What's up with Fred?

[Tazio]

Fred will be full of piss, and vinegar in oz, that's a freakin' given! . probably from the 3rd ruw!

[BDunnell]

The one thing one can rely upon is the unnecessary secretive and cover tnature of mclaren under ron dennis.
Instead of just coming out and letting folks know what is going on, he treats the information like it is a state secret.
There is no competitive advantage to be lost or gained by letting folks know how Alonso is doing and acknowledging well wisher and sympathy.
Instead, he has managed to alienate fans, journalists and anybody else interested in Fred's well being.

About that Dennis, a man who outwardly displays many of the characteristics of a psychopath, doesn't care — you could bet your life on that.

[Bagwan]

It's being reported now that Nando aint gonna run in Oz .

Magnussen will sub in .

[Tazio]

Yep Alonso's out. Best not to risk a second concussion (so soon) in the McJalopy!

[jens]

It's being reported now that Nando aint gonna run in Oz .

Magnussen will sub in .

Wow, really?! So the accident was worse than I initially thought. We haven't had such a shunt for some time in winter testing now, so that somebody has to miss early race(s)... I can only remember JJ Lehto back in 1994.

On the bright side... if the McLaren-Honda is a dog, Alonso will save himself some frustration in driving that car. Like struggling in Ferrari in the last few years around P3 or P5 wasn't demoralizing enough. This year looks like could even be worse for him!

[AndyL]

Well I hope Alonso hits the ground running when he comes back in Malaysia. If Button starts beating him then the speculation about what's wrong with Fernando will go into overdrive.

[jens]

Well I hope Alonso hits the ground running when he comes back in Malaysia. If Button starts beating him then the speculation about what's wrong with Fernando will go into overdrive.

Reminds me 2010, when Massa came back after an injury. Or Räikkönen went to back-operation in late 2013 and wasn't the same in 2014...

There are always factors, which distract of a "good" team-mate comparison. Then again... in sports it is always so. Somebody can always argue he wasn't performing at his best. But that's the nature of the game. You can't always be in top form.

[Mark]

Here's the official announcement: http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/insi...edical-update/

Better safe than sorry. I know there's been a lot of development in Rugby about concussion protocol and that if you suffer it then it's a mandatory rest period, no arguments. Better that then risk further injury down the line.

[Nem14]

Yes. The medicos better understand concussion today.

But! The entire story still doesn't add up, and continues to reek like bovine excrement.

[Duncan]

However, Fernando’s doctors have recommended to him that, following the concussion he sustained in a testing accident at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on February 22nd, for the time being he should seek to limit as far as is possible any environmental risk factors that could potentially result in his sustaining another concussion so soon after his previous one, so as to minimise the chances of second impact syndrome, as is normal medical procedure when treating athletes after concussions.

All of that makes complete sense. What doesn't make sense is why they couldn't figure that out until this morning. According to the statement, the decision is not based on any kind of new information.