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A second week has begun with the saga surrounding Fernando Alonso's testing crash still high in the headlines. The most important issue, of course, is the McLaren-Honda driver's health, and Spanish media report that he will visit doctors - probably in his native Oviedo where he has been recuperating - within the next two or three days.
If he gets the green light, Alonso will travel to Australia where he will then have to undergo official FIA medical checks before driving in Melbourne.
In the press, meanwhile, controversy continues to rage.
Spain's El Mundo newspaper has reportedly angered McLaren by claiming Alonso, who has no memory of the crash, is demanding the team tell him what actually happened in Barcelona's turn 3 when he lost control.
The report said the 33-year-old "and his people are convinced something went wrong with the car" and want assurances the same thing will not happen again.
El Mundo cited Circuit de Catalunya sources who said although CCTV recordings of the crash are low in quality, they do depict the "strange trajectory" of the car.
"It would be interesting to say my opinion," Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg told La Gazzetta dello Sport, "but I cannot.
"You always have a bit of fear, but this episode has not increased it, because I don't know what happened. No one knows," the German added, "perhaps not even Fernando."
Team boss Eric Boullier, however, repeated McLaren supremo Ron Dennis' claim recently that the Woking based outfit is not hiding anything.
"I have read and heard a lot of things, especially from the Italian and Spanish press," he said, "and 90 per cent of it is false."
So for now, all eyes are firmly on Alonso, and the question of whether or not he will be declared fit to race in Australia.
"I know my father has spoken with (his manager) Luis Garcia Abad, and everything appears that Fernando will be in Australia," said fellow Spaniard and friend Carlos Sainz.
"It is very important for me to be with him there and hopefully he will be," he is quoted by El Confidencial newspaper.
As for the reportedly bizarre circumstances of the crash, Sainz added: "Honestly, everything seems to be as they (McLaren) said it was. I had a very similar accident.
"It was a very difficult day with the wind; on one lap it was 30kph, the next 80kph.
"I think it was an unfortunate accident with a type of collision that hurt the driver. It is time to stop the speculation," Sainz added.
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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Replies (2)
Login to replykhasmir
Posts: 893
I don't believe Alonso would be making such demands to McLaren, certainly not in public. Neither Alonso nor McLaren can afford to mess up their relationship at this point.
It would help if McLaren were a bit more open and more quick to provide info. If they have nothing to hide then releasing the telemetry data can finally put an end to these endless conspiracy theories...
BtwnDitches
Posts: 204
As I have written elsewhere (these pages), I think that Honda's inability to "tame" its new PU is doing more damage to the Alonso-McLaren relationship than anything else right now. Nothing keeps ALonso going like a car that's competitive and ready to run. I think the inverse is also true. More "third-rate team" depression stacked on top of his recent side-impact injuries.
Could be interesting if Hamilton continues to overload his contract-continuation negotiations with visions of extreme compensation, botches them, and all of a sudden Mercedes needs another top driver while the McLaren-Honda team piddles around in the pits. McLaren is the one in jeapardy, I think.