The truth – and fiction – about Alonso's Barcelona test crash

Since Fernando Alonso crashed at Barcelona during testing over 10 days ago, new conspiracy theories and wild stories about the reasons for his accident and the events in the aftermath have appeared online on a daily basis.

The lack of official information in the 24 hours following the crash did not help matters, and speculation has run wild since then.

Some of the rumours have been denied, others are still doing the rounds.

The truths

Alonso was knocked unconscious

Although initially it was denied that Alonso had lost consciousness, McLaren boss Ron Dennis revealed later in the week that the two-time champion had, in fact, being unconscious for a few seconds.

But McLaren denied Alonso lost consciousness before the crash, and said the momentary loss of awareness was just a result of the impact.

It was not a normal testing accident

McLaren claimed initially Alonso's had been a "normal" testing accident, but his longer-than-expected stay in hospital, and the news that he will miss the Australian Grand Prix, suggested differently.

At the end of the day, head injuries and the precautions to avoid them are perhaps something that the team had underestimated.

Alonso did not suffer concussion

This one was not a conspiracy theory or even wild speculation, but it has still led to confusion.

McLaren said 28 hours after the crash that Alonso had suffered concussion. Later in the week, team boss Ron Dennis decided to address the media to clear the situation up and to clarify or deny the post-crash reports appearing faster than you could read them.

During that press conference, Dennis said Alonso had not actually suffered concussion, only the symptoms.

On the statement released earlier this week McLaren said Alonso would not race in Australia "following the concussion he sustained in a testing accident".

Hopefully in a few weeks' time all this will be history when Alonso takes to the track in first practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The rumours

Alonso woke up from the crash speaking Italian

McLaren boss Ron Dennis admitted Alonso had lost consciousness in the crash, and that he was suffering from memory loss, a normal symptom in incident such as this one.

Ralf Bach, a German F1 correspondent for Sport Bild and TZ Munchen, wrote on his blog f1-insider.com that Alonso had woken up from the crash thinking he was still driving from Ferrari, and speaking Italian.

Alonso's memory was stuck in the past for a week

Spain's El Pais newspaper goes even further, claiming Alonso suffered an even bigger loss of memory, the Spaniard thinking he was 13 when he regained consciousness.

"I'm Fernando. I race karts and I want to be a Formula One driver," Alonso told doctors according to the report.

El Pais writes Alonso needed a full week to recover his memories from the past 20 years, including his two world titles.

Alonso received a big electrical shock in the car

The theory about the electrical shock has been widely reported in media all over the world.

McLaren's denial did not help ease off the rumours, with Sky Italia claiming Alonso told friends he had felt "major shock in his spine" before crashing.

The matter took an even stranger twist when Fabrizio Barbazza, a former Formula One driver, wrote he knew from his sources that Alonso "took a 600 watt hit".

Teams threatened boycott over Alonso's crash

Sport Bild took that electrical shock stories one step further, reporting that several Formula One teams are considering boycotting the Australian Grand Prix amid safety worries.

"Several teams are thinking about not letting their drivers race in Melbourne on safety grounds," said the report from the German publication.

Sport Bild cites an unnamed team boss saying "Honda must provide answers to the FIA" in order to put the fears to rest.

That was denied by Australian GP boss Andrew Westacott on Friday.