Former 2-time Fernando Alonso missed the 2015 Australian GP after suffering a concussion from a crash during the preseason testing in Barcelona.
Fernando Alonso became the youngest driver to win an F1 Championship title when he won in 2005. He has had a great career in F1 racing with the likes of Renault, McLaren and Ferrari.
He won 2-titles in 2005 and 2006 and 32 races. But Alonso forgot about all his achievements when he suffered a high-impact accident during the 2015 pre-season test in Barcelona. He lost control of his car while driving at the speed of 215 Kmh.
Alonso was ruled out of the first race after sustaining a concussion. And when the Spaniard woke up, he thought he was a 15-year-old racing go-kart. The driver had forgotten 20 years of his illustrious F1 career.
According to reports, he woke up thinking he was the boy from Oviedo, Spain who dreamt of racing in F1. He woke up in the hospital thinking it was 1995 and he was still driving Karts.
When the doctors checked up on him, Alonso answered them, “I’m Fernando. I drive karts and want to become a Formula 1 driver.” The driver spent three nights in hospital before flying back home to his family in Spain.
McLaren issue a statement on the Alonso crash. Says he was “conscious and spoke to doctors” and is having “precautionary checks” in hospital
— Andrew Benson (@andrewbensonf1) February 22, 2015
After thorough medical checkups, doctors advised Alonso not to race for the 2015 season opener in Australia. They concluded that Alonso suffered a concussion.
Doctors cautioned Alonso from a second impact syndrome. It occurs when a patient suffers another concussion before recovering from the first. This could cause severe brain injuries and be fatal.
Fernando Alonso’s rocky start with McLaren
In 2015, Fernando Alonso signed a three-year contract with McLaren till the end of the 2017 F1 season. The 2-time World Champion rejoined the team after his controversial exit in 2007 following the ‘Spygate’ scandal.
Nevertheless, McLaren and Fernando were keen on a fresh and fruitful start to their relationship. Alonso would team up with 2009 Champion Jenson Button as their race driver.
But the Spaniard’s campaign got off to a rocky start. McLaren was facing reliability issues. They signed up with Honda as their engine supplier. But the team suffered from a lack of pace throughout testing.
It will be tough not to be in Australia, but I understand the recommendations. A second impact in less than 21 days “NO”#countdownMalaysia
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) March 3, 2015
McLaren was expected to be slow and they were. The team only managed to complete 380 laps between the two drivers, the lowest amongst all the constructors.
Following Fernando’s crash, he was replaced by test driver Kevin Magnussen. The Spaniard would return to the F1 grid for the following race in Malaysia.
But the poor performance of the McLaren car resulted in Alonso having a frustrating 2015 season. He would conclude the season with only 11 points at 17th place in the standings. He scored points in just 2 races during the season and suffered 7 retirements
Also Read: When McLaren boss paid Fernando Alonso $16 Million to get rid of Kimi Raikkonen
