26/02/2018
NEWS STORY
While McLaren is seeking to put the nightmare years of 2015 - 2017 well and truly behind it, the Woking outfit's pre-season test didn't get off to the best start this morning when Fernando Alonso spun off into the gravel trap at the final corner.
While McLaren has yet to reveal the cause of the spin - merely tweeting that "we'll be back out on track soon - just need to remove that pesky gravel" - it would appear that the Spaniard suffered some sort of issue with the wheelnut on his right-rear.
Clearly perplexed by the incident, once out of the car, now missing its right-rear wheel, the Spaniard spent some time looking at the rear of the car before heading back to the pits holding what appeared to be the retaining point which according to some reports had sheared.
McLaren subsequently confirmed that a wheelnut issues was the cause of Alonso's spin, adding that the car will not be back on track until this afternoon having incurred damage in the incident.
At the time of the spin, which resulted in the first red flag of the year, Alonso, who had completed six laps, was second on the timesheets, with Valtteri Bottas (inevitably) leading the way.