Fernando Alonso certain steering caused McLaren F1 test crash
Fernando Alonso is certain his McLaren Formula 1 car's steering "locked" in his Barcelona test crash and dismissed suggestions he cannot remember the accident or that wind was a factor
The two-time world champion missed the final pre-season test and the Australian Grand Prix following the crash, in which he suffered concussion.
On Thursday, the FIA medical delegate and track doctor gave the Spaniard the all-clear to return for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.
McLaren had initially ruled out mechanical failure and intimated that a gust of wind was a likely cause, but Alonso said: "Even a hurricane would not move the car at that speed.
UNCUT: Alonso on his testing crash
"There was a lot of attention on that day and probably the first answers the team and my manager had was some guess.
"But you cannot say anything for three or four days until I remember. That would have become even worse. They said the theory of the wind but obviously it was not a help.
"We had a steering problem in the middle of Turn 3. It locked to the right, I approached the wall, I braked at the last moment, I downshifted from fifth to third."
Earlier this week McLaren acknowledged that Alonso had reported "heavy steering" afterwards, and said it would add new sensors from Malaysia to get better data from this area of the car.
Alonso admitted that the available data from the crash did not confirm the steering problem.
"Unfortunately on the data, we're still missing some parts. The data acquisition on that particular area of the car is not top," he said.
"It is clear that there was a problem on the car. It's not been found on the data at the moment. There is not a clear answer."
ALONSO 'REMEMBERS EVERYTHING'
In the aftermath of the crash there were conflicting reports about Alonso's level of consciousness and other post-crash symptoms, but the Spaniard said he remembers "everything" and was only unconscious when sedated by doctors.
"I remember everything," he said. "It was a sunny morning, [I remember] all the set-up changes, all the lap times. [Sebastian] Vettel was in front of me before Turn 3 but cut the chicane to let me go.
"After the hit, I was kissing the wall for a while, then I switched off the radio first because it was on, then I switched off the master switch. I was perfectly conscious at that time.
"I lost the consciousness in the ambulance or in the clinic at the track.
"The doctors said this is normal because the medication they give is for the helicopter transportation and the checks they do in the hospital like the MRI and evaluation need this protocol, it needs this medication, so it's normal."
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