When the front page of an Australian newspaper dubs you ‘Luckiest Man Alive’ you know you’ve escaped a rather perilous situation.

Fernando Alonso is the lucky chap in question, his brutal accident at the season-opening Melbourne Grand Pix bringing back memories of Ayrton Senna in 1994. ABC describing that serious ding up top:

The Spaniard clambered from his demolished McLaren after the high-speed crash with Mexican Esteban Gutierrez’s Haas and later posted an Instagram photograph of himself holding the Melbourne Herald Sun bearing the front-page headline ‘Luckiest Man Alive’.

The two-time Formula One world champion said he extricated himself so his mother would see he was safe. He went on to praise Formula One’s safety improvements, saying: “I’m thankful for the safety of these cars. I’m alive thanks to the job of the last 10 to 15 years of Formula One.”

Makes your crash from back in the day look a little average doesn’t it?

The race was eventually won by German Nico Rosberg with Lewis Hamilton coming in second.

[source:abc]