F1: Alonso recalls 'heavy steering' in Barcelona crash

McLaren has revealed that Fernando Alonso felt the steering of his Formula 1 car went 'heavy' in the moments before his testing crash at Barcelona last month.

The two-time world champion was forced to sit out the final pre-season test and the Australian Grand Prix as a result of a concussion he suffered in the accident at Barcelona's Turn 3.

Alonso will undergo further medical checks on Thursday to determine if he is ready to return to the cockpit at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard returned to McLaren's Woking base last week to spend time in the team's simulator, and he also went over the details of the accident with engineers as part of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash.

A McLaren statement said: "While there was nothing evident in the extensive car telemetry data, nor anything abnormal in the subsequent reconstructions and laboratory tests, Fernando recalls a sense of 'heavy' steering prior to the accident.

"Consequently, the team has fitted an additional sensor to the car to increase our data capture.

"Fernando is very much looking forward to getting back into the car and making a substantial contribution to our collective efforts with Honda, to accelerate the required improvement to our on-track performance."

Alonso travelled to Malaysia on Monday following medical tests at Cambridge University on Sunday.

He will be assessed by the FIA medical delegate at Sepang on Thursday, and will have an 'Impact' test to determine the state of his recovery to make sure he is fit to return to racing.