A McLaren spokesman confirmed later hospital scans had shown Alonso is “uninjured”
and it is not yet decided if he will stay overnight.
It marked yet more disappointment for Alonso and McLaren, particularly in
front of the 33-year-old’s thousands of adoring fans, who did not take long
to head for the exit after his crash at 12:35 local time.
Alonso had already been forced to sit out the first two hours of the final day
of the second test while Honda, McLaren’s new partners, tried to fix their
defective engine. The Spaniard had managed just 20 laps before Sunday’s
accident and little mileage compared to the other big teams so far in
pre-season.
Time is running out for the team, with just four more days of testing before
the first race of the season in Melbourne on March 15. Opinion remains
divided on whether McLaren-Honda can rekindle the dominance of their famous
association in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with Ayrton Senna at the
wheel.
Fernando Alonso is taken to hospital by an air ambulance (GETTY IMAGES)
Jenson Button, Alonso’s team-mate, has conceded McLaren will not have a
race-winning car by Australia but was optimistic about their chances for the
rest of 2015. “I know we will not have a race-winning car at the first race,
but we could have one by the last race,” Button said. You’re going to see
big improvements from us. This is a very different situation to the last two
years.”
While Alonso’s McLaren have struggled, his old team, Ferrari, have been the
surprise package of pre-season, and are now being tipped as potential
challengers to world champions Mercedes.