25/02/2015
NEWS STORY
In a brief statement, McLaren has confirmed that Fernando Alonso will "sit out" this weeks final pre-season test.
The Spaniard, who finally left hospital today, having spent the last three nights there following Sunday's accident, remains the subject of intense speculation.
Whilst on Sunday, and again on Monday, the Woking outfit insisted that he was uninjured in the accident, which it is claimed was due to gusty winds, many wonder why therefore it was felt necessary to keep him in hospital for so long.
In a statement which poses more questions than it answers, the team said:
"Following his testing accident at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last Sunday, we are pleased to confirm that Fernando Alonso has now left hospital. He has returned to his family’s home in Spain for further rest and recuperation.
As a result, he will sit out this week’s final winter test, at which he was due to share driving duties with Jenson Button. Kevin Magnussen, McLaren-Honda’s test and reserve driver (Kevin Magnussen), will replace him.
Jenson will be testing the McLaren-Honda car tomorrow (February 26), and the team will confirm the full day-to-day running order in due course."
Curiouser and curiouser.
Note: An email request for 'off the record' info from a usually reliable source within the team was met with an unusually brief, and negative, response. Editor Balfe surmising that the reply was restricted to just one brief line of text because if there had been more (lines) he might have attempted to read between them.