Fernando Alonso has given his account of his pre-season test crash which sheds more light on what happened that day, though some of it fails to fit with McLaren’s official explanation.
The Spaniard missed the final test and the first race of the season in order to fully recover from the concussion McLaren said he sustained in the accident. Alonso however said he remained conscious until he was in the Ambulance.
He also denied that the windy conditions were to blame, despite McLaren’s official report blaming the wind and a loss of traction. But Alonso remains adamant that a steering issue was the cause.
“I remember the accident and I remember everything the following day,” said Alonso on Thursday. “Obviously, with the team I have been working very closely on that and with the FIA, who were very helpful at all times. We were in close contact, all three parts, constantly and there is nothing in the data that is clear and we can spot and say that is the reason.
“But definitely we have a problem in the middle of turn three, a [steering] lock into the right and I approached the wall, braked at the last moment and downshifted from fifth to third and unfortunately in the data we are still missing some parts.
“I don’t know if you have seen the video, but even a hurricane would not have moved the car at that speed. Also, if you have any problem or medical issue, normally your body will lose its power and you will go straight to the outside and I went to the inside – in a Formula One car you still need to apply some effort to the steering wheel. That’s one thing.”
He denied various media reports that he woke up thinking he was a child again as well as other stories made up in the wake of his crash.
“Everything was more or less as a normal concussion. I had this concussion, went to the hospital – I went to the hospital in good condition – and there is a time that I don’t remember in the hospital from 16:00 to 18:00 or something, but everything was normal due to the medication they give you to go into the helicopter and to do tests at the hospital. Everything, as I said, was normal. I didn’t wake up in 1995, I didn’t wake up speaking in Italian, I didn’t wake up doing all these things that are out there [in the media].”
To support his claims that he wasn’t unconscious immediately after the crash, he says he was able to turn off the radio and ERS system prior to the marshals arrival.
“I can remember everything, I won’t go into every detail because it is going to be long but I remember everything – the Sunday morning with all the set-up changes and lap times.
“I think Vettel was in front of me before turn three but cut the chicane to let me go exiting the pit lane. After the hit I was kissing the wall for a while and then I switched off the radio first because it was on and then I switched off the master switch that we use for the batteries to switch off the ERS system so the marshals can touch the car. I was perfectly conscious at that time.
“I lost consciousness in the ambulance or clinic at the circuit, but the doctors said this is normal because the medication that they put you under for the transportation and the checks that they do in the hospital and MRI and evaluation needs this protocol and medication.” Asked how he could trust the car after an unexplained accident, Alonso said he was confident McLaren had taken every precaution to ensure it is safe.
“I fully trust the team and they have been one month looking at every component of the car, simulating the effects, doing so many tests and changing every single part that they had doubts about. I think we have the safest car right now because we thought they start as they did, and probably after one month I am the most checked driver, medically, in history. We should be fine, both of us.”
