Fernando Alonso will participate in the rest of the Formula 1 weekend after missing media day due to illness, as confirmed by Aston Martin.
The Spanish driver, who is marking his 400th race entry this weekend, had to skip his media obligations on Thursday because of his illness but will be back on track starting with FP2.
The timing of Alonso’s illness was somewhat lucky since he was already scheduled to miss FP1, with Aston rookie Felipe Drugovich driving as part of the FIA-mandated young driver sessions.
Once Drugovich gets out of the car, and as long as he returns it in one piece, Alonso will resume driving as normal after Aston Martin cleared him medically.
“Fernando Alonso is returning to the paddock today and is due to drive in FP2 as planned,” the team stated.
As he approaches his 400th race, Alonso shared that when he first entered the sport back in 2001, he initially considered retiring after the 2009 season.
Yet here he is, 15 years later! “To reach 400 now is a big number,” Alonso told the Beyond The Grid podcast.
“It shows my passion for the sport and for F1.
“Knowing that no one has reached that number before, maybe someone will in the future, but not many—let’s say a group of five or ten at most—shows my love for racing, for F1, and how much I enjoy this lifestyle and motor racing in general.”
“I think that guy in 2001 wasn’t really thinking too much about the future. The dream was coming alive, driving in F1, my first race.”
