Following suggestions the Spaniard may have either fainted at the wheel of the MP4-30, or received an electric shock, McLaren have insisted that the nature of Alonso’s accident was not unusual.
"Fernando’s accident was just one of those things that happens in testing," said team boss Eric Boullier. "Fortunately, he’s fine, but was concussed during the accident, which therefore required an overnight stay in hospital as a precaution. That’s normal practice after a concussion.
"Inevitably, some media reports have sought to exaggerate the severity of the incident – it was just a normal testing accident."
The accident happened shortly before Sunday's scheduled lunch break. Observers described the McLaren, which was travelling relatively slowly at the time of the crash, as suddenly spearing across the circuit before banging into the trackside wall.
McLaren Racing Director Eric Boullier says Fernando Alonso has been given the all-clear after being taken to hospital following a heavy crash in testing
"The speed was slow – maybe 150kph," Sebastian Vettel, who has replaced Alonso at Ferrari for the 2015 season, said. "Then he turned right into the wall. It looked strange."
The gusty wind which disrupted Sunday’s running, and which was cited as the cause of
Carlos Sainz’s high-speed crash, is one possible factor in Alonso’s puzzling accident.
"It was so windy it made it so difficult to learn anything as the car was all over the place," said Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg. "It was totally different one corner to the next depending on wind direction and it was really, really challenging."
