Fernando Alonso ‘lucky to be alive’ after horror smash at Australian Grand Prix

SPANISH Formula 1 icon Fernando Alonso somehow walked away unscathed from a stomach churning collision with Esteban Gutiérrez that sent him into a triple flip before smashing into the barrier at full speed, leaving the crowd’s heart in their throats at the Australian Grand Prix. 

Alonso emerged from the mangled wreckage of his McLaren much to the relief of family and spectators and admitted that his was a miraculous escape. 

“I am lucky to be here and thankful to be here,” said Alonso. “I am aware that today I spent some of the luck remaining in life. I want to thank McLaren and the FIA for the safety of this car. I am alive thanks to the job of the last 10-15 years in Formula One.

“I was flying, so you see the sky then the ground, then the sky, then the ground. You want to stop but it doesn’t stop. It keeps going and going and going. It was quite scary, but at the last moment the car stopped and I had a little space to go out and I said: ‘I will go out quickly because my mother will be watching at home.”’ he told reporters. 

The horrific collision helped create and almost stole the thunder from Nico Rosberg’s victory for Mercedes snatching first place from Britain’s Lewis Hamilton.