Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso paid tribute to the victims of the flooding crisis in Valencia after he experienced a “painful” Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Sunday at Interlagos was a dismal affair for Alonso.
After crashing out in Sunday morning’s delayed qualifying session, Alonso’s mechanics worked tirelessly to turn the Spaniard’s AMR24 around in time for the race.
Alonso spent the majority of that race at the back of the field and his AMR24 didn’t sit well with the bumpy resurfacing at Interlagos.
“I will finish the race for the mechanics,” Alonso told his race engineer with a handful of laps to go. “They did a great job today. But my back is hurting man”
Explaining the issue post-race, Alonso said “It was a lot of bouncing, a lot of focussing in the second half of the race, I don’t know why.
“So yeah, it was a tough race, we were out of the points, I think in any other circumstances probably I would have stopped.
“But the mechanics did an incredible job before the race to put the car ready on the grid, so I had to finish for them.”
‘People worse off than me,’ Alonso acknowledged
Alonso’s GP weekend in Brazil was interrupted by a trip back to Europe in the build-up for treatment of an intestinal infection.
The Spaniard missed media day, but made it back in time for Friday’s running, with his efforts culminating in physical discomfort.
Despite it being a “painful” experience that required a lot from him and his Aston Martin mechanics – Alonso acknowledged there was no comparison to the flooding crisis in Valencia.
The city of Valencia in Spain brought Alonso one of his most memorable victories in 2012.
Tragically, last week brought in severe flooding that has devastated the city and brought a death toll beyond 200 souls.
“It was painful for sure, and the lead into this race was a lot of preparation from my side, a lot of checks, a lot of work, a lot of physio, doctors, in order to come here in Brazil, so it was a lot of effort from everybody,” Alonso explained.
“Same effort as the mechanics put in today, so yeah, it was not comfortable with the car, but there are people worse than me, also in Valencia, we have these terrible images and people struggling, so I had to struggle a couple of laps for everybody.”
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