The saga of Fernando Alonso's Barcelona crash has taken another extraordinary twist with revelation of memory loss.

Alonso, who earlier this week confirmed that, on the advice of his doctors, will not participate in the season opener, has revealed that on waking up in hospital following the crash last month he was unaware what year it was or even that he was an F1 driver.

According to Spain's El Pais, he awoke thinking it was 1995, and when asked details about himself, replied: "I'm Fernando, I drive go karts and I want to be a Formula One driver."

Of course, the reality is that in 1995 the Spaniard, then 13, was racing karts, going on to make his F1 debut with Minardi in 2001, winning back-to-back titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006 and then spending five season with Ferrari during which he finished runner-up three times.

There were also two spells with McLaren, but he might well want to forget at least one of these.

News of Alonso's confusion in the wake of the crash casts further mystery on why McLaren initially claimed the Spaniard had not been concussed, though the Woking outfit subsequently admitted that this was not correct.

Though Alonso is expected to make a full recovery, the precise circumstances surrounding the accident remain a mystery... and not just to the Spaniard.

LATEST NEWS

more news >

LATEST IMAGES

galleries >

Click to go to the main galleries section

READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by RDFox, 07/03/2015 0:33

"Yeyox, temporary retrograde amnesia with minor permanent memory loss is not uncommon in cases of concussion. I actually personally experienced it in a car crash just a month after getting my license (black ice resulted in my car being t-boned by a much larger car), and to this day, I can't remember anything from just before impact to several seconds after it--the first thing I remember after impact is wondering why the windshield was completely frosted over as I turned off the engine and was trying to remove my keys.

In a more dramatic example, professional wrestler Mick Foley, after suffering an unplanned fall through the roof of a cage with a folding chair landing on his face during a famous match in 1998, had no memory of the entire day of the match afterwards, but he later managed to reconstruct his memory of nearly the entire thing by watching tapes of the match and discussing the day with his family and coworkers; he now remembers everything except for what he was thinking during the moment that the cage roof gave way and he was falling into the ring. This is likely similar to what happened to Fernando, and talking with family, friends, and coworkers helped jog his memory and bring him back to 2015."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by Hondawho?, 06/03/2015 15:29

"6. Posted by Yeyox02, 17 hours ago
"First of all everything about McLaren are lies.

You mean changing the name from McLaren automotive to McLaren technology was not a reason to get planning permission for the new factory then? There was me thinking they were a really good, honest trustworthy company!"

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

3. Posted by Hondawho?, 06/03/2015 15:26

"Excuse me Snr Briatore, what was it you arranged with El nano anyway.......... a pre conceived crash, heaven forbid not again!"

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

4. Posted by Joop deBruin, 06/03/2015 15:01

""Will someone help me start my Ferrari out in the drive? I can't get it going!".

Best wishes for a speedy recovery FA!"

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

5. Posted by stoney, 06/03/2015 14:52

"Thankfully, at least Alonso's OK now.

Really hoping this is a storm in a tea cup and we can get back to racing, with Alonso there, healthy and able to challenge for the front."

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

6. Posted by Paul C, 06/03/2015 12:44

"He forgot all of his differences with Ron Dennis and Lewis Hamilton?"

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

7. Posted by Marybeth, 05/03/2015 23:46

"Perhaps if he were promised Hamilton's seat at Mercedes next year he would miraculously regain his memory & the head injury would be gone. "

Rating: Negative (-3) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

8. Posted by Yeyox02, 05/03/2015 22:14

"First of all everything about McLaren are lies. If Fernando had suffered a most serious accident, he would have lost his memory permanently. Perhaps he is seriously ill but he did not know it and the accident has made it evident or.... something that was wrong with Alonso´s car triggered the crash and the "memory loss". Why Honda is silent about this strange crashgate?, perhaps they are to blame.
Or the "memory loss" could be a strategy to stop media and fans for asking and hide the real cause of the crash because Alonso should know exactly what happened, he is not a rookie.
In F1 everything is possible."

Rating: Negative (-6) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

9. Posted by F One, 05/03/2015 21:52

"Whatever happened and whatever is or was wrong with him doesn't matter so long as he makes a full recovery.

Lets all hope that he does and comes back good as new."

Rating: Positive (2) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

10. Posted by ape, 05/03/2015 21:13

"It is clear that Alonso had a medical problem before the inpact , and of course Mac and other stakeholders are afraid that he gets a total raceban ,that is why they minimize the facts."

Rating: Positive (2) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

11. Posted by alejandro.torres.1991, 05/03/2015 20:34

"2005 and 2005?"

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

12. Posted by gturner38, 05/03/2015 20:15

"He had a concussion and according to the original reports was sedated before being moved to the hospital. Why is it surprising that he would be confused in that situation when for years we had the cliche of a medic or medical trainer asking what year it is to people with head trauma? For the life of me I can't figure out why a concussion is being treated like a huge mystery? Yes, McLaren could have been a little more straightforward with their answer, but F1 doesn't have a mandatory injury report like the NFL."

Rating: Positive (4) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

Alonso saga takes another strange twist

LATEST NEWS

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST IMAGES

POST A COMMENT

Post your comment

READERS COMMENTS

Share this page