It is no surprise that Fernando Alonso endured a tough week in the wake of his terrifying Melbourne crash, an FIA doctor has insisted.
Jurgen Lindemann says that the Spaniard was in fact lucky to leave Australia with his life after flipping through the gravel in the 2016 season opener.
"In F1 today he can escape unharmed and say to himself 'This car is the safest possible vehicle'. But do not forget that it was a lucky escape," he told Der Spiegel.
Indeed, while Alonso left Australia with only a bandaged knee, it emerged that the crash was so violent it broke the seat aboard his McLaren-Honda, triggering further investigations by the FIA.
The 34-year-old hinted over Easter that it has been a tough few days since Melbourne, as he issued an odd-looking tweet.
Populated simply by dozens of emojis, the tweet made clear Alonso has had trouble sleeping, headaches, taken a lot of pills and been unable to train.
"For sure he would have aching muscles and bones lasting a week," said Lindemann. "But these guys are highly trained and with very elastic bodies and it never ceases to amaze me how they recover."
He said that it is logical that Alonso has been "relaxing, eating light and sleeping... and then get back to the car as soon as possible," he added, referring to this weekend's return to action in Bahrain, not far from Alonso's home in Dubai.
