Fernando Alonso has gone for a hospital check-up after bouncing over the kerbs while battling with Jean-Eric Vergne in Abu Dhabi.
The jolt was hard enough to set off the FIA-mandated g-force alarm, which means a compulsory medical check-up for the driver.
Alonso admitted afterwards that he felt some back pain, and after a check at the circuit medical centre he went for further investigations at the local hospital.
“I still have all the teeth after the bump,” he joked after the race. “And the back is obviously in pain a little bit now. It was a big hit. We have the alarm on the chassis, after a minimum of g-forces there is this alarm on the chassis for big crashes, for the medical car etc. And the chassis has this alarm now in parc ferme, so for sure it was a big hit. Hopefully I’m OK for Austin and Brazil.”
Meanwhile following an FIA investigation no action was taken on the incident.
Update: Alonso left the hospital at around 11pm local time, and Ferrari says he is OK.
He’d be feeling REALLY sore if he’d had to have given the place back!