Lance Stroll crashes in Belgian GP practice as heavy rain falls at Spa

The Aston Martin driver lost control driving up the famous Eau Rouge section of the racetrack

Lance Stroll crashed in practice in Belgium (Sky F1)

Lance Stroll was involved in a heavy crash during practice at the Belgian Grand Prix on a wet Saturday morning at Spa-Francorchamps.

The Canadian driver, 15 minutes into the third and final practice session, lost control of his Aston Martin car going up the famous Eau Rouge hill section.

The car aquaplaned off the circuit, spun and his left-side smashed into the barrier, resulting in his front-left wheel flying up and out of position.

The red flag was thrown, stopping the session with 45 minutes left. Now the Aston Martin mechanics have a race on to fix his broken suspension before qualifying.

Aston Martin said Stroll was taken for “routine precautionary checks” following the accident and his involvement in qualifying is in doubt after the damage sustained to his car.

The British team said later that Stroll had been released from the medical centre and is “OK”.

Max Verstappen was quickest in a session where running was irregular, with Oscar Piastri in second and Pierre Gasly in third.

Rain is expected to continue throughout the day ahead of qualifying this afternoon at 3pm (BST).