Montmelo (Barcelona) Feb 26 (IANS) Spanish Formula One driver Fernando Alonso of team McLaren got off to an unlucky start to the pre-season on Monday skidding into the gravel after his right rear wheel came off just 45 minutes into the first day of winter testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.
The red flag was raised after the crash suspending the race until the Spaniard s papaya orange and blue MCL33 car was dislodged reports Efe.
"We ll be back out on track soon -- just need to remove that pesky gravel " Mclaren said on its official Twitter page along with a photo of the 36-year-old driver.
Alonso had been off to a promising start before the crash completing six laps with a fastest time of one minute and 24.202 seconds.
Later the cause of the crash was reportedly attributed to a wheel-nut problem by McLaren s Executive Director Zak Brown during a press conference.
--IANS
sam/dg
