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Inside Ferrari 15:26
Inside Ferrari
It has been well documented over the last week that Alonso has been relatively quiet on Twitter, unusual for him. Today TJ13 hear that he is still not fit to race and although he is following a program to speed up his recovery it appears all hope is on a visit to FIA doctors this coming Tuesday should give him the green light to race in Austin.
Ferrari’s first choice to replace Alonso, should he not be fit to race, is their academy driver Jules Bianchi, followed by De La Rosa and Kobayashi.
Or so they say. On Thursday Kimi Raikkonen made a return to Maranello for a 2014 seat fitting, a look at the Ferrari turbo and meeting with old friends. Walking through the gates Kimi spoke to reporters in his usual minimalistic manner saying “Finally I have returned home“.
This must mean something for the tifosi who already loves their last World Champion and would do no harm for when their lost son returns home (officially) next year… or could it be sooner. It has been well documented that Raikkonen has not been paid by Lotus and was thinking of a self imposed break from racing should they not stick to their last agreement from Abu Dhabi.
Could we see Raikkonen in a scarlet Ferrari before the end of the season if Alonso is not fit to race?
Would love to see Kamui back on the track, a fantastic racer and a pleasure to watch him throw a single seater around.
That would be good but as he is last in line I think it’s a rather non event… unfortunately
Maybe if Philp Morris realizes the free publicity smoking can gain from bringing Kobayashi?
Assuming kimi races in a ferrari in the last 2 races(highly unlikely though),will the points he earns in those 2 races be credited to his current tally of 183???or separate position for it??
That would be interesting… His performance pay (which he is not getting) depends on the points he gets. Wonder if Lotus’ contract says “score points for Lotus F1” 🙂
Those are points kimi will earn so they get added to the points he already earned. Driverpoints are rewarder to the driver no matter what his car is
I’m not sure if everyone realizes, but there are two things that are different in today’s Alonso’s medical clearance story as reported here at TJ13 versus how it is being reported elsewhere.
First, TJ13 notes that Alonso will require approval from “FIA doctors”.
Gazzetta dello Sport is reporting that Ferrari is requiring a medical check, but they don’t mention “FIA doctors”. They make no mention of the FIA.
For the FIA to have their doctors involved is indicative that the injury is more serious than what Ferrari, and Gazzetta dello Sport have reported.
I believe TJ13 is to be commended for breaking the FIA’s involvement to the public. (One of the reasons I enjoy TJ13 is for news and views we don’t see elsewhere.)
The second significant difference is that Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Alonso will undergo a medical check on Monday. TJ13 have reported Alonso will go to FIA doctors on Tuesday.
In addition, Gazzetta dello Sport report that Alonso is scheduled to depart for the US on Tuesday.
So we see a tight schedule… a medical check (apparently for Ferrari) on Monday, then a medical check with the “FIA doctors” on Tuesday, then same day departure for US.
I can confirm that FIA doctors will visit Alonso on Tuesday, Alonso is still suffering headaches, back pain and is not sleeping well, the FIA doctors will have the last word whether he get’s the green light, or not.
Wow! Excellent! Thank you for the confirmation.
Alonso was concussed. Now we understand that picture (brain scan). And we understand why the FIA are involved.
Recovery time from concussions vary from patient to patient and injury to injury.
Alonso’s joking comment after the race about still having all his teeth makes sense now as well.
Alonso’s recent twitter activity makes sense as well.
I must say that it’s pretty disappointing that Pino Allievi and Gazzetta dello Sport failed to report this correctly… And Ferrari as well.
Very interesting!
Thanks again!
i don’t have the inclination right now to do the research, but I wonder what the intensity of the forces were from a 25G impact that were transferred through the car, into the driver’s body and ultimately up into his cranial cavity where they could pummel/rattle the brain? It is absolutely NO joke traumatic brain injury (TBI), which is essentially what a serious concussion equates to, and the recovery time can be very, very long, w/ the decrease in functional capacity easily enough to impair a driver’s competitiveness. F1 is a sport of fractions of a second and drivers must react in milliseconds to stimuli, no? Well, even one single moderate concussion can degrade the athlete’s sensory and motor skills, something i know from personal experience but also having participated in extensive research & treatment at UPMC Center for Sports Medicine, where the NHL’s (national hockey league = pro hockey in uSA) concussion management program was developed.
If it’s true that Alonso was concussed and didn’t just suffer a back injury, that is very, very unfortunate and must be very worrying for both him and the team. But perhaps the release of the photo showing ALonso in a distressed state was done peremptorily, in expectation of Ferrari team downplaying the danger to their driver or even disputing w/ Alonso himself the degree to which he was injured? Conjecture, yes, but it seems like this situation could very well be much more serious than first reported (and oh the misery of having two brain-injured drivers in your team, even if only for 2 more races! what bad luck!).
Anyway, if there are any neurophysiologists out there who can speculate on the potential forces transmitted to brain during a 25G semi-vertical impact, let’s hear it!