Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Alonso explains how ‘very strange’ Raikkonen crash unfolded

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Fernando Alonso says Kimi Raikkonen lost control of his Ferrari in “a very strange incident” as both crashed heavily at the start of the Austrian Grand Prix.

Exiting Turn 2 on the opening lap of the race, Raikkonen lost control of the rear of his Ferrari and swerved left towards the barrier on the outside of the track. With little run-off, Raikkonen collected Alonso at the same time and the two cars hit the barrier at high speed.

The Ferrari wedged underneath the McLaren, with Raikkonen taking his hands off the wheel as Alonso's car sat on top of the front of his SF15-T as the two slid down the grass alongside the track. Both drivers were unhurt and explaining how the incident unfolded Alonso says he relieved both were unhurt.

“I started very well today and made up a lot places in to Turn 1 and Turn 2,” Alonso said. “I was 14th or something at that point and then Kimi was on the prime tyre so he exited Turn 2 with a lot of wheelspin so the car was moving and we were all overtaking him left and right, and at one point he lost the car to the left and I was on the left.

“We both went in to the wall and I was lucky not to hit him on the head because looking at the replay I was obviously braking but my wheels were in the air. So I was close to him but luckily we are both fine, but it was strange. I was in the wrong place, it was a very strange incident because he lost the car in fifth gear or something like that. It’s strange, very low grip.”

Alonso revealed the impact was measured at 34G but says he was given the all-clear after a visit to the medical centre.

“I’m OK. I went to the medical centre because it’s a mandatory check after certain Gs. Me and Kimi are both OK and that’s the important thing.”

Click here for the gallery of the Formula Una girls at the Austrian Grand Prix

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.