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Lance Stroll

FIA make major Lance Stroll decision over Australian GP start

The team were forced to ask permission of the FIA to take part in the race.

Stroll Bahrain test Week 2 Day 3
Article
To news overview © XPBimages

The FIA has formally granted Lance Stroll permission to take part in the Australian Grand Prix after missing all of Saturday's on-track running.

Stroll missed FP3 and qualifying at Albert Park as engine trouble left his Aston Martin stricken in the garage, whilst the team tried to fix the AMR26, with the Canadian completing just 16 laps all weekend. 

As he therefore did not set a time within 107% of George Russell's pole position of 1:18.518 a 1:24.014), the team was required to request permission for Stroll to race.

As part of the evidence supplied, the team proved it was capable of achieving such a time as Fernando Alonso qualified in 17th ahead of both Cadillac drivers, with Stroll's CV also used.

His 859km of running in the car, 178 race starts and seven Australian GP appearances were counted, as the team revealed a damaged oil line was the reason he was kept in the garage "out of prudence."

Considering all the evidence, Stroll was given permission to race.

The same process was followed for Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen, who also both failed to set a lap-time in Q1. 

Sainz suffered a systems glitch in FP3, whilst Verstappen crashed out at Turn 1 in Q1 due to a car fault.

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aus Australian GP 08 Mar 2026
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usa Miami GP 03 May 2026
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RESULTS 2026 F1 Australian Grand Prix - Qualifying