Fernando Alonso had a rather uneventful race in São Paulo. After a relatively good qualification – aside from a late crash – he started from P9. However, during the race, Alonso fell back to fourteenth place. The Spanish star complained over the radio about the extremely uncomfortable driving characteristics of his Aston Martin. In particular, the bouncing of the car was said to have been very painful.
“I’m finishing this race for the mechanics,” Fernando Alonso told his race engineer on Sunday. The GP in São Paulo was a gruelling ride for the Spanish star – his voice indicated that he was experiencing quite a bit of pain. “My back hurts so much, man,” he concluded the message. “This bouncing is not normal.” After the race, he confirmed once again that it had indeed been a torture in the Aston Martin.
“The car was bouncing and porpoising a lot in the second half of the race,” Alonso explained to the press. “I don’t know why – it was such a tough race. Normally, I would probably have stopped,” he admitted honestly. “But the mechanics did an incredible job to repair the car in time for the race. I had to finish it for them.”
Intestinal Infection
Fernando Alonso knew ahead of the race weekend that it would be a tough few days in Brazil. The sprint format naturally always causes extra chaos, but the two-time world champion was also dealing with an intestinal infection. He even had to call in sick for his media obligations and flew back and forth to Europe during the week.
“It took a lot of preparation to be able to race this weekend,” Alonso explained. “I’m talking about many checks, a lot of physiotherapy, and many doctor’s visits – so it was a gruelling weekend for everyone. At the same time, I also realize that there are people who are worse off than I am,” he concluded gratefully. “Think, for example, of all those people in Valencia.” The Spanish city and its surroundings have been hit by severe floods in recent weeks.
