The Spanish Fernando Alonso (McLaren), double Formula One world champion, who this Sunday suffered a spectacular accident from which he was fortunately unharmed at the Australian Grand Prix, at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, said that he is “aware “That he spent” one of the lives “that” remained “to him.
“I am aware that today I have spent one of my remaining lives, I want to thank McLaren (his team), the FIA (International Automobile Federation) for the current safety of the cars. To my teammates and fans for the concern shown and unconditional support, “explained Alonso on his social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram.
“Now to recover and think about Bahrain, and get in the car to get the first points !!”, said the double Asturian world champion, 34, after emerging unharmed from a spectacular accident in the seventeenth of the 58 laps of the race , when the Mexican Esteban Gutiérrez (Haas) was trying to overtake.
While trying to pass the Mexican before the third corner, Alonso’s car hit the left rear wheel of the Mexican’s car with its right front tire; the McLaren of the Asturian double world champion hit the left barrier of the track, was thrown into the air, made two turns of the bell and ended up crashing again against a tire protection.
The car was destroyed, but, fortunately, Alonso, winner of 32 Grands Prix and author of 22 pole positions, came out of the accident unscathed.
“I am grateful for being alive and that nothing serious has happened since it was a hard crash,” added the Spanish champion later, in statements released by his own team.
“A combination of factors has caused Esteban (Gutiérrez) and I to end up bumping into each other. I was in the car flying and bouncing and I could see the sky, then the ground, and then the sky again. Then, when the car landed, I saw a small hole and I left quickly so that my mother, who was watching the race on TV at home, could see that I was fine! “, Alonso explained.
“It was a racing incident and I am very happy that we are both doing well, which is the most important thing,” he added.
“But shortly after I felt frustration and disappointment, because we lost an opportunity to score points in the first race of the season and we have probably lost a power unit as well, because the car is more or less destroyed,” said Alonso.
“We risk our lives every time we sit in an F1 car: these things can happen, but I am very happy to be well,” he stressed.
“The reason I am still alive is probably due to the great work that the FIA has done in the last 10-15 years to improve safety, and it is work that they continue to work on. I am also grateful to the people at McLaren, who have built me a very tough and safe car, “said Alonso. EFE
Alonso: I am aware that today I have spent one of my remaining lives
