F1 Driver Fernando Alonso to Race in the 2017 Indianapolis 500

twitcher
I don't think they have any plans to leave F1. To paraphrase what Alonso said earlier today, "Zak Brown wants to grow McLaren outside of F1. He has bigger visions than other team bosses I have worked with."

Looking at your avatar, I'd say it's similar to Penkse racing in Australia - doesn't mean he's going to quit racing in America.
Click to expand...
For sure, but Audi had a string of wins and still left. I guess McLaren have money to burn. As they haven't been consistently competitive, recently, I can see that vision of growing the company.
I can also see them doing so, without F1.

First things first, next month should be a hood event.
 
Schmiggz
As an European, it's definitely hard for me to understand what makes a formula 1 driver even think about making boring oval racing a daily job.
LMP's? Sure but Indy?... meh!
Click to expand...

Hello European from Toronto. To answer your question, you should first check how is Alonso doing right now in F1 and what are the reasons for that. Fighting for 10th place is not as interesting as racing in Indy 500 in front of quarter million spectators, for top position (hopefully)
 
Quite a crazy decision from McLaren. Alonso gets paid a lot to put in 100% at all races, especially Monaco where Honda engine would be less of a disadvantage than at any other circuit.
 
I wonder how confused he will be if he manages to actually finish the race.

"What do you mean the race is over? My car is still running, how can the race be over if my car is still running!?"

ShiftingGears
especially Monaco where Honda engine would be less of a disadvantage than at any other circuit.
Click to expand...

That's presuming it lasts longer than 10 laps.
 
Northstar
I wonder how confused he will be if he manages to actually finish the race.

"What do you mean the race is over? My car is still running, how can the race be over if my car is still running!?"



That's presuming it lasts longer than 10 laps.
Click to expand...

It should, considering they could run less power and still do fine, so long as their aero package is as great as they think it is. Which it should be considering it is designed by the same guy that helped design WCC winning RBRs.
 
The Car they run at Indy will apparently run with the same colours and sponsors as the current F1 McClaren.
This is a smart move by Zak Brown giving extra value to the sponsors during a difficult time for McClaren.

Alonso has his eye on joining Graham Hill as a triple Crown winner, and if successful at Indy then Le Mans will be in his future, so being an Indy regular outside of the 500 is unlikely. It's the challenge of joining a very elite club, rather than the Indy series he's attracted by.
 
Last edited:
Wow, that was an interesting read in this thread. :rolleyes: Reminds me of the ol' PC Elitists in the gaming world.

Carrying on, I've been getting into F1 for the past few years, and I've always known who Alonso was, but never really got to witness how good he was/is. He's got a new fan over here; pulling for him and Hinch in the 500!
 
Tired Tyres
They need to keep him in the team mate. Maybe this is the only way of doing that.
Click to expand...

That certainly seems to be the thinking in the motorsport press - Alonso may be realising that another WDC isn't likely to happen and it's vanishingly unlikely that he'll retire from his F1 era with the same number of championships as Hamilton or Vettel... so the triple crown is the way to go.

Couple that with some good press for Honda, some good exposure for the McLaren sponsors, winner winner pollo dinner.
 
jenson.jpg
 
Schmiggz
As an European, it's definitely hard for me to understand what makes a formula 1 driver even think about making boring oval racing a daily job.
LMP's? Sure but Indy?... meh!
Click to expand...
In the 90s I've been watching CART and NASCAR extensively, basically every race (also been watching every F1 race) and I think the racing was generally better in the American race series, oval racing is something very special and can get really exciting I think I generally liked the road courses more - NASCAR on road tracks is also really awesome, cause the cars are so heavy but still fast.

Anyways idk how it is nowadays but you should probably just try watching , especially oval racing can be a real nail-biter, because you never know who wins! (although it was usually Dale Earnhardt who I was a huge fan of btw - RIP)


Anyhow that's cool for Alonso - I figure this'll be pretty tough for him without practice / experience at least his car will be fast I suppose! :P
 
H20HYBRID_GT
Anyhow that's cool for Alonso - I figure this'll be pretty tough for him without practice / experience at least his car will be fast I suppose! :P
Click to expand...

I think the hardest thing for him is the fact the cars are quite different than what he's used to technology wise. The good news for him is that there is 31 hours of practice prior to qualifying and another 7 in between qualifying and the race.

