Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/472423
21 Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 4 MARCH 2015 FORMULA 1 Alonso to miss Australian race on medical advice FERNANDO Alonso will miss the season-opening Grand Prix in Aus- tralia following his testing crash in Barcelona, McLaren confirmed on Tuesday. Although the team say Alonso is "entirely healthy from neurological and cardiac perspectives", doctors have advised the Spaniard, who sus- tained a concussion in a testing ac- cident on February 22, not to com- pete in the March 15 race. Alonso's seat alongside Jenson But- ton will be filled by the McLaren's test and reserve driver Kevin Mag- nussen, who competed in 19 races for the Woking squad last season. "Having performed an exhaus- tive series of tests and scans - some of them as recently as yesterday evening - McLaren-Honda driver Fernando Alonso's doctors have informed him that they find him asymptomatic of any medical issue; that they see no evidence whatsoev- er of any injury; and that they there- fore describe him as entirely healthy from neurological and cardiac per- spectives alike," a statement issued by McLaren read. "However, Fernando's doctors have recommended to him that, following the concussion he sus- tained in a testing accident at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on February 22nd, for the time being he should seek to limit as far as is possible any environmental risk fac- tors that could potentially result in his sustaining another concussion so soon after his previous one, so as to minimise the chances of sec- ond impact syndrome, as is normal medical procedure when treating athletes after concussions. "In order to limit those environ- mental risk factors, specifically, his doctors have advised that he should not compete in the imminent Aus- tralian Grand Prix meeting, which will take place on March 13th, 14th and 15th." McLaren say that although Alonso feels fit and well, he has understood and accepted the advice of his doc- tors, and with their blessing has recommenced his physical train- ing with a view to returning to the cockpit for the second race of the season in Malaysia on March 29. Fernando Alonso FIA confirms clampdown on helmet changes FORMULA 1 drivers will be re- stricted to just one helmet design per season after a proposals put for- ward by figures inside the sport were introduced into the FIA sporting regulations. Concerns were raised that some drivers were regularly changing their helmet designs to the extent where fans were not able to identify them, meaning that the new rule will put a stop to this practice. The regulations also means that one-off designs, which drivers often used for home events or a prestigious round such as Monaco, will also be prohibited. "In order for drivers to be easily dis- tinguished from one another whilst they are on the track, the crash hel- met of each driver must be presented in substantially the same livery at every event during a Championship season," reads the revised article 21.1 of the sporting regulations. The sporting regulations did not specify if or how a driver would be punished if they breached the re- striction. There has also been clarification regarding driver numbers, after some uncertainty when the regula- tion was introduced at the start of 2014. Prior to last season, drivers were asked to select a number between 2 and 99 which they would race with throughout their Formula 1 career, though there was some uncertainty as to what would happen to a driver's number if he lost his seat. An amended version of article 21.2 states that "a driver's career in For- mula 1 will be deemed to have ended if he does not participate in an event for two entire consecutive Champi- onship seasons." In theory, this means that the race numbers used by drivers in the 2014 season - including those not on the grid this season - remain protected until the start of 2017. Mick Schumacher to race in German Formula 4 MICK Schumacher, son of sev- en-time Formula 1 World Cham- pion Michael, will make his car racing debut in German ADAC Formula 4 this season. Schumacher will compete for Van Amersfoort Racing, the Dutch outfit which ran Max Ver- stappen in Formula 3 last year prior to his ascent to Formula 1. "In the last couple of years, it has become a tradition for us that we offer the runner-up from the German junior karting championship [DJKM] a test ses- sion in our simulator," said team boss Frits van Amersfoort. "This is handled by the DMSB, the German motorsport author- it y, and that is how we first got in touch with Mick Schumacher last autumn. "He spent a full day in the simulator at our headquarters in The Netherlands. Then we witnessed him during a test session at Valencia and eventu- ally, we reached an agreement to compete together in this year's ADAC Formula 4 series." Mick Schumacher Williams announces Susie Wolff's 2015 schedule SUSIE Wolff will drive for Wil- liams during practice at the Brit- ish and Spanish Grands Prix in 2015, the team have confirmed. In addition, the 32-year-old will also drive the FW37 on one day of the in-season test at the Red Bull Ring following the Austrian Grand Prix. Wolff has already driven the car this season - completing 86 laps on the opening day of the sec- ond pre-season test which was held at the Circuit de Catalunya. She finished the day nearly four seconds slower than pacesetter Pastor Maldonado after crashing out following contact with Felipe Nasr. "Our focus this year is to build on the success of 2014 - I've been training hard all winter and I am physically in the best shape I've ever been, so I am ready for the season ahead," Wolff said. "As official test driver I will have additional time in the FW37 and by correlating this with my work in the simulator, the team can en- sure we are getting the best from the car and check how updates are performing. All of us drivers on the Williams roster have been working closely together on this and we are ready to give every- thing we can to the 2015 season." Wolff made her grand prix weekend debut last year during P1 at the British Grand Prix and followed it up with an outing in the same session at Hockenheim. "Last season Susie impressed with her performances during FP1 at Silverstone and Hockenhe- im and we were keen to give her another chance to test in 2015," said deputy team principal Claire Williams. "She knew the FW36 well and with the FW37 being a gradual evolution, we were keen to utilise this knowledge and get her in the car to help assess and validate the approaches we have taken." Wolff became the first female since Giovanna Amati in 1992 to take part in a race weekend at Sil- verstone last year, although her outing lasted just four laps due to an engine failure. Susie Wolff speaks to the press during preseason testing in Barcelona, Spain