F1 wintertesting at Jerez circuit empty without Ferando Alonso

Jerez is struggling without Spanish hero Fernando Alonso.

The 2012 runner-up and Ferrari driver elected to sit out the opening test of the pre-season in favour of cycling training in a hot country -- possibly the Canary Islands.

His absence has led to mostly "empty grandstands" as the rest of the formula one world tests at Jerez in southern Spain, Brazil's Globo reports.

"We have 25 to 30 per cent more journalists this year," Jerez's media boss Raul Zarzuela said.

"Everyone wants to see the new cars -- it's almost like a grand prix," he added.

But "The absence of Alonso has hurt the interest here (in Spain)," Zarzuela admitted. "We (Spain) are in (economic) crisis, of course, but it only costs 10 euros for the whole day."

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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