Fernando Alonso Survives Terrifying Crash in the First Race of 2016 F1

The 2016 season of Formula 1 kicked off in an exciting manner. The first race was the Australian Grand Prix, the site of an unfortunate accident. Fernando Alonso, representing McLaren Honda was in the tenth place when, on turn three of lap seventeen, courtesy his ill-timed braking, he clipped the rear of Esteban Gutierrez, representing the Haas F1 Team. The crash was horrifying, but due to the advanced safety norms enforced by Formula 1, Alonso was able to walk away from the incident without any injuries. 

The crash took out the front right wheel of Alonso’s Mclaren, subsequently hitting the pavement and then a hoarding. The car rolled over twice before it finally came to a halt after hitting the safety railing. The crash looked fatal but, luckily, he emerged from the cockpit and walked away. Gutierrez, in a gesture of sportsmanship, rushed to help Alonso as soon as got to his feet. Alonso said, “Now it’s time to rest and think about Bahrain, and get back in the car to get the first points of this year.”

“I am lucky to be here and thankful to be here,” said Alonso. “I am aware that today I spent some of the luck remaining in life. I want to thank McLaren and the FIA for the safety of this car. I am alive thanks to the job of the last 10–15 years in Formula One.” Elaborating on the crash, he added, "I was flying, so you see the sky then the ground, then the sky, then the ground. You want to stop but it doesn’t stop. It keeps going and going and going. It was quite scary, but at the last moment the car stopped and I had a little space to go out and I said: ‘I will go out quickly because my mother will be watching at home.”

Watch the crash video here

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