Fernando Alonso suffered 'temporary memory loss' after his crash in testing

McLaren have confirmed to Sky Sports that Fernando Alonso suffered 'temporary memory loss' following his accident in testing at Barcelona.

Alonso is reported to have believed the year was 1995 when he regained consciousness after being knocked out when his McLaren car hit the track wall at the Circuit de Catalunya on the final day of the second pre-season test.

"I'm Fernando, I'm in karts and want to become Formula 1 driver," Alonso told doctors, according to Le Pais newspaper.

In an apparent tongue-in-cheek reference to his retrograde amnesia, Alonso tweeted on Friday: 'In a few days the championship starts and we ran out "imagination". I propose a game with RT to the most creative. #whereDidYouWakeUpToday'.

However, amid widespread speculation about the cause and effects of the crash, McLaren boss Eric Boullier has insisted that Alonso’s concussion was not as "dramatic" as depicted.

"It was just a normal concussion [with] a loss of temporary memory," Boullier told Sky Sports F1. "It's not as dramatic as you read in the media. Everything is back to normal."

McLaren chief Ron Dennis told a media conference in Barcelona that Alonso "was unconscious for a relatively short period of time" after the accident.