Twice World Champions Fernando Alonso walked away unharmed from a horrifying crash that disintegrated his McLaren car in a incident-full Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Sunday.
The 34-year old Spaniard, who was competing in his 253rd F1 race was visibly shaken but remarkably escaped unhurt after his car rolled and slammed into a barrier after clipping the Haas car of Mexican Esteban Gutierrez on lap 17 of the 57-lap season opener.
Alonso’s McLaren initially veered into the wall on turn three before pitching into a series of violent rolls before it flew through the gravel trap and slammed into another barrier disintegrating upon impact.
“I feel good. It was a combination of factors and it ended up in a crash.” Alonso said. “But we are lucky both of us are okay. For the safety of those cars and the safety wall is why I am alive. I think it was a racing thing and sometime we forget we are going at 300 KMPH.”
“Thankfully we are all ok. It was a very, very scary moment. The first thing I saw in the mirror I was really worried. I jumped out as quickly as I could and ran to him. It was a big relief he was ok. ”
“We didn’t speak much. It was a real moment of shock for both of us. I just went to him to see everything was fine with him”.
Gutierrez also said that he was aware Alonso’s car was behind him on the track. “I braked into turn 3 and everything came by surprise at the rear. I need to see the video to understand what happened.”
McLaren-Honda boss Ron Dennis said “You never pre-judge anything after an accident like that. The cars are incredibly safe. It’s a testimony to the safety the sport follows.”