Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso has been taken to a hospital after being hit by a car while cycling, according to a report. The incident occurred on a road in Switzerland.
Details are a little sparse but Gazzetta Dello Sport reports the following via Google Translate:
The Spanish driver of the Alpine Renault was hit by a car while he was training by bike on the Swiss roads, in Lugano, in via la Santa. The confirmation came in the evening from the Alpine team, which hired the Spaniard for the 2021 World Cup. Immediately rescued and admitted to a hospital in the area, the first radiographic examinations would have shown a fracture to the jaw and damage to the teeth. The pilot’s condition recommended a transfer to the Bern hospital, where further tests are scheduled for tomorrow.
The language is a little fuzzy here because of the translation, but “fracture to the jaw and damage to the teeth,” is as clear as day and sounding pretty gnarly. Motorsport.com, though, says that their sources say it isn’t so bad.
The report from Gazzetta dello Sport claims that initial examinations by the medical staff have shown suspected fractures, but multiple sources have denied he’s suffered any serious injuries.
Whether one considers a jaw fracture to be a serious injury is open for debate, but if sources are insisting on background that everything is mostly fine then that is at least some confidence that Alonso will be fit enough to start this season, with the first race a month-and-a-half away.
Alonso’s team meanwhile offered the following:
If you follow Alonso on Instagram you know that he’s a pretty serious cyclist.
The first Formula One race this season is in Bahrain on the last weekend of March. Here’s hoping Alonso makes it.