Alonso not racing in Australian GP

[allergictocheese]

The most intriguing aspect of this whole episode is wondering how McLaren managed to reincarnate Comical Ali to do their press releases.

"There is nothing wrong with Alonso. Alonso could bash his head against an oncoming fire truck and be alright. Alonso has a head made of solid titanium. But we don't want to risk him in Australia. But he's fine. Absolutely fine. Honest. Stop laughing."

[Speed Badger]

He will probably have to sit out the season on full pay while JB & KM try and qualify for each race, then make a miraculous recovery just before being announced as a Mercedes driver for 2016.

/TinFoilHat

[Altrezia]

Hope he's OK

[Redlake27]

Speed Badger said:

He will probably have to sit out the season on full pay while JB & KM try and qualify for each race, then make a miraculous recovery just before being announced as a Mercedes driver for 2016.

/TinFoilHat

Cynical - Yes
But I may place a bet that you are right....

[JonRB]

Clearly Alonso doesn't see any possibility of winning the WDC in the McLaren this year otherwise you can be sure he'd be raising merry hell to get in the car for the 1st race of the season unless he was outright banned from doing so.

Edit: Also, SniffPetrol from a week ago is still relevant.
http://sniffpetrol.com/2015/02/24/alonso-doc-deliv...

Edited by JonRB on Tuesday 3rd March 15:25

[DanielSan]

Redlake27 said:

Cynical - Yes
But I may place a bet that you are right....

It wouldn't be a surprise...

[RGambo]

I think Fred knows he's as much chance of completing the race as Icarus did flying! So the logical thing is just not to risk the concussion. I would think if the car was quick and reliable he would be there in a flash.
I'll just add, that on current performance, if they manage to get enough laps during practice to post a competitive lap time in Aus, I'll be impressed and I'm not even sure they could complete Q1 !!

[FourWheelDrift]

Remember last year, when everyone had new engines to try and get working?

Total testing distances 2014 vs 2015

Total 2014 test distance - by team (power unit, where different): Jerez & Bahrain
1. Mercedes, 4972.644 km
2. Williams (Mercedes), 4893.432 km
3. Ferrari, 4488.516 km
4. McLaren (Mercedes), 4153.464 km
5. Sauber (Ferrari), 4039.32 km
6. Force India (Mercedes), 3974.868 km
7. Caterham (Renault), 3313.128 km
8. Toro Rosso (Renault), 2436.384 km
9. Red Bull (Renault), 1705.764 km
10. Marussia (Ferrari), 1686.084 km
11. Lotus (Renault), 1288.056 km (Lotus missed opening Jerez test)


Total 2015 test distance - by team (power unit, where different): Jerez & Barcelona
1. Mercedes, 1,340 laps - 6,121 km
2. Sauber, 1,245 laps - 5,709 km
3. Toro Rosso, 1,206 laps - 5,534 km
4. Ferrari, 1,182 laps - 5,423 km
5. Williams, 1,069 laps - 4,913 km
6. Red Bull, 943 laps - 4,352 km
7. Lotus, 918 laps - 4,230 km
8. Force India, 669 laps - 3,114 km
9. McLaren, 380 laps - 1,751 km (ahead of Lotus, Marussia and Red Bull's 2014 mileage)

[Galileo]

That's a fair point well made. And there is plenty of time for them to change their minds and put Alonsoback in the car.

[fadeaway]

Speed Badger said:

This keeps getting weirder...

That was my first reaction to, but actually I've heard a lot about secondary concussion recently (with the effect it has on footballers, rugby players, NFL players, etc... being mainly ignored).

The brain takes a long time to recover, and sustaining another concussion before the first one has recovered does serious long term damage. Sounds like mclaren are being sensible and actually following best medical advice.

[anonymous-user]

They said he sustained no injuries, but they also said he had a concussion. Is a concussion not an injury? All completely bonkers. At least K mag gets another shot though.

[RGambo]

FourWheelDrift said:

Remember last year, when everyone had new engines to try and get working?