If he leaves Spain immediately following the GP he should be able to take advantage of a good chunk of that time (the first practice session is the day after the Spanish GP).
 
Tired Tyres
They need to keep him in the team mate. Maybe this is the only way of doing that.
Click to expand...

Again, teams don't pay drivers $32 million to trash talk their engine manufacturer and not compete in all races, which is why I'm very surprised by this move. It's why Alonso is stuck at McLaren, rather than in a competitive team.
 
ShiftingGears
Again, teams don't pay drivers $32 million to trash talk their engine manufacturer and not compete in all races, which is why I'm very surprised by this move. It's why Alonso is stuck at McLaren, rather than in a competitive team.
Click to expand...

Alonso's being very good for McLaren in that regard - he's pushing Honda hard and is their public face of dissent. The curtailed presser with Alonso followed by his visibly angry rant at the Honda engine boss is perfect for them as it puts Honda in a position of public embarrassment without McLaren having to rock the boat. As long as Alonso keeps at it I'd say he's worth every penny to McLaren right now.

Putting Alonso in the only Honda-powered car with which he's likely to win a race this season (Spa '98 type shenanigans excepted) is a worthy sop from Honda.
 
It's funny how people are calling Alonso's decision a "smart career move", when really he just wants to prove how dominate he'd be in an equal playing field (not to mention what he could do in a car that lasts a whole race), same chassis through out the field and only two engine manufactures. He's tired of falling victim to mechanical failures and poorly engineered chassis', this is good for him.
GTPNewsWire
This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:
This article was published by Calvin Kirstein (@calvins48) on April 13th, 2017 in the Motorsports category.
Click to expand...
 
Yes, and if he likes it it might be a new career for him, what's the issue with that?

Personally I'd love seeing it because while I'd miss him in F1, it's kinda sad to see him struggling to keep up with the mid field... One of the best drivers out there. And he surely didn't expect Honda to be this miserable.
 
ShiftingGears
Again, teams don't pay drivers $32 million to trash talk their engine manufacturer and not compete in all races, which is why I'm very surprised by this move. It's why Alonso is stuck at McLaren, rather than in a competitive team.
Click to expand...
But he's going to Indy as a McLaren entry (with a Honda engine), the team has expressed desire to expand their scope in world motorsports. They are already here in the US in sports cars with IMSA and Pirelli WC (SCCA), but those series have nothing near the profile that Indy Cars, and particularly the 500 have. More people will watch that one race than will watch the entire season(s) of those other series.
 
Schmiggz
As an European, it's definitely hard for me to understand what makes a formula 1 driver even think about making boring oval racing a daily job.
LMP's? Sure but Indy?... meh!
Click to expand...

Couldn't care less about oval racing until I did some on iRacing. It's intense!!
 
Northstar
I think the hardest thing for him is the fact the cars are quite different than what he's used to technology wise. The good news for him is that there is 31 hours of practice prior to qualifying and another 7 in between qualifying and the race.

If he leaves Spain immediately following the GP he should be able to take advantage of a good chunk of that time (the first practice session is the day after the Spanish GP).
Click to expand...
Oh, yep that's what I meant, while there are some nuances in oval racing that he'll still have to learn, generally just driving in circles shouldn't be difficult for a professional race driver. :)


Btw are they still doing those 0.5 miles ovals (I think that's NASCAR), that was always total madness. :lol
 
Carbonox
When have American open-wheelers ever gone to tracks the size of Bristol?
Click to expand...

If they didn't then, they certainly won't do it now. It's incredibly stupid and doesn't even begin to open the can of legal worms that would happen if a major crash happened there.
 
In the past 20 years the shortest track used was the .75 mile Richmond. The IRL raced there from 2001-2009. The current short tracks are Iowa .875, Phoenix 1 mile, and Gateway 1.25 miles. Back in the USAC days the circuits were a mix of dirt fairgrounds, road courses, and super speedways.
 
Carbonox
When have American open-wheelers ever gone to tracks the size of Bristol?
Click to expand...
Winged World of Outlaws sprint cars and wingless USAC sprint cars frequent the many .5 mile bullrings, both paved and dirt.

Dave Blaney's Winged sprint car

Mini sprint car

Silver Crown sprint car
 

Latest Posts

Back