Fernando Alonso was reflective in his post-race interviews after escaping uninjured following a crash involving Esteban Gutierrez on lap 18.
The pair were battling for position with Gutierrez in front of Alonso approaching turn three when Alonso pulled out of the slipstream to the outside of the corner but the right-front of the McLaren clipped the left rear of the Haas. The incident sent Alonso into an impact with the barrier before the car rolled as it went sideways into the gravel trap before finally coming to a rest upside down near the barrier.
The Spaniard was able to get himself free of the wreckage and miraculously came away with no injuries. In an interview with Sky Sports F1 after the race, Alonso praised the modern day car safety: “I’m okay, trying to put everything in place again. It was a scary moment, scary crash and I am lucky to be here and thankful to be here, especially to the FIA and all the safety because I am probably alive thanks to that.”
When asked if there was any blame in the incident, Alonso replied: “No I don’t think so. I think we are racing, we are fighting. I took the slipstream as much as I could. In the last moment, I tried to move, I don’t know if he was too late [or me] because I waited until the last moment.”
The Haas of Gutierrez spun but came to a stop in the gravel leaving only chassis damage for the new team to repair in time for the next race in Bahrain. The incident is currently under investigation by the stewards as they announced during the race they would review the collision afterwards. There was minimal secondary movement from Gutierrez in the braking zone but appeared to be just a racing incident.
