Aston Martin slams media for fear-mongering over Stroll's illness

Aston Martin has confirmed Lance Stroll will miss media day at the São Paulo Grand Prix due to a viral infection contracted in Mexico.

The team released 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 fit enough to drive in first practice on Friday.

But his absence adds another complication to what has been a difficult season for the Canadian driver.

Stroll currently sits 22nd in the drivers’ championship.

He is one of only three drivers yet to score a point in 2026.

The others are Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez.

Stroll has finished only three of the last ten races.

His last points finish came in the opening rounds of the season.

Since then, mechanical issues, crashes and now illness have derailed his campaign.

Aston Martin’s weekend in Mexico was one of its worst of the season.

Both Stroll and teammate Fernando Alonso were told to stop their cars in the opening laps.

The problems came after a string of failures, most notably on Alonso’s car, in the early stages of that weekend.

When the cars did run, Aston Martin showed decent pace in the AMR22.

That made the retirements even more frustrating for the team.

Now the Interlagos weekend has begun in similarly frustrating fashion.

Stroll’s illness follows a pattern of drivers falling sick in recent weeks.

In Mexico, Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Cadillac driver Valtteri Bottas both missed media day due to illness.

Antonelli went on to finish third in that race and clinch his maiden Formula 1 world title.

But he revealed afterward that he had been low on energy all weekend.

Max Verstappen blamed the toll of the current calendar after those two drivers were struck down.

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

“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.”

He added that this time of year often sees drivers, mechanics and team personnel fall ill.

“Your body can take a lot of stress,” Verstappen said.

“But at one point, of course, it also tells you when it needs a little recovery phase.”

Stroll’s situation has drawn attention beyond the illness itself.

Aston Martin’s chief trackside engineering officer, Mike Krack, recently criticized media coverage of the team’s broader situation.

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

The comment came in response to questions about F1’s planned season finale in the Middle East.

Formula 1 is scheduled to end the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi in late November and early December.

But the instability caused by the United States-Iran war has raised questions about whether those races will go ahead.

F1’s likely contingency plan is to move the final rounds to Imola.

Krack was asked how the unresolved situation affects planning for the team.

He was also asked whether Aston Martin staff are comfortable working in the war-torn region.

Krack said logistics and parts are not the main concern.

“You just plan quantities, and then it’s about getting them there,” he said.

But he acknowledged the staff question is a valid one.

“Everybody reads the news, everybody reads the internet, and some news is correct, some is less serious,” Krack said.

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

He admitted the team cannot give employees complete guarantees given the fluid situation.

“There are questions raised inside the team because there are families that are asking questions,” Krack said.

“It’s a difficult subject, and the more reassurance we can give, the better it is.