Aston Martin Blasts Media for Fear-Mongering Over Stroll Illness

Aston Martin has confirmed Lance Stroll will miss media day at the São Paulo Grand Prix after contracting a viral infection in Mexico last weekend.

The team issued a short statement Thursday morning.

“Lance will miss media day today as he continues to recover from a viral infection contracted in Mexico,” the statement read.

“He is recovering well, and we are confident he will return to the paddock on Friday.”

Stroll is expected to be well enough to drive in first practice on Friday.

The Canadian driver sits 22nd in the drivers’ championship with zero points this season.

He is one of only three drivers yet to score in 2026, alongside Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.

Stroll has finished only three of the last ten races.

His absence from media day adds another complication to what has been a difficult stretch for Aston Martin.

Last weekend in Mexico, both Stroll and teammate Fernando Alonso were told to stop their cars within the opening laps of the race.

The double retirement capped one of the team’s most difficult weekends of the season.

Aston Martin had shown decent pace in the AMR22 when the cars were running, but a string of mechanical failures prevented either driver from finishing.

Team chief trackside engineering officer Mike Krack addressed the media’s coverage of the team’s situation ahead of the Brazilian round.

Krack accused reporters of “generating a lot of distraction and a lot of fear unnecessarily.”

He was asked about how the unresolved security situation in the Middle East — where F1 is scheduled to end the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi — complicates planning for the team.

Krack said logistics and parts were not a major concern, but that staff safety was a valid question.

“Everybody reads the news, everybody reads the internet, and some news is correct, some is less serious,” Krack told media including RacingNews365.

“Unfortunately, these days you get the clicks when you bring the shocking news or the threatening news.”

He acknowledged that the team cannot give employees complete guarantees given the fluid situation in the region.

“But there are questions raised inside the team because there are families that are asking questions, so it’s a difficult subject, and the more reassurance we can give, the better it is,” Krack said.

“But you cannot always do that. You cannot always give 100 per cent reassurance because also often we don’t know ourselves what’s going to happen.”

Krack expressed support for F1 and the FIA to make the correct decisions on whether to race in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

“Now I discussed it in length with Andy [Stevenson] this morning, and we are really convinced that F1 is not going to take any unnecessary risks,” he said.

“They are aware of the situation. They have much better information than we have, and I think if there is a serious risk, I think they will take the correct action.”

Stroll’s illness comes during a grueling stretch of the calendar.

F1 is currently reaching the end of its second of three consecutive triple-headers to close the 2026 season.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen commented on the physical toll of the schedule after two drivers fell ill in Mexico.

“It is, of course, always quite tough on your body, like three weeks in a row,” Verstappen said.

“Sometimes you can get a little bit unlucky with whatever, a stomach bug. But it’s normally around this time of the year that not only drivers, but mechanics and people in the team get sick. Because your body can take a lot of stress. But at one point, of course, it also tells you when it needs a little recovery phase.”

Verstappen added that the hardest part is not being able to go home between races.

“That, for me, is nowadays something that I do not really enjoy about triple-headers,” he said.

Stroll is not the only driver skipping media day in Brazil.