Alonso’s Accident: Briatore Considers Steering Problem
Close to Fernando Alonso, Flavio Briatore spoke about his accident during the Barcelona private tests, which resulted in a concussion and the Spanish driver's withdrawal from the Australian F1 GP. He does not rule out any possibility, except for a health issue.
Fernando Alonso’s manager, Flavio Briatore, spoke about the February 22nd accident that resulted in his driver’s injury and withdrawal from the first race of the season. While he dismisses the theory of a medical issue, he remains skeptical about the cause of the crash.
McLaren announced that the incident was not due to a mechanical issue but to a trajectory error – going too wide, causing the car to bite onto the Astroturf strip at turn 3 – coupled with strong gusts of wind.
A persistent rumor suggests that Alonso’s discomfort actually hides a more serious physical problem. Briatore denies this on an Italian channel, reported by the BBC: “If Fernando had had a problem, a heart problem, a minor stroke, a blood clot… it could happen even to a great athlete. We have seen that absolutely all the examinations and tests performed on the driver have been negative.”
« People say a lot of things; that he woke up and said « I am young and I drive a kart ». It’s nonsense. El Pais [a Spanish daily newspaper, editor’s note] wrote that and everyone picked it up because it was almost funny. There was a moment when he lost his memory a bit, but it lasted 2 or 3 days. If Fernando had had problems, the doctors would have discovered them. If he had fainted, they would have seen it. We did hours of tests with the best specialists in Europe, » claims the former director of Benetton and Renault.
Regarding the accident in particular, Flavio Briatore explains having had access to the footage: “I saw images, which Bernie Ecclestone sent me, where we see that the impact is not that significant. Vettel is behind, he passes, and you see Fernando crashing for no apparent reason. We need to see if there’s a steering problem. We have no information on this from McLaren. The accident, if you see it, you don’t say: ‘Mamma mia, what a crash.’ It’s the kind of accident you see all the time.” Nevertheless, he believes the impact was not so trivial: “The angle at which the car hit the wall could have been bad for Fernando. The impact was hard.”
Another rumor against McLaren’s version is that of the driver’s electrocution. The manager does not rule it out: The FIA is investigating the accident. I hope that’s not the case, but if there was an electrical problem, they need to say so because it can happen to other drivers. We need to know what happened for everyone’s peace of mind. However, he states that the system designed to prevent this was not engaged, suggesting that an electrical leak remains unlikely: But you all know there is a safety system [at the electrical circuit level]; it was not activated in Fernando’s case.
Finally, he commented on the mindset of the double-world champion currently at home in Dubai to rest: Fernando is very confident. He says that when the car was working, it was good. If you remember, McLaren is not that strong at the beginning of the season. When we were fighting them for the title, I always said: Guys, they have an incredible ability to develop mid-season. Honda will bring all the human and financial resources to ensure the engine is competitive. And the McLaren chassis will be competitive.
