Alonso ’going home to rest’ - report

After three nights in hospital and amid swirling speculation about his testing crash, Fernando Alonso is finally going home.

That was the claim on Wednesday of the Spanish sports daily El Mundo Deportivo, reporting that the McLaren-Honda driver is "going home to Oviedo to rest".

Alonso will "not take part in the test this week at the Circuit de Catalunya," the newspaper added, which is "only a precaution to ensure that he arrives in the best physical shape for the first race in Australia".

Earlier, El Mundo Deportivo said doctors had held Alonso in hospital for three nights due to headaches and pain in his shoulder and back.

The Spanish news agency EFE, meanwhile, said McLaren team boss Eric Boullier visited Alonso in hospital on Wednesday.

Reports have suggested McLaren-Honda reserve Kevin Magnussen is the favourite to replace Alonso at the final pre-season test this week.

That is because, for Alonso, "The car is not important now," his manager Luis Garcia Abad is quoted as saying by El Mundo.