He has never been an F1 before driven.”

He started quite cautiously on the first day, he did everything we asked of him perfectly. And the next day he was infallible. If you looked closely, it wasn’t even locking a wheel [στο φρενάρισμα]She didn’t miss a single curb, none of that. We’re very happy with his performance.”

As for Stoffen Vandoorne, the Belgian was unable to attend the Bahrain tests as he competed in the Formula E race in Cape Town, South Africa.

Vandoorne, 31, is a slightly safer option for Aston Martin than Drugovic given his three years racing experience with McLaren in 2016-18.