Aston Martin issue Fernando Alonso medical update after illness in Mexico

Fernando Alonso will take part in the rest of the Formula 1 weekend having missed media day due to illness, Aston Martin have confirmed.

The Spaniard, who is celebrating his 400th race entry this weekend, was forced to skip his media duties on Thursday after illness but will be back in the car from FP2.

Fernando Alonso set to return to Mexican GP paddock

The timing of Alonso’s illness was fortunate in the fact that he was already due to sit out FP1 with Aston rookie Felipe Drugovich driving as part of the FIA-mandated young driver sessions.

But once Drugovich has jumped out of the car, and provided he returns it one piece, Alonso will be back driving as normal after Aston Martin gave him the medical all clear.

“Fernando Alonso is returning to the paddock today and is due to drive in FP2 as planned,” the team said.

Ahead of race entry number 400 for Alonso, he revealed that when he first joined the sport all the way back in 2001, his initial plan was to potentially retire after the 2009 season campaign.

Yet here he still is 15 years later!

“To reach 400 now is a big number,” Alonso told the Beyond The Grid podcast.

“It’s a way of demonstrating my passion for the sport and for F1.

“Knowing that no one reached that number in the past, maybe someone does in the future, but not many, let’s say a group of five or 10 maximum, it just demonstrates my love for racing, for F1, how much I enjoy this lifestyle, motor racing in general.”

“I think that guy in 2001, I was not really thinking too much in the future. The dream was coming alive, driving [in] F1, the first race.

“I didn’t have a clear roadmap into my career. I didn’t know exactly what was the next race, what will be my next team. I was improvising [and] every weekend was a new adventure.

“What I would say is that when I won the championship in 2006 and then I joined McLaren, I had a three-year contract for 2007, ’08 and ’09, and I was 99% sure that 2009 would be my last F1 season.

“That was my very clear plan in my head.”

Read next: Fernando Alonso lifts lid on secret Adrian Newey ‘meetings’ over Red Bull near miss