Gene did make trip to Canada
The Spaniard was hospitalised following a huge shunt in Le Mans testing recently, and was ordered to rest by doctors so that he is fit to contest the famous race for Peugeot this weekend.
"I'm not quite a hundred per cent but I'm close," the Spaniard told the news agency EFE at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Although not on official reserve driver duty for Ferrari in Canada, Gene commentated for the Italian sports channel Sky.
"The team told me not to worry, but I preferred to come anyway," Gene, 34, smiled.
In his column for the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, meanwhile, Gene backed the stewards' decision to penalise Lewis Hamilton following his shunt with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in the pitlane.
But he also thinks the incident is yet another example of the "absurd and very confusing" current safety car rules.
Gene also wrote that he is surprised about the current form of his countryman and former double world champion Fernando Alonso.
"I have never seen him commit two errors in succession like this," Gene said, referring to the Renault driver's clash with Nick Heidfeld at Monaco, and his spin into the wall on Sunday.
"These are the kinds of races where you have to use your head," he added.