Fernando Alonso said he is “okay” and eager to resume preparations for his return to F1 in 2021 after suffering a fractured jaw in his cycling accident yesterday afternoon.
His Alpine team have confirmed Alonso has already undergone a surgery in the injury at a hospital in Switzerland. They expect the 39-year-old will recover in time to begin preparations for his return to Formula 1 this year.“Thanks for all your wishes, I’m ok and looking forward to getting 2021 underway,” said Alonso in a social media post on the day after the accident.
“Following his cycling accident yesterday Fernando Alonso was kept under observation in hospital in Switzerland,” said his team in a statement. “Medics discovered a fracture in his upper jaw and conducted a successful corrective operation.”
Alonso is due to remain in hospital over the weekend. “The attending medical team are satisfied with his progress,” the statement continued. “Fernando will remain under observation in hospital for a further 48 hours.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
“Looking forward, after a few days of complete rest, he will be able to progressively resume training. We expect him be fully operational to undertake preparation for the season.
“Alpine F1 Team and Fernando thank you for your wishes and will issue further updates when appropriate.”
The police report of the incident indicates Alonso was involved in a collision with a 42-year-old Swiss driver who was making a left turn into a supermarket parking area. Alonso, who was overtaking a queue of traffic on his bike on the opposite side of the road, struck the right-hand side of the car.
After receiving medical attention at the scene, the two-times world champion was transferred to hospital via ambulance.
Alonso is due to make his return to Formula 1 this season following a two-year absence. Pre-season testing begins at the Bahrain International Circuit in one month’s time.
Don't miss anything new from RaceFans
Follow RaceFans on social media:
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2021 F1 season
- Las Vegas race backers looking to extend F1 deal beyond 2025
- Why Mercedes put ‘a reminder of joy and pain’ on display in their factory lobby
- Verdict on error in GT race suggests Mercedes would have lost 2021 Abu Dhabi GP appeal
- Title ‘stolen’ from Mercedes made us ‘underdogs people cheer for’ – Wolff
- Red Bull Racing spent £230m during Verstappen’s title-winning 2021 campaign
petebaldwin (@)
12th February 2021, 10:47
Great news – sounds like he’s had a (reasonably) lucky escape.
Todfod (@todfod)
12th February 2021, 13:03
Agree. Could have been a whole lot worse. I’m sure he’ll have some difficulty even with a jaw injury, especially with putting on a helmet and dealing with the constant head movement under g forces, but it doesn’t seem like it’s bad enough to affect his daily life or racing endeavours.
Jere (@jerejj)
12th February 2021, 10:54
Only a minor surgery. Positive news. BTW, I hadn’t noticed the tattoo on the right hand until today. I was aware of the Samurai tattoo on the back, although I should’ve seen that cross at some point last year when he attended races.
Bitten&Hisses (@al-perry)
12th February 2021, 12:47
That cross is from Alonso’s birthplace
HAL
12th February 2021, 15:39
Yep, Victory Cross from Asturias, Spain.
Jere (@jerejj)
12th February 2021, 16:07
@al-perry @HAL You’re right.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Flag_of_Asturias.svg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Escudo_de_Asturias_%28oficial%29.svg
SadF1fan
12th February 2021, 11:13
As a teamboss I would ban cycling through Italy and the Italian alps. The risks are far too big, considering the amount of athletes that have lost their life or career attempting the same.
It sounds like he was very lucky indeed.
Qeki (@qeki)
12th February 2021, 15:48
You have a point there but it would be same to ban driving there cause they seem to find cyclists quite often.
Satellite
12th February 2021, 15:56
This happened in Switzerland.
faulty (@faulty)
12th February 2021, 17:04
Switzerland is in the Italian Alps!!
And JPM was trying to jump over the table tennis net when he broke his shoulder!
Mayrton
13th February 2021, 8:34
I think the Swiss would disagree with you.
Delphi
14th February 2021, 12:54
And his chain got snagged on the net.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
12th February 2021, 22:54
Living is dangerous, everyone dies from it eventually! Luckily for everyone, you’re not a team boss
Kerry Maxwell (@kerrymaxwell)
13th February 2021, 3:38
I’m not sure what the country or *the alps* have to do with this:
“The police report of the incident indicates Alonso was involved in a collision with a 42-year-old Swiss driver who was making a left turn into a supermarket parking area.”
Broke1984 (@broke1984)
12th February 2021, 12:04
Fair play if he returns on time. All that matters is his or anyones health. I broke my lower jaw on both sides and it took some time to heal. I also had a housemate who broke his upper jaw from his front teeth to nose cavity, really not pleasant
faulty (@faulty)
12th February 2021, 17:05
That’s what I was thinking, upper jaw fracture must be horribly painful.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
12th February 2021, 12:05
Not that there’s any shortage but I’ll say a prayer and send best wishes and for his speedy recovery to full strength. Here’s to hoping when he gets in the car he’s able to not even notice it.
Chaitanya
12th February 2021, 12:08
Hopefully we wont have a Marquez situation repeating with Alonso.
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
12th February 2021, 12:23
Relieved it’s nothing too serious, although I suspect he’ll be in quite a lot of pain. The big worry with those kind of accidents is head or spinal injuries, most else you can make a full recovery. Sending Fernando positive thoughts and well wishes.
Retired (@jeff1s)
12th February 2021, 12:32
Glad he’s fine and that the 2015 pre-season McLaren’s «gust of wind» explanation didn’t come out.
It’s understood the accident occurred near a car park, something Alonso is used to drive in several times a year.
Dave
12th February 2021, 13:10
That 2015 accident is still unsolved to this day…
MacLeod (@macleod)
12th February 2021, 13:36
Luckly he drove into the car himself that hurts but much less if a car drove into him!
