Fernando Alonso has paid an emotional tribute to his long-serving physiotherapist Fabrizio Borra, who has died at the age of 64 after a year-long battle with cancer.
Borra passed away on Sunday morning in the Italian city of Forlì, according to a report from Corriere della Sera.
A familiar face in the Formula 1 paddock, he had worked alongside Alonso throughout his entire career – from his debut at Minardi in 2001 until his stint at Aston Martin.
The Spaniard shared a heartfelt message on social media in memory of the man who had been by his side for over two decades.
“I’ll miss you, Fabri. Every day. Thank you for teaching me so much and making me a better person and athlete,” Alonso penned.
“My whole career with you has been the greatest good fortune I could have. Rest in peace, brother.”
Borra’s impact stretched far beyond his work with Alonso. He was at the centre of one of F1’s most infamous weekends — the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix — when McLaren boss Ron Dennis confronted him in the garage after Alonso held up Lewis Hamilton in qualifying. But that was only a flashpoint in a much wider career that reached across disciplines.
He helped Michael Schumacher recover from the broken leg he suffered at Silverstone in 1999, worked closely with MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso, and provided support to cycling icon Marco Pantani.
His approach blended elite-level physical training with tailored rehabilitation methods, earning him a reputation as one of the best in the business – not just in motorsport, but also in entertainment, where he worked with musicians and performers alike.
Italian singer-songwriter Jovanotti, a close friend and client of Borra for nearly three decades, posted an emotional farewell of his own: “This morning at dawn the ‘coach’ left us. We had been friends and worked together since 1996, and until a few days ago, as long as he was able to stand, he kept me and all his ‘athletes’ on their feet.
“He was an undisputed leader for physiotherapists and coaches, an innovator who was able to fuse different knowledge to create his own method that differed according to the psychophysical characteristics of those who asked for his help.
“He has whipped champions of every sport and every performative art in which the body is an instrument that has to feel good in order to express itself at its best.”
Jovanotti also revealed that Borra had been working on a book before his diagnosis, intending to pass on the knowledge he’d gained from years of treating elite athletes and everyday patients alike.
“Before he fell ill a year ago, he was working on a book to tell his colleagues about his experience with champion athletes of all disciplines and people of all types grappling with situations that are often difficult to recover and bodies to rehabilitate and ‘tune up’.”
He added: “We laughed and cried together, we suffered and rejoiced together, he helped me overcome obstacles and we never lost our lightness and confidence. His lesson remains for all of us who knew him and were helped by him: head up and move forward, smile, welcome, humanity and study every day – the rest is not for us to decide.”
Borra is survived by his wife Enia and sons Luca and Daniele, who now run the Fisiology Center he established in the Grigioni area of Forlì. He is understood to have visited last year’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza following what was described as a difficult operation – a final paddock appearance for a man who had given his life to supporting others behind the scenes.
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