Australian Grand Prix crash: Fernando Alonso suffers huge accident

Alonso and Gutierrez collided at Turn Three at Albert Park

Fernando Alonso has walked away uninjured from a huge crash at the Australian Grand Prix.

The two-time champion's McLaren was launched into the air and came to rest upside down after hitting the back of Esteban Gutierrez's Haas.

Alonso was able to climb out of the wreckage unaided after the incident at Turn Three at Albert Park.

The Spaniard was taken to the medical centre for a check-up and subsequently released.

"It was a very scary moment. I was really worried and ran to him and it was a really big relief to see that everything was OK. It was a real moment of shock for both of us," said Gutierrez

"I feel good. I'm trying to put everything in place again in the body. It was a big, big crash," Alonso told BBC Radio 5 live.

"I tried to take the slipstream until the braking point and in the last moment it was a combination of factors that ended up in a crash, luckily we are both OK.

"I'm thankful for the safety of the cars - I am alive talking to you.

"I think it is a race incident. We both tried to fight and sometimes we forget we are at 300km/h and every little crash can become much bigger."

Listen to BBC Radio 5 live commentary of Alonso's crash

Alonso had been trying to pass Gutierrez on the approach to Turn Three and flicked from the inside of the track to the outside at the last minute.

Gutierrez was drifting gently from the middle of the track to the outside as Alonso switched positions, and when the Haas started to slow the McLaren's right-front wheel tagged the left rear of the Haas.

The McLaren speared straight on, the right way up, before launching into a barrel roll as it reached the gravel trap.

It has happened before in Australia

Martin Brundle's Jordan was broken in half at the same turn in 1996 after colliding with David Coulthard's McLaren and Johnny Herbert's Sauber. Brundle, like Alonso, walked away unscathed.