"I'm Fernando Alonso, I race karts and I would like to drive in F1 one day"
According to Spain's El Pais that's how the McLaren driver answered emergency personnel who intervened after his testing crash in Barcelona. Alonso, the article continues, had lost the last 20 years of memories and was convinced it was 1995.Germany's tabloid Bild instead reports Alonso started speaking Italian after that accident and was adamant he still drove for Ferrari. Given the performance of both Ferrari and McLaren there is a tinge of the comical to this assertion.
Of course concussions are not funny and it's right Alonso's doctors and F1 are taking all precautions necessary after Nando got his bell rung.
What is not right is trying to hide things. On the one hand there are the "nothing to see here, move along" journalists and on the other the wild conspiracy theorists. The truth is most likely somewhere in between.
Certainly very few are buying the "it was a gust of wind" explanation from McLaren. Auto Motor Sport reports Fernando entered the turn at 215km/h then, mid-corner, hit the brakes and downshifted three gears before turning into the inside wall. Maldonado, yes, you might not question it but Alonso? And there are still questions as to why it was necessary to sedate Alonso after the crash.
One thing is absolutely certain: the Nando and Ron show, season 2, is off to a complicated start.
That's all nonsense. I bet he's pregnant! :)
ReplyDeleteAll kidding aside, I hope he recovers quickly.
This accident could very well be a seminal moment in Alonso's career. This incident could have easily impaired his mental state, his dexterity, his reaction time etc. From karting up to today, all the successful behavior patterns that he learned from doing thousands of laps that made him a world class grand prix driver could have been affected. He might have lost that racers "edge" that gave him that extra tenth of quickness that made him arguably the most respected racer in the world. I wonder if McLaren right now are a little apprehensive as to whether their investment going forward is gonna be able to perform as anticipated. Luckily for Alonso, he just signed that big new McLaren deal.
ReplyDeleteMy early prediction for 2015 is that Seb will have a much better year than expected, and that Lewis will have such an easy run this year that by Hungary, to keep things lively on his Instagram account he'll be posting pics of Rosco banging Cocoa back at the hotel. And hopefully Bottas has continued success in 2015.
Hamilton selfies.
ReplyDeleteFrom the cockpit, lap 3.
I really hope he's okay. Head injuries can cause major issues including acute depression. Even though he was very successful and still an exceptional talent, I often wonder how Mika was effected after his ideas injury. Remember him out qualifying Ayrton in his first GP for McLaren? Perhaps he would have given Schumacher (how is he doing?) even more trouble without such a massive injury.
ReplyDeleteWell, if he started speaking Italian and was "back in time" somehow, it explains his agitation and the need for sedation.
ReplyDeleteStill don't get how he got such "damage" and all the symptoms of concussion, but no brain swelling or bruising was shown in his exams. Hard to blame it on the impact.
Anyway, I think they are taking this "back to the future" thing a bit too far... ;)
I meant his "head injury". Autocorrect...
ReplyDeleteSpeaking from the experience of two massive brain traumas, you don't always have to have swelling or bruising to have trauma. I think I heard he took a 30g hit laterally. I think he is doing the right thing. Dale Earnhardt Jr. sat out after a hard concussion amid a lot of criticism. The world needs to know that you only get one CPU in life and if you damage it too often, you can't reboot.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he has a clause in his contract that if he does not participate in the first race for whatever reason, and the cars are lazy dogs at that race, he can sit out the season, jump ship, and find something better next season, and still collect a few million. Crashgate 2.0
ReplyDeleteDo hope he's OK though.
Poor Nando, I think he would rather sit out all the races until they get the package working. He must be very embarrassed with his decision, and to face the media and have to admit he screwed up big time after saying " he could go to any team he wants" must be very daunting. Likewise, Ferrari looks poised to kick some mid field butt.....almost Maldonado esque luck....leaving Williams to go to Lotus
ReplyDeleteI am sure there is a certain element of caution and safety to ensure he does not have another blow so quickly afterwards, but he must be somewhat thankful for the excuse too.
I had really hoped he could have made the move to Red Bull, and blown away Ricciardo, just to display how easy Seb had it for his 4 years.....Webber's a nice guy, good team player, but just not fast enough to challenge Seb.