The awkward moment when Magnussen beats Button at Australia It's unlikely considering last year, but it would put a lot of pressure on Mclaren. Would they make it so Button has to beat Kevin?
Exactly my thoughts too. The McLaren will do well to even complete half the race, and even then at reduced power. Where's the sense in taking the risk? I do get the feeling there is something "worse" than being mentioned, could just be simple as feeling dizzy now and then still. He is totally fine and just needs time to get back 100% than taking risks with the doubt he'd even be up to speed. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31627619 Reckon that article sums up why they are being super careful, and then Bianchi too still fresh in the memory....
Another intrigue might be that it was all Bernie's idea? – Perhaps egged-on by his old mate Flavio (who still seems to influence Alonso)? Nothing better to usher in a new season, eh? – Especially if it upsets Ron Dennis at the same time…
He was in hospital for an unusually long time, which makes me think his concussion wasn't quite as straight forward as the team, docs and Alonso are letting on. He must have taken quite a knock.
I still don't think he was electrocuted, given what his racing suit is made of. Bit I think theres a lot more to this.
well If Alonso did say he had a shock in the back then could it be related to this old injury? http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/24798485 Here is a quote from Grosjean too: '"Almost always you crash with some sort of angle,resulting in damage. But when you hit the wall completely parallel, and the car does not break, suddenly all of the energy that is supposed to be absorbed by the carbon is absorbed completely by Fernando," '
Something about this saga doesn't add up. Without wanting to add to speculation, there seems to be one consistent theme: Alonso lost consciousness. The question then, assuming this to be true, is just when did this occur? Concussion can be a serious problem and is usually the result of a direct blow to the head, rather than a lateral whiplash. It seems clear that after leaving the track, the McLaren ran along the wall after one or more lateral contacts with it. That being the case, any impact to the head other than contact with the HANS device was not with the wall itself, leaving only the 'debris' option. Bear in mind that the front of the car was largely intact. The various reported statements, along with press releases from McLaren do seem to have inconsistencies. The manner in which Alonso left the track and ran along the wall seems consistent with two very different possible causes: Losing traction at the rear after running wide (which could result from a strong gust of wind), initially alters the attitude of a vehicle (oversteer). However, it does not necessarily lead to a spin because various other frictional forces can act to counter the initial loss. One of the most commonly seen outcomes is 'spearing off' in the other direction as traction is suddenly regained - toward the inside of the corner. Losing consciousness. This could easily lead to replicating the above.
The other think to remember is that the cockpit sides have been raised over the years to protect the drivers head from tyres and cars. I am guessing that as he hit the wall sideways his head struck the cockpit side closest to the wall and then 'bounced' back and hit the other cockpit side.
If there was a head impact then you would expect there to be helmet damage and I have no doubt we would have seen evidence of this if so. As Cosi states, not only the accident but the continuation along the wall would indicate no control and the rumours all seem to come back to some sort of balckout, either before, during or after.
A drivers head has very little movement thanks to the cockpit sides and HANS device, therefore a lateral swipe against the wall alone is unlikely to result in unconsciousness as the head will not have 'rattled' around that much from side to side. How he actually hit the wall has never fully been explained. Vettel said it was strange, but never actually said that Alonso had spun the car. The picture of him swiping the wall certainly looks like he had just brushed the wall and then skated along it, causing the minimal damage that it did. McLaren say he was conscious as he was braking and changing down, but as Cosi has said, even a momentary amount of unconsciousness could have led to the car going off as it did, Alonso then quickly coming back round and trying to minimise any impact/damage. The theory that an electric shock caused the accident will never go away until full data has been released by McLaren. Or was the car data corrupted by an electric overload...........
He either passed out or was shocked. Anything other than that and I would be suprised. The length of recovery says it all. He has had bigger knocks than that in the past.
Gotta hope he didn't lose consciousness behind the wheel. If it was a shock from the vehicle, I'm not sure McLaren would risk trying to cover that up given recent run-ins with the governing body.
Sports Bild reckon we could have an Indy 2005 on our hands, with some teams encouraging their drivers to boycott the race until the FIA officially investigate the Alonso incident. http://www.grandprix247.com/2015/03/05/teams-threatening-melbourne-boycott-over-alonso-crash/
