Alonso to miss Alpine F1 launch event

Fernando Alonso is to miss the launch event of new team Alpine F1 as he continues his recovery from a cycling accident in which he fractured his jaw.

Earlier this month the two-time F1 champion was involved in a crash with a car in the Swiss town of Lugano which led to him undergoing corrective surgery and requiring he spend three nights in a local hospital.

The incident naturally delayed Alonso's preparations ahead of the new campaign in which the 39-year-old returns to F1 after a two-year hiatus.

At the time the team confirmed Alonso would have "a short period of complete rest before progressively resuming training to undertake preparation for the start of the season".

As a consequence, Alonso will not now be involved in the launch event due to take place at Enstone next week.

Confirming its plans for the launch, Alpine also stated that "we regret to confirm that Fernando Alonso will not be present for the media Q&A on this occasion.

"The sanitary situation and corresponding regulations in place do not allow him to do any communications and marketing activities while he undertakes his critical season preparation."

It is understood that in flying into the UK, Alonso would have been forced into self-isolation as current regulations require elite sportspeople can only avoid such a consequence if they are competing in an event.

Self-isolation would have been a further setback to Alonso's pre-season plans after already losing valuable time to recover from his crash.

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