Will we see Alonso and Bottas in Malaysia?

In a week from now, the F1 teams will be circulating the Sepang circuit in Malaysia in practice for the second Grand Prix of the season. Two notable absentees from the opening round were McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Williams' Valtteri Bottas, both out with injury.

So will the pair be on the grid in Malaysia?

There has been progress on both fronts this week with Bottas indicating that his rehabilitation from a torn muscle in his back, sustained during Q2 qualifying in Melbourne and aggravated in Q3, is progressing well and Alonso travelling to McLaren's Woking base to drive the simulator in preparation for his return. He described it as a "great" session on Twitter, after driving, but no firm commitments have been made.

Bottas meanwhile tweeted today, "Progress is made and every day is a step forward. Can't wait for Malaysia."

Both drivers will have to undergo FIA medical checks; extracting themselves from the car in a matter of seconds is fundamental to racing in F1 and that is what Bottas failed to do without significant pain on Sunday morning in Melbourne. Alonso will also have tests relative to his concussion. An FIA investigation into what happened in his accident is also due to report soon.

However some colourful quotes ascribed to Alonso's current girlfriend Lara Alvarez, indicate that he intends to race as soon as possible,

"He is in perfect condition in every way," she is reported to have said on Spanish TV. "I think he will do the next race... Fernando is fine. Definitely we will see him on the track very soon."

Gazzetta dello Sport today has an interesting piece about the insurance situation around Alonso's non-appearance for the team

F1 certainly missed the pair at the opening round, with large payments due for the Spaniard not being able to fulfil his contract. The absence of two leading drivers knocked the event somewhat, especially with Bottas withdrawing late on, which meant that only 17 cars ran.

While there is still doubt about what caused Alonso to crash in Barcelona, the situation cleared a little during the Melbourne weekend with indications from sources close to the Spaniard that Alonso was disorientated and forgetful after the accident and - never haven experienced anything like this before - he was very troubled by it, hence the long stay in hospital to try to understand what was happening to him.

Alonso also faces the reality that there isn't much for him to do with the McLaren Honda in its current competitive state. The car was 5 seconds off the pace of the works Mercedes cars in Melbourne, partly due to having to run the engine on a low regime to keep it reliable, but with a car which is well off the pace even to pass into the Q2 session of qualifying it is a waste of a two times world champion's time to drive it and it adds little to the show.

There is also the intense pain of seeing a resurgent Ferrari team, having left the team under a cloud in November.

If neither driver makes it, then once again Kevin Magnussen would substitute for Alonso at McLaren, while Mercedes protege Pascal Wehrlein would stand in for Bottas, according to colleagues close to the matter. Wehrlein drove the Force India and the Mercedes cars on the same day in the recent Barcelona test and Mercedes, which supplies engine to Williams, are keen for him to gain experience as quickly as possible.

This would not be without controversy on two fronts; as a Mercedes test driver he would have intimate knowledge of the car, technology and operations of the works team's strongest current contender. And Williams would be passing over Susie Wolff and Alex Lynn, who have test and development driving roles with the Grove team. It illustrates the closeness of the two operations, with Toto Wolff still a 5% shareholder in the Williams team.