Fernando Alonso says the steering locked during his pre-season testing accident which left him hospitalised and caused him to miss the Australian Grand Prix.
Having passed FIA tests which will allow him to return to racing in Malaysia this weekend, Alonso faced the press on Thursday afternoon at Sepang. When asked about his memories of the accident at Barcelona, Alonso said he could recall everything the next day the steering had locked and caused him to hit the wall on the inside of the track.
“I didn’t wake up in 1995, I didn’t wake up speaking Italian, I didn’t wake up in all these things that were out there,” Alonso said. “I remember the accident and I remember everything the following day. Obviously with the team we have been very close working on that and the FIA has been very helpful all the time. All three parties were in close contact constantly.
“There is nothing clear in the data that we can spot and say that was the reason, but definitely we had a steering problem in the middle of Turn 3. It locked to the right, I approached the wall, I braked at the last moment, I downshifted from fifth to third [gear] and unfortunately on the data we’re missing some parts.
“Probably the acquisition data on that particular area of the car is not at the top so there are some new sensors here at this race and there are some changes that we do on the steering rack and other parts. That was the main thing. The last week at the factory was more working on the simulator and trying to explain all these new sensors and new parts that will go in to this race.”
With McLaren saying after the crash the car could have been upset by a sudden gust of wind, Alonso criticised the team for speculating about the causes.
“No, definitely. I don’t know if you’ve seen the video but even a hurricane will not move the car at that sort of speed. Also if you have any problem or any medical issue usually you’ll lose power and go straight to the outside, not to the inside. Normally in a Formula One car you still need to apply some effort on the steering wheel.
“Honestly, with the accident and the repercussions, the news being in Spain and a lot of attention that day, probably the first answers or the first press conference that the team had was just some guesses. The wind and other possibilities created a little bit of confusion. But you can’t say nothing for three or four days until I remember everything … so I think they said the theory of the wind or whatever but it was not a help.”
Despite Alonso saying “it’s clear that there was a problem in the car but there’s nothing on the data”, the Spaniard insists he is not concerned to be getting back in the car without the problem having been understood.
“I have zero doubts or zero concerns.”
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