Adapted from GMM (story updated, see at bottom of page)
After three nights in hospital and amid swirling speculation about his testing crash, McLaren Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso is finally going home. McLaren published a statement Wednesday. “Following his testing accident at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last Sunday, we are pleased to confirm that Fernando Alonso has now left hospital. He has returned to his family’s home in Spain for further rest and recuperation. As a result, he will sit out this week’s final winter test, at which he was due to share driving duties with Jenson Button. Kevin Magnussen, McLaren-Honda’s test and reserve driver, will replace him.” Earlier, El Mundo Deportivo said doctors had held Alonso in hospital for three nights due to headaches and pain in his shoulder and back. Meanwhile, McLaren's press statement has not stopped speculation about the crash. A 'normal' accident Many insiders are blaming McLaren, not only for waiting 28 hours to explain the bizarre accident but then insisting it was entirely "normal". Witnesses have contradicted what McLaren explained in the statement. For instance, trackside photographer Jordi Vidal has released an image that contradicts McLaren's claim that Alonso ran onto the Astroturf on the outside of turn 3 before losing control in a gust of wind. Vidal also denied McLaren's claims that it was particularly windy at the time, and he agreed with Sebastian Vettel that the Spaniard was not driving at full speed. La Gazzetta dello Sport quoted an F1 engineer as saying: "With the downforce in F1, McLaren's explanation is plausible if he (Alonso) was pushing hard, as (Carlos) Sainz was. "But not with the speed that Alonso was doing, as the photo taken just before shows that he was in the middle of the track". Manager Luis Garcia Abad, meanwhile, told Spanish reporters that the impact instantly knocked Alonso out. But La Gazzetta dello Sport quotes a McLaren mechanic as suggesting Alonso was not immediately unconscious. "They [the engineers] called Fernando, but only strange and muffled groans came over the radio, and then after a final moan there was silence," the mechanic reportedly said. Former McLaren driver Martin Brundle also furrowed his brow at the McLaren explanation, saying it is "unusual" for a driver to have apparently downshifted after losing control. "Still seems strange such a relatively mild incident in F1 terms hospitalised him," the Briton also said on Twitter. Not everyone believes the conspiracies, however. Livio Oricchio, a veteran journalist, said he doubts McLaren-Honda or the FIA would be covering up Alonso's electrocution by a faulty ERS system. "Imagine the damage to F1 if another driver suffered a similar incident and the FIA had been aware of what happened to Alonso," the Globo correspondent wrote. UPDATE: BBC Sport has learned that governing body the FIA is to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the accident to ensure its causes and consequences are fully understood.
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