Alonso going to Indy?
 

It's being reported today that Alonso and McLaren are going to the Indy 500. Says he will be missing Monaco race to compete in the 500. Strange.

it appears to be true. This will be fun to watch.

McLaren Formula 1 - Fernando Alonso to race at Indy 500 with McLaren, Honda and Andretti Autosport

I sure hope the Honda engine they use at Indy is not the like the pig they use in F1. Low power, high fuel consumption and unreliable. THE three things every engine builder tries to avoid at all costs.

;) How will they adapt carbs to their engine? :D

If they don't get on the podium in that lower tier then they have severe problems.

How many Andretti Honda engines broke at Long Beach last weekend?

Honda has stepped it up this year and have won the first two Indycar race of the season. Its apples and oranges to compare the F1 debacle to Indycar.

Kudos to Alonso for giving Indy a shot. While I am not a fan, I hope he has a good showing.

All of them.

Just saw this comment in response to the linked article on BBC Sport:

I'm being serious here, he had better win that race or it will severely impact F1's reputation. I think it's an incredibly arrogant, selfish and narcissistic move. It also sets a precedent to other drivers that it's ok to miss races for other formula if you have an noncompetitive car. If he doesn't win, F1 will be a laughing stock. If after retirement, fine, but a supposed great? That's damaging.

I concur. I think Indy went so far down hill after the Tony George banning of Champ/Indy Cars from the 500 in favor of his IRL drivers. Since then this entire series has been pretty far down the totem pole.

BUT if Alonso doesn't win or at least make a good showing (while maybe retiring due to shunt or mechanical) this will go down very poorly for F1 and McLaren.

Fernando Alonso: McLaren driver to miss Monaco Grand Prix for Indianapolis 500 - BBC Sport

I also am not a big fan of Alonso, but I hope he does well. More than anything, these fast relatively flat "ovals" are tough to tame if you're not brought up racing on them. Hope he doesn't get hurt. Lots of people have.

I got to drive around the track at Indy in my 911 in 2015. That track is FAR from flat. It is not even close to Daytona or the NASCAR banked ovals, but it sure is not flat. It would indeed take balls of steel to run 200+ three abreast but that is true in NASCAR as well.

This was also my first thought when reading about this this morning. I'm no Alonso fan. I'll be laughing my ass off when he gets buried by the regulars.

I'm surprised he doesn't go MotoGP racing, too. Oh, wait...

I don't see where a driver can expect to do well when he is moving to:
a different platform and handling
engine and power band,
set of rules,
new track,
and new team.

Even the best need time to dial in.

I think it is a fantasy for Alonso to win and his is delusional if he thinks he is that much better than the other pros in a field of 32. Certainly he'd do better than half the field but Dixon, Castroneves (old but has 3 wins), Power, Pagenaud, Kanaan (old but has a win), Hunter-Reay,...? I doubt it.

Maybe just a major PR move to draw attention to Indy?

I don't see how it could be a worse hit to McLaren/Honda/Alonso than another DNF at Monaco :roll eyes:

A poor result can easily be attributed to the unfamiliar format etc. Nothing but upside for them, and a serious marketing coup to boot...

I'm looking forward to it.

I'm a fan of Alonso and hope he does well. The last two years have been painful to watch while he's been stuck in an inferior car.

My question is WTF has McLaren got to do with this other than letting it happen? He'll be driving a Dallara, with a Honda Indy spec engine, prepped and run by the Andretti organization.

Oh well.......at least they supplied the orange paint......

Indy was good publicity for both Kurt Busch (Nascar) and Robby Gordon in the past trying to do the double (Coca Cola 600 and Indy same day.) This stunt may be just what McLaren and Honda need to improve their image.

Alexander Rossi won Indy as a Rookie while still being a reserve driver for Manor in F1. How hard can it be?

Alonso is an excellent driver and will probably adapt well to IndyCar but will either have problems or finish outside the top ten. Indy is hard to master. Four corners...how hard is that? Unless he has a mentor or someone very good to train him in the intricacies of the track, he won't get it on his first go around. Indy is a team effort. Not just the driver. Good pit stops combined with good fuel strategy and a heaping dose of good luck might get him a top ten. Might not. I don't foresee him winning on his first go around. Nigel Mansell had the best team and car at Indy in 1993 and still finished third behind Emerson and Arie.

Who was the former Moto GP or WSB racer who took up AMA flat track last year? I think he is an Aussie. From what I recall, he barely qualified for one or two mains all year. The boys who grew up racing at their county fairs handed him his arrogant ass all year long. I don't see this going any better for Alonso.

I thought it was a late April Fool's joke. I look forward to seeing what he can do. I will be watching this year.

Given Mclaren's current F1 performance; I'm glad they are making an opportunity like this happen. Kudos.

Hopefully unlike the F1 effort, CNN won't be the sponsor. CNN and Mclaren are quite the match up when it comes to reliability. :D

True, but given the option of location I believe I would stick with Monaco.

If your car craps out in Monte Carlo, you can just go hop on a yacht like Kimi did a few years back.