FORMER Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell said McLaren’s Fernando Alonso was lucky not to have sustained serious injuries following his horror crash at the Australian Grand Prix.
Mansell, who was born in Upton-upon-Severn, took to Twitter to praise the quality of safety measures in Formula One cars today which he said would have helped save many lives in the sport decades ago.
Alonso remarkably came out of Sunday’s race unhurt after colliding into the back wheel of Esteban Gutierrez’s Haas car at turn three on lap 19, which sent him into the nearby wall and into an airborne barrel roll across the gravel trap.
Video footage shows in slow-motion the dramatic moment when Alonso’s car crashed which led to the vehicle falling apart and temporarily called the race to a halt.
Former racing drivers who have died from fatal crashes include Jules Bianchi, Ayrton Senna, Roland Ratzenberger and Gilles Villeneuve.
Mansell, who won the championship in 1993, said: “For me, the best part of the race was seeing Alonso walk away from that accident.
“It’s a reminder to all about how it can go wrong so quickly. It’s amazing to see the safety in F1 now, congratulations to all engineers and car builders.
“Many lives would have been saved years ago with these cars’ fantastic progress but you still need luck and luck was on Alonso’s side.”
Mercedes’ German driver Nico Rosberg went on to win the first race of the new season with Great Britain’s reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton finishing in second place.
Video courtesy of RH88 Racing (YouTube).