Total testing distances 2014 vs 2015

Total 2014 test distance - by team (power unit, where different): Jerez & Bahrain
1. Mercedes, 4972.644 km
2. Williams (Mercedes), 4893.432 km
3. Ferrari, 4488.516 km
4. McLaren (Mercedes), 4153.464 km
5. Sauber (Ferrari), 4039.32 km
6. Force India (Mercedes), 3974.868 km
7. Caterham (Renault), 3313.128 km
8. Toro Rosso (Renault), 2436.384 km
9. Red Bull (Renault), 1705.764 km
10. Marussia (Ferrari), 1686.084 km
11. Lotus (Renault), 1288.056 km (Lotus missed opening Jerez test)


Total 2015 test distance - by team (power unit, where different): Jerez & Barcelona
1. Mercedes, 1,340 laps - 6,121 km
2. Sauber, 1,245 laps - 5,709 km
3. Toro Rosso, 1,206 laps - 5,534 km
4. Ferrari, 1,182 laps - 5,423 km
5. Williams, 1,069 laps - 4,913 km
6. Red Bull, 943 laps - 4,352 km
7. Lotus, 918 laps - 4,230 km
8. Force India, 669 laps - 3,114 km
9. McLaren, 380 laps - 1,751 km (ahead of Lotus, Marussia and Red Bull's 2014 mileage)

Yes good point. I think the only thing to add, is Lotus never managed to get very far last year, although they did complete race distances. Redbull towards the end of the testing did start to look like they were making progress. I stand to be corrected, but I think redbull managed nearly a race simulation last year . I think the thing that worries me is Mclaren don't look like they've made very much progress.

[thegreenhell]

I don't think there's anything particularly strange going on. As already mentioned, head injuries and concussions are taken very seriously in other sports, so the fact that he's been advised to take a break from piloting a high speed projectile around a race track seems perfectly logical to me, especially if the blow was enough to knock him unconscious.

I found this article interesting, with Gil de Ferran talking about the effects of the concussions he's suffered from racing accidents:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31627619

[thegreenhell]

FourWheelDrift said:

Remember last year, when everyone had new engines to try and get working?

Total testing distances 2014 vs 2015
.
.
.
.
9. McLaren, 380 laps - 1,751 km (ahead of Lotus, Marussia and Red Bull's 2014 mileage)

It's more illuminating if you look at engines rather than individual teams.

2014

Mercedes - 17994 km
Ferrari - 10214 km
Renault - 8743 km

2015

Mercedes - 18378 km
Ferrari - 11132 km
Renault - 9886 km
Honda - 1751 km

[jbudgie]

hora said:

Has Putin got something to do with this?

That did make me have a little chuckle.

[Altrezia]

thegreenhell said:

It's more illuminating if you look at engines rather than individual teams.

2014

Mercedes - 17994 km
Ferrari - 10214 km
Renault - 8743 km

2015

Mercedes - 18378 km
Ferrari - 11132 km
Renault - 9886 km
Honda - 1751 km

Not really. Perhaps engine manfacturer / cars with that engine.

[anonymous-user]

1. Mercedes, 1,340 laps - 6,121 km
4. Ferrari, 1,182 laps - 5,423 km
6. Red Bull, 943 laps - 4,352 km
9. McLaren, 380 laps - 1,751 km

It should be looked at like this. Mileage the works teams have done, or in the case of Red Bull and Renault, the leading customer.

[red_slr]

There was always talk Alonso would sit out the 2015 season and sign for Merc for 2016.
Merc have stated they want Nico to stay, well TW has anyway. But as we all know they plan things one way and tell another story... I think it will be most strange if Alonso ends up sitting out 2015 for "medical reasons". On the other hand it would be more crazy to think he would bin it into the wall to claim he is injured in order to save the embarrassment of driving a dog. Odd odd odd!!

[anonymous-user]

hora said:

We all thought Nico was the preferred son. Look how Merc turned on him..

Eh? Explain how they turned on him? He had equal treatment, and a big helping hand from the mechanical failures LH suffered in 2014.

[anonymous-user]

hora said:

Move over for Nico Lewis..


Then tagging Lewis's rear bumper finally flipped it no?

No.