Malaysia 2009: Fernando Alonso Battles On Despite Ear Infection

It has been reported that Fernando Alonso is carrying an ear infection this weekend, which explains his unusual practice performance this morning. In the first session, Alonso only managed twelve laps and a sixteenth fastest time, and in the second the Spaniard completed just twenty (in comparison to others who managed 35-40) and set the fifteenth fastest time. In both practice runs, team mate Nelson Piquet Jr. finished ahead.

Malaysia is a very demanding race, not necessarily because of the circuit but because of the heat and humidity. It is regularly the hottest race of the year and the only time you will really see the drivers actually looking tired when they get out of the cockpit. Carrying an ear infection is not good for the Spaniard, but the double world champion is hopeful it will clear up for tomorrow’s qualifying sessions and for Sunday’s race.

We tried not to do too many laps today as I wasn’t feeling 100 percent.

It’s a very demanding weekend in terms of the heat because we sweat so much but it was important we still got enough information.

Hopefully I will recover more this evening and feel better tomorrow so I can give my maximum for qualifying which I think will be one of the most important parts of the weekend. We need to be ready for that. Fernando Alonso.

It isn’t the first time a driver has carried an illness into a race; last year Felipe Massa had trouble with his neck following a sneezing incident in an elevator.