Alonso recovers from “small kiss” crash in Abu Dhabi test

Fernando Alonso says he still completed a full testing programme on his final day of track action for McLaren-Honda in 2017 despite crashing in the morning of the opening day at the Abu Dhabi Pirelli tyre test.

The Spanish driver spent the day getting up to speed on the 2018 Pirelli tyre compounds but saw his day truncated by a spin into the barriers between turns 18 and 19 of the Yas Marina circuit which triggered a brief red flag.

McLaren mechanics were able to speedily repair Alonso’s MCL32 to get the Spanish driver back on track inside two hours to enable him to complete a full programme of 115 laps with a best lap of 1m 39.762s to take sixth place on the timesheet.

Alonso shrugged off the crash and was content with the early progress made on his 2018 preparations on the new Pirelli tyres while the test marked his final outing using the Honda-powered McLaren with the team set to switch engine partners to Renault from next season.

“I had a small kiss with the wall this morning and we lost some track time, but the mechanics did an amazing job to fix the car so we could go out again before lunch, which meant we could complete the full programme,” Alonso said.

“Today’s been a very positive day. It’s been very useful for us to have a read on the 2018 tyres. They felt good, I felt the performance was there and the degradation was under control, so generally I had a good feeling.”

Alonso will travel back to Europe overnight before returning to McLaren’s factory in Woking to assist with development and simulator work in December.

“Now the 2017 season is finally over for me, and from today the focus and preparation will be fully on next year,” he said. “There is one more test day here and I wish Stoffel and Lando a productive day tomorrow.

“I’ll follow the results from home and I’ll be back in the factory soon for seat fit preparations and development work for 2018. There’s a lot going on and I’m very happy with the direction for next year.”