Alonso back in action after skipping FP1 with injury

Fernando Alonso returned to his Aston Martin on Friday afternoon in Hungary, having sat out the opening practice session due to a back injury sustained at Spa.

The 44-year-old Spaniard, currently the oldest driver on the Formula 1 grid, underwent an MRI scan earlier in the week which revealed a muscular lesion on the left side of his back. As treatment continued on Friday morning, Aston Martin confirmed he would not take part in FP1.

"A decision will then be made on Fernando's participation in FP2 and the remainder of the weekend in due course," the team said.

Reserve driver Felipe Drugovich stepped in for the session, but Alonso was back behind the wheel for FP2, albeit with limited mileage and ergonomic modifications.

"We changed the seat and we have some airbags that we can inflate and deflate. They're working well," Alonso told Spanish media. "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's Mike Krack said the priority was recovery, not track time.

"Every lap less is good," said the trackside boss. "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, 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."]]>