F1 take action to stop Lance Stroll rumour mill going into overdrive

The rumour mill was almost sent into overdrive when Felipe Drugovich, rather than Lance Stroll, featured on the United States GP signage, while Daniel Ricciardo also was not safe from the errors.

After a free weekend to recover from the extremely demanding Qatar Grand Prix, Formula 1 is preparing to return to action after descending on the Circuit of The Americas for the United States Grand Prix.

But, Formula 1 had a couple of glaring errors to correct first…

Lance Stroll has not lost Aston Martin seat to Felipe Drugovich

Ahead of media Thursday in Austin, images appeared on social media showing Aston Martin reserve Drugovich on the driver posters, rather than Fernando Alonso’s actual team-mate Stroll.

Here in Austin preparations for the #USGP are ongoing.

Interesting detail though, the posters around the COTA track show Felipe Drugovich alongside the rest of the drivers instead of Lance Stroll. 🤔#F1 #Formula1 #COTA pic.twitter.com/hhbCk9nUVj

— Valero (@ValeroRacing) October 18, 2023

Had Formula 1 let the cat out of the bag early? Stroll has suffered an alarming slump in form and was given a formal warning for his altercation in Qatar with trainer Henry Howe, triggering speculation that Stroll could be preparing to exit his father Lawrence’s Aston Martin team.

But, no, that was just an embarrassing error, with a follow-up then posted by the same source showing Drugovich’s section of the poster being taken down.

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Daniel Ricciardo name spelt wrong

That was not the only mishap though, with fans also taking to social media to highlight that Ricciardo’s name above his AlphaTauri garage had been spelt wrong.

between daniel's last name being spelled wrong, and drugo on the signage, COTA is having an incredible day pic.twitter.com/EyoRcV2im3

— meredith (@mereeedithh) October 18, 2023

Far from the welcome back the Aussie will have wanted, as he returns to the AT04 cockpit after missing the past four rounds while recovering from hand surgery.

The image showed that the ‘I’ had been missed out of his surname. He has not been gone that long!

Formula 1 and COTA will hope that these are the last of the bloopers this race weekend, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen goes in search of a 15th grand prix win of the season to match his record set last season.

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