Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Alonso ruled out of Bahrain Grand Prix by FIA

Fernando Alonso has been ruled out of the Bahrain Grand Prix on medical grounds after his crash in Australia.

The Spaniard had to undergo a medical examination at the Bahrain International Circuit on Thursday morning, with the FIA ruling he has not recovered sufficiently from his heavy crash in Melbourne to be cleared to race.

"Following an examination undertaken this morning at the Bahrain International Circuit Medical Centre, it has been decided that McLaren Honda F1 Team driver Fernando Alonso should not take part in this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix," an FIA statement read.

"Two sets of chest CT scans were compared and it was decided that there was insufficient resolution of the signs to allow him to compete on safety grounds.

"A repeat chest scan has been requested before the Chinese Grand Prix and the results will be considered before allowing him to race there."

It marks the second time in two seasons that Alonso has missed a grand prix on medical advice, having not taken part in last year's Australian Grand Prix after a crash in pre-season testing.

McLaren reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne is set to race in Alonso's place in Bahrain.

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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.