McLaren Honda
McLaren has confirmed that Fernando Alonso will return to action at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, subject to a final FIA assessment at Sepang on Thursday.
Alonso was replaced by Kevin Magnussen for the Australian Grand Prix after the Spaniard suffered a concussion during a testing crash in pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
McLaren revealed that Alonso recalls a sense of 'heavy steering' just before the crash and consequently an extra sensor has now been fitted to the MP4-30.
"McLaren is pleased to announce that, subject to a successful final FIA medical assessment this Thursday 26th March at the Sepang International Circuit, Fernando Alonso will return to the cockpit of his MP4-30 car for this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix," McLaren said in a statement.
"Since his Barcelona testing accident, Fernando has followed a rigorous, specialised training programme, designed and closely monitored by leading sports scientists, to ensure his safe and timely return to racing.
"At the McLaren Technology Centre last week, Fernando met with his engineers and drove the simulator, to bring him up to date with the latest developments on the MP4-30 chassis and power unit. As part of that process he spent time with senior engineers, discussing the accident and reviewing the comprehensive data and analysis, all of which has been shared with the FIA.
"While there was nothing evident in the extensive car telemetry data, nor anything abnormal in the subsequent reconstructions and laboratory tests, Fernando recalls a sense of ‘heavy’ steering prior to the accident. Consequently, the team has fitted an additional sensor to the car, to increase our data capture.
"Fernando is very much looking forward to getting back into the car and making a substantial contribution to our collective efforts with Honda, to accelerate the required improvement to our on-track performance."
