FERNANDO ALONSO has given a health update after he was seen being helped from his car after the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The Formula One veteran, 43, had a weekend to forget in the rain at the Sao Paulo circuit as he finished 18th and 14th in the sprint race and feature race respectively.
Alonso had been forced to miss media day on Thursday with an intestinal infection, days after becoming the first driver to reach 400 F1 race starts at the Mexico Grand Prix.
He recovered in time to compete in the full weekend’s double bill of sprint and feature events from Friday through to Sunday.
However, during the latter stages of the Sunday race, Alonso was heard complaining about a bad back after experiencing a lot of bouncing in the car while out on the resurfaced track.
After crashing out in qualifying and causing a red flag, the Aston Martin mechanics had worked tirelessly to repair the Spaniard’s car for the race.
Alonso was heard on the team radio saying he would finish the race for the mechanics following their hard work.
He was heard saying: “I will finish the race for the mechanics. They did a very good job today.
“But my back is hurting, man. This bouncing is not normal.”
When back in the pit lane after the race was won by Max Verstappen, Alonso was seen clearly in pain as he was helped from his car by mechanics, and was seen hugging one before walking off.
Alonso issued an update on his health when speaking to media after the race, while he also paid an emotional tribute to the victims of the Valencia flooding, where the death toll has reached well over 200.
He said: “It’s the same day for everyone. We’ve done the work ourselves.
“The car bounced a lot in the second part of the race and the truth is that in normal conditions it wouldn’t have finished.
“But it had to be done for the mechanics, for me too, who suffered a bit before arriving here, for the people in Valencia, for the people who are in worse situations than the bounce I had today.”
Alonso sits down in ninth in the driver standings with 62 points to his name.
This is double the amount of the next driver outside of the top four teams – Nico Hulkenberg’s haul of 31 points for Haas.
F1 is now on a three-week break before the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 24.
That will kick-start a triple-header to end the season, with Verstappen currently on course to win the drivers’ title ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
