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It wasn't a big solid impact though. If he wouldn't have flipped, it might have been a different story.

I don't think the flip scrubs off speed as much as people seem to think. Any airtime means there's virtually zero braking on the car (except for drag, which is negligible and is still active when the car is sliding on the ground anyways). The car only touched a couple times when you see the marks on gravel. Sliding on its undertray without flipping would've stopped him way short of the barrier.
The truth is that flips make a crash worse and longer, not better. But I still love them nonetheless. There's no drama in a car sliding on tarmac on 3 wheels and stopping right side up like it would've done for the same collision at any modern track.

You're kidding right? Flips look spectacular, but that is about it. It is the hitting part that causes injuries. Alinso would likely have had one huge side impact, instead of a bit of tumbling. It's simply dissapates energy. Flipping looks worse, and sure, in some circumstance the flipping makes thing worse, but one hit vs several medium ones, that is physics, not opinion.

Modern tracks, Tilke crap, don't have gravel traps, and without Maldonado the chance of flipping is extremely low. But the walls are very far away. That helps more then not flipping.

All that matters is how long it takes for the car to come to rest. Ft=mv and all that jazz.

I know you mean it well, but is about impact energy. Nothing more. Otherwise, a lot of drivers would still be alive.

Thus the use for the impulse momentum equation.

Take it from someone with experience, as long as your limbs stay inside the car, rolling through the gravel is far preferable than hitting a wall side on at full speed.

Just ask those hitting the chicane at Monaco.

Alonso would have no doubt hit the barriers with the side already destroyed.

Absolutely. The car car was already slowed down through the gravel trap and landed almost without any speed next to the wall. And the flip actually started before he hit the gravel.

went to visit Fernando's wall last night, found a few little bits of carbon fibre still laying around

Oh that's a cool shot, thanks!

Ok it seems I was misunderstood, so let's do it more clearly: I will rank the different crash scenarios for an out-of-control car with wheels missing and a side already destroyed.

From shorter distance travelled to longer distance travelled before coming to a stop:

1) Sliding across gravel without taking off or flipping.
2) Flipping and tumbling through gravel with significant air time.
3) Sliding across a tarmac run-off.