Formula 1, Sportrik Media - Lance Stroll has been officially granted permission by the FIA to compete in the 2026 Australian Grand Prix despite missing all of Saturday’s track sessions at Albert Park. The Aston Martin driver was unable to participate in FP3 and qualifying after an engine-related issue left his AMR26 stranded in the garage.
Stroll completed only 16 laps across the entire Melbourne weekend as Aston Martin mechanics worked extensively to resolve the technical problem. Because he did not take part in qualifying, the Canadian driver failed to record a lap time within 107 percent of the pole position set by George Russell, which was 1:18.518.
Under Formula 1 sporting regulations, teams must request special permission from the stewards if a driver fails to meet the 107 percent rule during qualifying. Aston Martin therefore submitted evidence demonstrating that the car had the pace required to meet the threshold under normal conditions.
One key piece of evidence was the qualifying result of Fernando Alonso, who secured 17th place on the grid ahead of both cars from Cadillac. The team also presented Stroll’s career record as supporting documentation during the review process.
Aston Martin revealed that Stroll had completed 859 kilometers of running in the car during testing and earlier sessions. In addition, the Canadian driver brings significant experience with 178 Formula 1 race starts and seven previous appearances at the Australian Grand Prix.
The team further explained that a damaged oil line forced them to keep the car in the garage during Saturday’s sessions as a precautionary measure to prevent further mechanical damage.
After reviewing all submitted evidence, the FIA stewards ultimately approved Stroll’s request to start the race on Sunday in Melbourne.
The same approval process was also applied to Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen, both of whom failed to set a lap time in Q1. Sainz encountered a systems glitch during FP3, while Verstappen crashed at Turn 1 in Q1 following a car-related issue.
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