Fernando Alonso has privately been dealing with ‘chronic’ injury for ‘some time’

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Fernando Alonso was forced to retire from the Canadian Grand Prix due to an issue with his seat, but it appears an injury played a huge role in that.

Coming into the Canadian Grand Prix, there were reports that Aston Martin were in ‘pre-season testing’ mode when it came to the progress they’ve made on the AMR26.

However, with the performance he delivered in Montreal, Fernando Alonso stunned Aston Martin officials by finishing in the top 10 in FP1, and getting Aston Martin to SQ2 in Sprint Qualifying.

Many saw Fernando Alonso’s performance and felt that it could mark a serious turning point in Aston Martin’s season.

However, his retirement at the Canadian Grand Prix due to an issue with his seat appeared to bring the team back down to earth. But it turns out the issue stemmed from a long-running injury.

READ MORE: Honda saw ‘positive signs’ from AMR26 as Fernando Alonso delivers season-best performance

Fernando Alonso’s DNF at Canadian Grand Prix caused by a ‘chronic’ issue he has had for ‘some time’

According to Marco Canseco of MARCA, one of the reasons Fernando Alonso deemed his seat in the AMR26 an issue was possibly due to his cushioning.

Alonso uses a special inflatable lumbar cushion in his seat, which can be adjusted with a knob. The speculation is that the seat’s positioning caused the cushions to deflate.

These cushions are being used to help alleviate some of the chronic lower back pain that Alonso has been dealing with for a long time.

This lower chronic back pain is speculated to have come about due to Alonso struggling to handle the instability of his car at bumpy tracks like Austin and Spa.

In fact, Alonso struggled so much at Spa last year that he had to be replaced by Felipe Drugovich in FP1 after driving extensively in the wet conditions in Belgium.

READ MORE: Damon Hill names the one F1 driver who doesn’t even need a race engineer

Which racing series do you want to see Fernando Alonso conquer after Formula 1?

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Fernando Alonso still managing to deliver results despite chronic pain issues

For Alonso to be struggling with chronic pain for such a long time, and still manage to deliver some strong results over the Canadian Grand Prix is nothing short of impressive.

Alonso showed his eternal class in Montreal by getting the most out of the AMR26, a car most, if not all, of the paddock agree is not even close to its full potential.

Even with Honda being allowed to exceed the cost cap to try and fix the issues with their power unit, progress has been slow.

But even with concerns about Honda’s workforce, Alonso is managing to deliver some much-needed results for Aston Martin.