LONDON — Fernando Alonso will miss next week's season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix on doctors' advice after a heavy crash in testing, the Spaniard's McLaren team said Tuesday. “Fernando has understood and accepted that advice, and the two McLaren-Honda cars will therefore be driven in Australia by Fernando's teammate Jenson Button and the team's test and reserve driver Kevin Magnussen,” they said in a statement. Australia would have marked a new start for Alonso at McLaren, which is also embarking on a new engine partnership with Honda, after five years at Ferrari. However, the Spaniard spent three nights in hospital last week after losing control and hitting the wall in testing in Barcelona on Feb. 22. McLaren said the 33-year-old had undergone more tests Monday evening and been given the all-clear. “However, Fernando's doctors have recommended to him that ... 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,” they added. First practice for the March 15 race in Melbourne starts Friday, March 13. Denmark's Magnussen raced for McLaren last season, finishing second in Australia after local hero Daniel Ricciardo was disqualified for Red Bull. The chances of him returning to the podium look remote this time around, with McLaren struggling in testing to get laps under their belt due to persistent troubles with the new V6 turbo hybrid engine. Alonso has not missed a race since the 2005 US Grand Prix, which was boycotted for safety reasons by drivers whose cars were equipped with Michelin tires after problems emerged in practice. Less is more for Silverstone While Germany's Formula One Grand Prix hangs in the balance, hit by dwindling crowds and rising losses, Britain's Silverstone circuit believes it can make money and attract more fans by charging less. The ‘Lewis Hamilton effect' has helped boost British Grand Prix ticket sales, with home fans eager to see their champion in action, but organizers say the decision to cut prices is as significant. A promotion offering 1,000 Sunday general admission tickets for 99 pounds ($150) each was sold out in 22 minutes. So great was the demand that the offer was kept open for a day and 6,000 tickets sold — many then upgraded to grandstand seats that were also reduced in price. The circuit's newly appointed managing director Patrick Allen told Reuters that making the race more accessible was the focus now. “We were asking families to pay over 1,000 pounds to come for a weekend. I don't think that's accessible,” he said. “I was horrified when I came in that a family from Britain could get on a plane, go to Spa, watch the race and fly back again for less than they can come to our home Grand Prix.” Allen said Silverstone had also revamped the policy for children, with under-11s now coming in free with an adult compared to under two in the past. “We had 18,000 calls into the call center for tickets ... 63 percent said ‘We weren't going to come but now I can bring my family I'd love to come',” he reported. For next year, Allen said, Silverstone was thinking of emulating budget airlines with an escalated pricing model. “It's a bit like if you are buying an advance rail ticket to go to London or a Ryanair ticket. The earlier you buy it, that's a great deal. If you buy on the day, it's expensive,” he said. “We'll make money,” he said of the new approach. “For me, not to have a British Grand Prix is unthinkable. There are ways to make it work and you don't make it work by keeping putting the prices up.” — Agencies
