Lance Stroll exits Singapore Grand Prix following deadly qualifying crash

Lance Stroll withdrew from the Singapore Grand Prix hours before the race was scheduled to start on Sunday following a severe crash in qualifying that totalled his Aston Martin.

Stroll was making a strong effort to advance from the first qualifying session on Saturday night at the Marina Bay Street circuit when he lost control of his vehicle after hitting the kerbs at the final turn and slammed into the barriers across from the pit lane.

Red flags stopped the session when the wrecked vehicle with Stroll inside bounced back onto the circuit and was just avoided by Lando Norris' McLaren.

The 24-year-old Canadian driver got out of the car unaided and later was cleared of injury by the official Formula One medical team, AFP reported.

Just before the start of Sunday's night race in Singapore, the Aston Martin team released a statement stating that Stroll would not be participating due to not being fully recovered.

They wanted him to recuperate completely before the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka next weekend.

"Following Lance's crash in qualifying during the Singapore Grand Prix, Lance and Aston Martin have jointly agreed that he will not participate in the Singapore Grand Prix this evening," Aston Martin said.

"The team face a huge job repairing the car today and understandably Lance is still sore following such a high impact. Lance's focus now shifts to fully recovering ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix."

Meanwhile, team principal Mike Krack said: "Lance is still feeling the after-effects of such a high-impact crash.

"Our priority now is that he makes a full and speedy recovery. Together, we have decided that he will sit out this evening's race and instead focus fully on returning to the cockpit for next weekend's Japanese Grand Prix."

Stroll crashed after posting a lap on his first attempt that was 0.813 seconds slower than teammate Fernando Alonso's.

He was attempting to avoid becoming one of the five drivers who were eliminated at the conclusion of the first session, BBC reported.

With 47 points to Alonso's 170, Stroll is tenth in the drivers' standings. The Spaniard, who qualified for Sunday's race in seventh place, is third behind the two Red Bull drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.