Fernando Alonso reveals F1 ‘setback’ after gruelling Brazilian Grand Prix
At 43, is Fernando Alonso starting to look his age?
Fernando Alonso has admitted that his uncomfortable ride in the Brazilian Grand Prix has proven a “setback” in his recovery from his other recent physical woes.
Having started ninth after a crash in the delayed Sunday morning qualifying session, Alonso endured a challenging race en route to a distant 14th place in Sao Paulo.
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With his Aston Martin car struggling with extreme porpoising, Alonso was heard issuing an anguished team radio message to his team in the closing laps.
“I will finish the race for the mechanics,” the two-time World Champion said. “They did a very good job today.
“But my back is hurting, man. This bouncing is not normal.”
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Footage filmed by a fan in parc ferme showed Alonso struggling to haul himself out of his car at the end of the race, with the 43-year-old resting on the halo of his car for approximately 15 seconds.
Alonso’s discomfort came after he missed Thursday’s media session for the second race running, with Aston Martin confirming he had delayed his arrival in Brazil to see a specialist over an “intestinal infection.”
Speaking after the race in Sao Paulo, Alonso admitted his body suffered a “setback” over the course of the grand prix, having felt compelled to fight through the pain barrier as a tribute to the people affected by flooding in the Spanish city of Valencia.
He said: “It was painful, for sure.
“The lead into this race was a lot of preparation from my side, a lot of checks, a lot of work, a lot of physio, doctors in order to come here to Brazil, so it was a lot of effort from everybody. Same effort as the mechanics [put in] today.
“It was not comfortable in the car, but there are people worse than me.
“Also in Valencia, we have these terrible images and people struggling, so I had to struggle through a couple of laps for everybody.
“All the checks have been done. I check everything the last two or three days. We did a lot of work on my condition.
“I think after this race we we have a setback, for sure, on my body. So for the next four or five days, we have to to reset everything.”
Alonso went on to admit that he would have considered withdrawing from the race in normal circumstances but wanted to finish the race in a show of solidarity to his mechanics, who worked to repair his car following his qualifying accident.
He said: “It was a lot of bouncing, a lot of porpoising in the second half of the race. I don’t know why.
“It was a tough race, we were out of the points. I think in any other circumstances, probably I would have stopped.
“But the mechanics did an incredible job before the race to put the car ready on the grid, so I had to finish for them, But it was a difficult race.
“After this morning, we had to go back to a less-performing package on the car, so the race was a little bit of a slower pace from our side.
“Then we had a brake issue – I think Lance [Stroll] had a brake problem in the formation lap – and I had the brake issue after all the restarts, where the brake balance goes completely rearwards. It’s like braking with a handbrake.
“So all in all it was a nightmare out there, but we need to get better for the next three [races].”
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