Fernando Alonso insists neither he nor Esteban Gutierrez was to blame for their huge crash during the 2016 Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix, and feels it was nothing more than a racing incident.
Fernando Alonso (ESP) McLaren and Esteban Gutierrez (MEX) Haas F1 crashed out of the race at Formula One World Championship, Rd1, Australian Grand Prix, Race, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, Sunday 20 March 2016.
I think it is a racing incident. We are both here talking - that's the really important point.
Fernando Alonso
The stewards also concurred with that assessment, declaring - after examining video evidence and speaking to both men - that 'no driver was wholly or predominantly to blame'.
Alonso clipped the left rear of Gutierrez's Haas as the pair approached Turn 3 on lap 18, pitching his McLaren into the wall and then into an airborne barrel roll across the gravel trap. The Spaniard was able to clamber out, with Gutierrez immediately running over to check if the double world champion was okay.
"We both tried to fight and obviously sometimes we forget we are at 300km/h and every little crash can become much bigger," Alonso reflected of the crash.
"I took the slipstream as late as I could, until the braking point, and in the last moment it was a combination of factors that we ended up with a crash.
"I think it is a racing incident. It's tough, and the same for him [Gutierrez] - but we are both happy and talking here, that's the really important point."
Alonso said he was ‘lucky' to have escaped unhurt, adding: "It was a scary moment, a scary crash. You see the sky, the ground, the sky, you want to stop…
"I saw a little space to go out and went out quickly - my mum will watch TV so I want to be out quickly and say I am okay. But yeah it was quite a big one. I'm thankful to be here, especially to the FIA and continual safety - I'm probably alive because of that."
