Aug.2 (GMM) Fernando Alonso sat out Friday practice in Hungary after sustaining a back injury at last weekend’s Belgian GP.
The 44-year-old – currently the oldest driver on the Formula 1 grid – hurt himself during the Spa race and underwent an MRI scan this week, revealing a muscular lesion on the left side of his back.
As he continued treatment on Friday morning, Aston Martin announced Alonso would skip FP1. “A decision will then be made on Fernando’s participation in FP2 and the remainder of the weekend in due course,” the team added.
Reserve driver Felipe Drugovich took his place for the session.
Alonso returned to the cockpit for FP2, telling Spanish media the team had limited his mileage and made some modifications for comfort.
“We changed the seat and we have some airbags that we can inflate and deflate. They’re working well,” he said. “Obviously, if you’re a normal person you’d be out for two weeks. But I think it’s manageable. I’m not in pain in the car, which is the most important thing.”
Aston Martin trackside boss Mike Krack said the team simply wanted to give their veteran more time to recover. “Every lap less is good,” he said.
“And since we only did a comparison between the floor and the nose in the first practice session anyway, missing it didn’t make much of a difference.”
Looking ahead to qualifying and the race, Krack added: “We’re confident it’ll be fine. With our calendar, there’s not much time to recover. Sometimes there’s not even time to sleep because you have to go somewhere.”
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