Following his crash in the pre-season test sessions in Barcelona, which sidelined him at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, McLaren-Honda Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso may be cleared to race at the Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend following a final medical assessment by the FIA on March 26 at the Sepang International Circuit.
According to McLaren, since the accident, Alonso has followed a rigorous and specialized training program "designed and closely monitored by leading sports scientists, to ensure his safe and timely return to racing." The two-time F1 champion has also met with the team's engineers, and driven the simulator to bring him up to speed on the latest developments with the MP4-30 chassis and the Honda powertrain.
McLaren shared that although nothing evident was found in the extensive telemetry data of Alonso's crashed car or in the team's subsequent reconstructions and laboratory tests of the incident, it will fit an additional sensor to his car to increase the team's data-capturing capability. Alonso reportedly recalled "a sense of heavy steering prior to the accident."
"Fernando is very much looking forward to getting back into the car and making a substantial contribution to our collective efforts with Honda, to accelerate the required improvement to our on-track performance," McLaren concluded in a statement.
Photo from McLaren's Facebook page