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
12th February 2021, 12:35
Surprised at the optimism
Not certain a delicate bone injury like this, will be able to stand the g-forces it’s likely to get – in the space of 6 weeks
And that’s without considering the helmet situation
MacLeod (@macleod)
12th February 2021, 13:30
It’s luckly a single fracture that can heal rather fast if there were multiple ones that would take him out of the start.
Now he could be fit at the start of the season.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
12th February 2021, 14:49
I agree. Broken skull won’t heal in 6 weeks…
nik james
12th February 2021, 20:20
Unless you are a motor cycle racer
Ipsom
12th February 2021, 13:09
Great news, wish him a speedy recovery!
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
12th February 2021, 13:38
I do wonder why sportspeople as valuable as Alonso are allowed to train on the open road.
The American MotoGP rider, Nicky Hayden, was sadly killed whilst out training on his bike a few years ago.
Can’t they all just put a Peloton bike in the garden and train that way?!
HAL
12th February 2021, 15:43
We can’t lock them up all their active live and only release them to go to the GP (they can already not go skying, motocross-ing, etc)… Also, it’s relative, most of these guys are doing a lot of cycling ; not sure there is that much accidents, comparatively.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
12th February 2021, 15:50
@sonnycrockett Relying on any sort of exercise bike has injury risks of its own, albeit they tend to be chronic rather than acute. Further, less benefit is received as exercise bikes can’t fully replicate cambered, sloping and generally uneven ground to the same degree as cycling outdoors. Add to that the problem of risk displacement (something we’ve seen other drivers have issues with this pandemic) and the choice of exercise vs road biking is not as clear-cut from a cost/benefit perspective as it might otherwise be.
anon
12th February 2021, 22:25
@sonnycrockett in the case of Nicky Hayden, it is worth noting that the investigation into the accident did note that, whilst the driver of the vehicle was given a greater portion of the blame, mainly because they had been driving quite a bit in excess of the speed limit (estimated to have been doing about 70kph in a 50kph zone), they noted that Hayden had also failed to obey a stop sign and was entering the junction at significant speed (about 20kph), perhaps because he was distracted by the music he was listening to at the time. That meant that Hayden was judged to have played a fairly significant role in the accident as well.
Fred Fedurch
12th February 2021, 22:32
Nicky ran a stop sign. The car that hit him was speeding. Responsibility was determined to be 50-50
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
12th February 2021, 14:48
Upper jaw? Guess that is better than a smashed bottom jaw. It won’t be recovered in time for the season but I guess they expect to race.
Kurt Laguna
12th February 2021, 15:50
Alonso will probably come to see a broken jaw as a positive once the season starts, can’t answer questions with your jaw closed! Other drivers will be looking for ways to break their jaws after they see the smile on Alonso’s face during press conferences and post race interviews.
From other reports he was hit by a 42 year old Swiss women so not changing any stereotypes about women drivers in Spain……….”Woman driver tried to kill our national driver!@&$”
melanos
12th February 2021, 15:58
Probably an Ocon fan I’d say, assuming there are any
melanos
12th February 2021, 16:05
Nobody here seems to remember Angel Nieto, he was killed while driving a quad in Ibiza in August 2017. He was retired since 1986 I believe, but he is arguably the 2nd most successful motorbike driver of all time (after Giacomo Agostini and better than Valentino Rossi) with 13 world titles in diverse categories (not MotoGP), ob better yet, 12+1 world titles as he used to say (he was very superstitious).
May he rest in peace
Fred Fedurch
12th February 2021, 22:40
Only 13 World titles? Not even close to the record. Toni Bou has 28. 14 consecutive World Outdoor Trials Championships (2007-2020) and 14 consecutive World Indoor Trials Championships. (2007-2020).
melanos
13th February 2021, 10:04
You’re right, but I was referring to the circuit racing categories (what nowadays is MotoGP-Moto 2-Moto 3, although in Agostini’s and Nieto’s time the names were different). Agostini is still top guy with 15 titles. Nieto 13, Rossi and Hailwood 9, Marquez 8 and counting.
Fred Fedurch
14th February 2021, 21:14
You should have stated circuit racing categories (asterisks are handy for that), and not used “most successful motorbike driver of all time“, then. That’s Toni Bou, and he’s still going strong, so doubtful anyone will ever match him.
Balue (@balue)
12th February 2021, 16:27
Good that it wasn’t something that limits his training, but he’ll have had a shock from this.
jet
12th February 2021, 16:52
Glad he’s ok. Cue in Alonso producing a full-face bicycle helmet.
RP (@slotopen)
12th February 2021, 17:07
It is good he sounds ok.
Doesn’t the FIA have a say in his fitness to drive? Drivers have a physical or similar prior to season or GP?
DarkSchneider
12th February 2021, 22:41
“Ah Ohay, ah hon’ heel hain ahihore”
Said Aloson to the Press
Foggy
13th February 2021, 2:59
Great news.
Montréalais (@)
13th February 2021, 4:39
I seem to remember that passing on the right-hand side of a line of traffic was covered as a no-no in my defensive driving courses many years ago in Canada. That is exactly where cyclists may expect to be hit by vehicles turning in front of them. Of course, the driver of the motor vehicle would be considered at fault here. I don’t know about the laws in Switzerland.
I hope ALO is back to normal soon!
Patrick (@paeschli)
13th February 2021, 10:32
Do Renault have a third driver? Might be smart to sign Hülkenberg who already knows the team.
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
13th February 2021, 14:35
I’d be surprised if he’s in the car for day 1 of testing. Hope he is, because he was one of the things I was most looking forward to about this season, but this is surely going to cause some disruption to the start of his season.