The gruesome accident at the Australian Grand Prix left Fernando Alonso with some wounds – and some criticism, to which he did not take too kindly.
Following the notorious crash that left him with a few broken ribs and a pneumothorax, due to the carbon-fiber broken seat caused by the intense G-forces, the Spaniard was also targeted by Johnny Herbert, who said (on-air) that the 34-year old should use the injuries as an excuse to retire.
As you’d imagine, this isn’t the kind of “encouragement” an athlete wants to hear after a serious accident – especially as Herbert went on saying, as quoted by GrandPrix.com, that Jenson Button “has done a better job for McLaren-Honda, and that Alonso has “given up on the chance of winning”:
“We don’t see that passion from him to want to drive and push himself to the limit when he is in an F1 car”, Herbert added. “The things he says, the things that have happened on track, his qualifying pace and that error in Australia, to me they say it is time for him to hang up his helmet.”
Well, Alonso rightfully though that experiencing a 46G-crash is more than “pushing himself to the limit” and retaliated on Saturday as Herbert was reporting live from Bahrain.
The McLaren-Honda walked unexpectedly to Herbert and told him: “I will not retire. No, I’m world champion. You ended up as a commentator because you’re not world champion.”
Ouch! That must have hurt….