FERNANDO ALONSO spun out after only six laps on a disappointing return to action for McLaren today at Formula One’s opening pre-season test.

The double world champion, 36, lost control of his car at the final corner at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya following a wheel nut failure and was left stranded in the gravel.

Only 37 minutes had passed before Alonso’s crash and the red flags were deployed to recover his McLaren. Alonso was pictured inspecting the rear of his car before it was towed back to the garage.

All eyes are on McLaren this year following their underwhelming results in recent seasons and, while the Woking outfit tried to downplay Alonso’s car failure, it is clearly not the start they were looking for.

Track time is imperative in testing with only eight days of running before the season gets under way in Melbourne on March 25.

Alonso returned to track in the closing stages of the morning session to take his lap tally to 10, but Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who set the fastest time before the drivers stopped for lunch, managed 60 circuits, while Mercedes’s Valtteri Bottas, who was second fastest, clocked 58 laps.

“There was no drama in the garage and everyone was quite relaxed and getting on with it,” McLaren’s US executive director Zak Brown said.

“All the teams will have a variety of issues throughout testing and we are going to lose very little time, so it is no big deal.

“This team is used to public pressure and having eyes on us. We enjoy that and we like to step up to the plate and thrive on the opportunity so we are not feeling any more added pressure than we already put on ourselves.”

Alonso completed only one lap on the first morning here last year following reliability issues with his beleaguered Honda engine prior to a campaign in which he failed to finish more than half of the races he started.

McLaren, a winner of 20 combined drivers’ and constructors’ championships, have failed to win a grand prix in six years, but they will be hoping for greater fortunes following their switch to Renault power this term.