F1 2016: six things you need to know about the Bahrain GP

The Spaniard survived a spectacular crash in the season opener in Melbourne a fortnight ago, but doctors have decided that he hasn’t recovered well enough to race in Bahrain this weekend.

Alonso didn’t appear to have any injuries at the time, although he has now confirmed that he sustained a minor lung collapse and rib fractures in the crash, which peaked at an enormous 46G.

In a statement, the FIA said: “Two sets of chest CT scans were compared and it was decided on safety grounds that there was insufficient resolution of the signs to allow [Alonso] to compete on safety grounds.”

The FIA will reassess the two-time world champion again in two weeks’ time before the Chinese Grand Prix, where again his place on the grid will depend on medical clearance.

It’s the second time in as many seasons that Alonso has missed a race, having sat out the Australian Grand Prix following an accident in pre-season testing last year.

With Alonso out of action, McLaren have confirmed that they will turn to reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne to stand in for the injured 34-year-old.

Vandoorne, who joined the team’s young driver programme in 2013, is highly rated having won the GP2 series last year with a record points tally with ART.

The 24-year-old Belgian had been in Japan testing with his Super Formula team, but has now been scrambled over to Bahrain to make his F1 debut.

Earlier he tweeted: “About to board for Bahrain, a bit earlier than expected but so much looking forward to it! Will do my very best for the team.”

The rookie will be determined to make a good impression this weekend to reaffirm his credentials for a race seat in 2017: should Jenson Button call it a day at the end of the season, there’s a strong possibility that Vandoorne could inherit his place.

The world champion’s Instagram feed has long occupied a colourful corner of the internet, but this week it has been even more exuberant than usual.

The Mercedes driver – who finished second behind Nico Rosberg in Australia – has been enjoying some down time (quite literally) in a freefall simulator in Bahrain.

The above photo was preceded by a short video of the 31-year-old whizzing around with an instructor, presumably with a nervous Mercedes PR person stood trembling just out of shot.

On a separate note, it’s not clear if Hamilton has broken any of F1’s strict rules on the use of wind tunnels...

Image credit: Lewis Hamilton

Last week Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button and Alex Wurz released a co-written letter on behalf of all the current F1 drivers requesting that F1 bosses fix the “obsolete” decision making process.

Although the letter mentioned no one specifically, many critics read it as an attack on commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone, the man behind controversial ideas such as the ‘double points’ rule and reversed grids.

The 85-year-old has since responded with a letter of his own, in which he states that the drivers are “correct” about problems with F1’s governance structure.

“It is easy to analyse what is wrong,” he added. “So why not think and come back on this. At least it is better to think before you wish.

“I have been in Formula One for nearly fifty years in an active role and another eighteen involved in some way. You state that every individual acts with the very best intentions. I am not sure if this is a misprint. If not, it should read ‘with their very best intentions’.”

Meanwhile, Ecclestone has confirmed that while the Italian Grand Prix will definitely go ahead at Monza in September, the race’s long-term future remains in doubt.

The circuit – which is Ferrari’s home race –  has struggled in recent years to raise the funds needed to pay for F1 hosting rights.

Bernie also remarked: “Somebody once told me a funny thing that you couldn't have Formula 1 without a race in France but we do.”

He also revealed that although he doesn’t expect the calendar to grow beyond the current roster of 21 races, organisers of a proposed grand prix in Las Vegas could host a second event in the US at some point in the future.

A grand prix in Vegas? Sounds like a huge gamble.

They tried it, they disliked it, then they promised to ditch it, but it’s still here: ‘elimination’ qualifying has caused a stir in the last few weeks, most recently because the sport has failed to abandon it after a disastrous first outing in Australia two weeks ago.

All of the teams agreed that the new format had failed to make qualifying more exciting, but thanks to the FIA the system remains in place after teams were only given the option of tweaking it as opposed to a full removal.

The news has sparked a hostile response among fans, many of whom are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the sport.

A poll on TopGear.com yesterday gave the new quali an approval rating of just 9%; a very different outlook compared to when the format was first proposed.

Second time lucky, then...