McLaren’s Fernando Alonso has been ruled out of competing in this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix following a check-up after his crash in Australia two weeks ago.
Fortunately, Alonso walked away from the crash unharmed, although a little shaken, however the same cannot be said for his destroyed McLaren.
Alonso was required to partake in a full medical examination with the FIA doctors in Bahrain on Thursday, who concluded that he should not partake in this weekend’s 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“, a statement issued from the FIA says.
“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 CT scan has been requested before the Chinese Grand Prix and the results will be considered before allowing him to race there.”
McLaren confirmed that their reserve driver, 2015 GP2 champion Stoffel Vandoorne will replace the Spaniard in Bahrain, making his Grand Prix debut.
This event marks the second time so far in a little over a year that Alonso has missed a race due to doctor’s advice, with the Spaniard missing the 2015 Australian Grand Prix following a crash during testing.
This event has come as somewhat a pleasant shock for Vandoorne, who has been pushing for an F1 seat for a while. The Belgian driver has got an impressive record at Bahrain, winning his GP2 debut there in 2014 before taking another two victories in 2015 en route to getting the championship. We will see what he makes of this opportunity this weekend.
