Fernando Alonso issues health update after Australian GP

Fernando Alonso has given an update on his physical condition following the Australian Grand Prix, from which he retired.

Prior to the weekend, Aston Martin boss Adrian Newey revealed that due to vibrations from the Honda power unit, both Alonso and team-mate Lance Stroll risked "permanent nerve damage" in their fingers as a result. 

Newey said that Alonso felt he could do no more than 25 laps, with Stroll saying he felt his maximum was 15. 

In the event, Alonso initially retired before rejoining the race shortly afterwards, before stopping for good on Lap 21 of 58. 

Stroll also rejoined after stopping and completed 43 laps, finishing in a non-classified last place. His formal result will stand as an NC, and he was last of the 17 cars over the line. 

When asked about his physical state following Newey's revelation on Thursday of the vibrations, Alonso explained that the vibrations were still not fully resolved.

"It is similar to Bahrain, and it is not the best feeling with this level of vibration," Alonso told media, including RacingNews365.

"I think Honda thinks the vibrations on the battery are reduced since Bahrain, with some of the modifications, but that hasn't happened to the chassis yet because they need to isolate the battery in a different way. 

"So I think it will take a little more time, but we will try to do our best in China and do as many laps as possible to help the team.

"It will be no different, so I expect another tough weekend, but we cannot give up, we need to keep trying different solutions, especially on the chassis to try and get the package better because we are not optimising anything, so China will be another good opportunity."

Reflecting on the rest of his race, Alonso explained the unusual double retirement event he had after his rocket start up to 10th from 17th. 

"The start and the first two laps were the most enjoyable part of the race, being P10 for two laps was unexpected," he said.

"The starts are not the problem, whilst everyone else was struggling for the boost, it was a clean first lap for us. 

"We were completely out of position in P10, so I fell back to P17, and then we had a small issue on the data that we had to stop the car, and then we repaired it, and then went back out again, and another issue appeared, so we stopped for the second time."