F1 2016: Alonso to skip Bahrain Grand Prix

McLaren-Honda's Fernando Alonso will sit out the second round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in Bahrain. Doctors at the Bahrain International Circuit's Medical Centre conducted a medical examination and found the former two-time F1 world champion to still be suffering the after effects of his horrific crash at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Two sets of CT scans were conducted on the Spaniard and it was decided that there was 'insufficient resolution of the signs to allow him to compete on safety grounds.'

The doctors have also requested that Alonso undergo chest CT scan before the Chinese Grand Prix as well, which will be held two weeks after the F1 circus' desert sojourn this weekend.

This is the second straight F1 season in which Alonso will miss a race early in the year on account of the ill-effects of a massive crash.

A big shunt, caused by what was believed to be a freak gust of wind, in pre-season testing in 2015 led to Alonso missing the season opener in Melbourne. Esteban Gutierrez's Haas-Ferrari suddenly slowing down in front of Alonso's McLaren in this year's Australian Grand Prix led to the latter crashing into the Mexican before smacking the track barrier. And that was followed by his car becoming airbone after digging into a gravel trap before flipping and coming to rest against another barrier.

Alonso's replacement in Bahrain is likely to be Belgium's Stoffel Vandoorne, who is a McLaren junior driver and has been placed in a Honda powered Super Formula car in Japan in order to prepare him for an eventual F1 debut.

The 24-year-old is the reigning GP2 Series champion, a title that he won by a huge margin of 160 points after scoring seven wins, four pole positions and seven fastest laps over the course of the 11-round, 22-race season.