The Formula 1 season began Sunday in wild fashion. The Australian Grand Prix, held in Melbourne featured the Ferrari duo of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen racing past their Mercedes foes at the surprising start.
But while the race out front was spectacular, filled with differing strategies, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutierrez remain the talk of the race.
On lap 18, as Alonso chased Gutierrez into turn 3, the two collided with Alonso catching the left rear of Gutierrez’s Haas F1 car. The incident propelled Alonso first into the the left wall, sent him airborne, then had him roll into the outside barrier.
The scary incident left little of Alonso’s McLaren-Honda, leaving many fearing the worst. Yet somehow he emerged from the wreck and limped away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbILg63f0rQ
Gutierrez and Alonso conferred with one another, clearly thankful the incident wasn’t worse and then both left the track, cleared and released by medical personnel at the scene.
In interviews afterward, Alonso said that he thought of his “mum” and that the safety of the cars is something that should be applauded, stating that “we are both happy and talking here.”
The accident caused the race to be red-flagged; after the restart Nico Rosberg went on to win the race.
For a more humorous take:
As a writer and editor, Ava anchors the Formula 1 coverage for the site, while working through many of its biggest columns. Ava earned a Masters in Sports Studies at UGA and a PhD in American Studies from UH-Mānoa. Her dissertation Chased Women, NASCAR Dads, and Southern Inhospitality: How NASCAR Exports The South is in the process of becoming a book.