Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Alonso cleared to drive for rest of race weekend

Fernando Alonso has received clearance from the FIA to participate in the rest of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.

A heavy crash at the Australian Grand Prix saw Alonso suffer cracked ribs and a collapsed lung, with the Spaniard being ruled out of the second race in Bahrain as a result of the injuries. In China the FIA "provisionally" cleared him to take part in FP1 before further tests after the session.

Alonso finished FP1 in 12th place and then visited the FIA medical centre where he was cleared to participate in the rest of the race weekend.

"As a result of a medical examination undertaken following Free Practice One, the FIA F1 Medical Delegate, Prof. Jean-Charles Piette, and the Chief Medical Officer of the Chinese Grand Prix, Prof. Shiyi Chen, have ruled that Fernando Alonso is fit to take part in all remaining sessions this weekend," an FIA statement read.

"However, as with this morning's session, in case of any abnormal symptoms the driver has been informed that he must stop his car immediately.

"As the driver has been cleared to take part, no further medical checks will be undertaken unless the driver presents any abnormal symptom."

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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.