Alonso escapes the worst

Fernando Alonso had a huge scare at the Australian Grand Prix. The pilot McLaren hit the Haas Esteban Gutiérrez's VF16 tried to gain an advantage over the Mexican and rolled at full speed before ending up in the tire wall.

Despite a completely destroyed MP4-31, the Asturian emerged from the crash unscathed. The accident prompted a red flag and an investigation by stewards who could sanction the Haas driver for changing lines before the turn.

“I braked on my line at turn 3 and he surprised me by trying to overtake me. It was a scary moment but I was relieved to see he was okay.", commented the Mexican on Canal+ microphone.

For his part, Fernando Alonso did not accuse Esteban Gutiérrez. “I am delighted with the ever-stricter safety regulations. I'm not blaming Gutiérrez, it's difficult to judge. I tried to take his suction. It's a mixture of many things. The main thing is that we are both okay. I wanted to get out of the car as quickly as possible because I knew my mother was watching the race.", declared the double world champion.

The marshals had the same opinion as the drivers since they considered that this accident was a racing event and therefore did not penalize Esteban Gutiérrez.

Discover the analysis of the Australian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2055 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.