Fernando Alonso opens up on fatherhood as F1 rival confirms hand injury | F1 | Sport

Fernando Alonso has confirmed that his partner and new child are “all fine” – while one of the babies of the Formula 1 grid is also riding high. Alonso missed media day and also first practice at Suzuka, to give him as much time at home as possible after partner Melissa Jimenez gave birth “about a week ago”.

After getting behind the wheel for FP2 in Japan on Friday, the 44-year-old reflected on becoming a father. He said: “Well, you never really imagine anything in particular, right? Everything comes as it comes – with a bit of stress and worry that everything would go well.

“But it went well, fortunately. Both the mother and the baby are fine and very happy. It’s a super happy, very special moment – and now, back to work.”

Instead the 19-year-old is not only competing against them, but beating them as Mercedes dominate the early stages of the new season. George Russell is the title favourite and got off to the perfect start in Melbourne, though Antonelli won his first Grand Prix in China last time out to remind his team-mate that he can be a threat.

The teenager has revealed he did so while wearing a protective brace on his left hand after suffering a ligament strain in a crash in Australia. Still wearing the strapping, he said the damage done was “nothing too bad”.

Antonelli said: “I can still drive. So that’s the most important thing. I did a scan. There’s nothing broken, just a ligament strain, but I just need to wear this to help it heal.” Mercedes said Antonelli is wearing the brace “as a precaution”.

Having won in China despite wearing it, Antonelli joked: “Maybe I should keep it for the whole year! When I drive, I’m okay to drive without it, so it’s nothing to worry about.”

Antonelli ended the day second on the timesheets, pipped to top spot by Oscar Piastri. Though even if McLaren are able to put up a fight in qualifying today, there still looks to be a significant performance chasm between Mercedes and the rest of the field when it comes to race pace.

Antonelli’s long run pace was two-and-a-half tenths faster than that of team-mate Russell, while no-one else got within six-tenths of the Italian’s average race simulation time. If he can continue to make the most of that edge for the rest of the weekend, then it may not be a long wait at all for win number two.