McLaren has confirmed that a loose wheel nut cau𝓰sed Fernando Alonso to spin 💝off just 30 minutes into Formula 1's winter testing schedule in Barcelona, causing a red flag.

McLaren unveiled its new Renault-powered F1 car, the MCL33, ahead of the 2018 💮season last week before completing a successful shak♚edown at Navarra in Spain that left Alonso promising "good times" for the team's fans this year after a difficult period working with Honda.

However, Alons𒈔o brought out the first red flag of winter testing when he spun into the gravel ⛦at the final corner in the opening hour of testing, with a wheel coming free from his McLaren car.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the luncﷺh break in Barcelona, McLaren executive director Zak Brown confirm꧅ed a loose wheel nut had caused Alonso's off.

"ꦆWe had a wheel nut issue. We'll get back out here this afternoon,💎" Brown said.

"I 💟know Eric [Boullier, McLaren racing director] will be doing a debrief later to🎉day with all of today's activities, so I'll leave him to tell you about today.

"It's what testing is for. I think all teams will have a variety of🍰 issues throughout testi🏅ng. That's exactly what it's for.

"We're going to lose veꦓry little 🍌time. It's no big deal at all."

Alonso completed six laps before the issue occurred, completing a fastest time 1:24.🌳202.