Dennis confirms Alonso knocked unconscious in testing accident

With speculation surrounding Fernando Alonso's testing accident at last week's Barcelona test continuing to swirl, McLaren CEO Ron Dennis has moved to further clarify the team's explanation of the incident.

At a press briefing in Barcelona today Dennis revealed that Alonso was knocked unconscious in the accident that ruled him out of this week's final pre-season test, but repeated McLaren's assertion that the car had not failed in advance of the crash.

“There were rumours of electrocution," said Dennis. "There was absolutely categorically no electrocution. In all the previous runs, Fernando was saying it was tricky because the wind is moving the car around. Our conclusions that it was related to the wind was based on his comments and the comments of a third party.

“If you then ask the question why he was in the hospital for three days, it’s because there was a period of unconsciousness. It was relatively short," he added. “When he came to rest, all we know is that the radio was on and we could hear him breathing. There were no other noises. They say it was seconds.

"We can categorically say he didn’t suffer an electric shock. We can categorically say that, we believe, the car did not fail. Everything after that becomes subjective.

“He’s not even concussed. The technical definition of a concussion is that you can see it in a scan. The possibility is that the change of direction happened so fast that actually it was like – it’s inappropriate to use the word – a whiplash of the brain. It didn’t actually touch anything. It didn’t bruise, it didn’t bleed.

“I’m not trying to conceal anything. I’m just telling you the facts: he is physically perfect. There is no concussion.”

Dennis also said he expects Alonso to be fit to race at the season-opening Melbourne Grand Prix on March 15, though he said the Spaniard's availability will be based on medical advice.

“I can’t foresee any reason why not but I’m not the doctor,” he said. “There will be some tests and processes laid down in the FIA. I can’t see any reason he won’t just sail through it. It’s not for me to determine."

He added that in the event Alonso is not fit to race in Australia, Kevin Magnussen will drive alongside Jenson Button.

“We have Kevin here. He will test. If Fernando didn’t drive, Kevin would drive," Dennis said. "But it’s the sort of preparation that you would expect us to take to cover all eventualities as opposed to this being something that we put right up there. Why would we want to put Kevin in the car without him having driven it?”