An already poor testing just went bad to worse for McLaren. On the fourth and final day of the Barcelona Testing, Fernando Alonso, McLaren’s driver of the day, crashed heavily twenty minutes before the lunch session. He lost control between the high speed Turn 3 and Turn 4 and as a result of the severity of the crash, had to be airlifted to a hospital for medical checks.

Alonso is now reported being conscious and talking to the team, which means that there is nothing to worry for the Alonso fans. The car suffered a broken front wing , but the nose and suspension seemed to be intact. Despite minimal damage as it seems, McLaren has so far not returned from the garage and thus for the day has completed only 20 laps.

This is a major setback for them after three days of very limited running. With first and third day wasted due to a faulty MGU-K seal on the Honda Power Unit, the second day was relatively trouble free for them and still they could only manage 59 laps. With a large hope resting on this final day, McLaren’s fortunes for the season opener in Melbourne don’t look so great as of now.

They still have one more chance, at the final winter testing at Barcelona next week. Recently even Jenson Button admitted that the team’s winter performance looks way worse than expected further solidifying what is already eminent from the testing.