Renault’s Spanish ace nearly crashed out on the parade lap

Imagine the scene if Fernando Alonso had spun off before the start of his home grand prix, in front of more than 100,000 adoring fans. We almost didn’t have to imagine it – Alonso very nearly did lose his car during the parade lap, whilst weaving from side to side to warm up his tyres. His Renault snaked onto the grass but he recovered in time, with a wall looming fast, and so managed to avoid what would have been one of the most embarrassing cock-ups in F1 history.

You can see Alonso lose it at the start of this clip:

A genuine “I almost shit myself” moment. He was so close to pranging his front wing.

On the subject of embarrassing moments, here’s Roberto Guerrero going one better than Fernando on the formation lap of the 1992 Indy 500:

Poor chap was on pole at the time.