Alonso going to Indy?

[legion]

I really hope McLaren makes a resurgence. I'm not sure they can do it with Honda or without Ron Dennis.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by Aragorn

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 always a bit of a lottery, but he'll have the best mentors he could find. All of the Andrettis know the place like few others and I'm sure they'll all be on hand. Counting the whole clan, they have 70 starts there. Expect Michael to be in charge of Alonso's car and strategy.

JR

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by javadog

All of the Andrettis know the place like few others and I'm sure they'll all be on hand.

Mario has 1 Indy 500 win.
Michael and Marco have none.
I'm not sure I want to learn from them. If I had to pick one mentor (for the 500) it would be Rick Mears.

[rusnak]

Alonso has the ability to win it. He's like Kevin Garnett playing in the NIT. If he had a good car, it would be more like Usain Bolt running in the NCAA national track meet, and in that case, F1 would be a laughing stock if he didn't win. Weak link is Honda. I think they are taking a risk. I sort of question Zak Brown's logic, because McLaren are really not in a position to capitalize either way.

[Noah930]

Go, Fred, Go!

No chance of winning in the Principality, so f it, let's see what he can do at Indy! Even with the long odds of winning the 500 (no oval experience, no IndyCar experience, and with a totally foreign team), his odds in Indianapolis are still better than those in Monaco! Racers race. Who wants to be a backmarker at P20? It's gonna be an interesting experiment.

[David]

What if his replacement at Monaco pulls a Jarno Trulli or Olivier Panis and wins the thing.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

Mario has 1 Indy 500 win.
Michael and Marco have none.
I'm not sure I want to learn from them. If I had to pick one mentor (for the 500) it would be Rick Mears.

You might want to rethink that. Mario and Michael should each have won the race as many times as Mears, had their cars not failed so often from minor mechanical failures. Mario had more than a dozen mechanical failures and led the most laps of a race without winning many times. I can think of three races where his car crapped out on him while he was leading the race.

Michael has completed the most laps and led the most laps of any driver that has never won the event. He's only had one non-finish due to a brush with a wall, all of his other DNF's were mechanical. Some of his mechanical failures occurred while he had a big lead late in a race.

Marco has not had the best of careers but he's usually in the hunt at Indy. He had one race that he lost in the final hundred yards by a few hundreths of a second. He's usually in the top 5.

Don't forget, Andretti's team won last years race, with a rookie in the car.

JR

[astrochex]

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

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

Such ignorance here to think the Indy 500 is a walk in park and that the competitors are rubbish.

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

Mario has 1 Indy 500 win.
Michael and Marco have none.
I'm not sure I want to learn from them. If I had to pick one mentor (for the 500) it would be Rick Mears.

Mario had 2, but had the car give up on him after he had dominated the entire race.

They know their way 'round it, just haven't had much luck.

OOPS, just saw the post above. Total agreement. Now, whether Alonzo will have success in his first outing? I don't think skill is the issue, he has a month to learn the car and the technique. But it takes tremendous luck to win at Indy in addition to complete preparation. Last years rookie win came down to the stops falling into place. Its not just strategic genius, the chips also need to fall.

[yellowperil]

I'm thinking the big difference for Alonso will be the high speeds, walls, and lack of gravel traps. But he's a big boy he'll do OK.

BTW, what part will McLaren play in all of this. Name only?

Also, Nigel Mansell had a very strong 3rd place at Indy, and could have won it except for a couple of rookie mistakes. But there are lots of guys
who came close.

[yellowperil]

Delicate and dangerous!

I often wondered if he could see out of that helmet, maybe he couldn't.

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by astrochex

Such ignorance here to think the Indy 500 is a walk in park and that the competitors are rubbish.

Thanks. It is not ignorance but my opinion based on watching both since the early 90's and dropping Indy at the point indicated. I did not say it was a 'walk in the park'. I believe that the series has fallen from a higher position since the Champ / IRL mess and its never regained its status.

For the drivers, Dario Franchitti said several years ago that he never went to F1 even though he had opportunity because he would have to go to a mid pack to back marker team. Whether that was down to financial support or ability is up for debate since he did not reveal those facts. I can't think of any others that have had any success making the move to F1 except for JPM, whom I used to support during his time at Williams BMW. Wish he would have stayed in F1.

Moreover, I don't believe Indy cars garner the fan base, publicity, or attendance figures as does F1. Just another factor in my opinion that Indy cars has fallen down the ladder.

[astrochex]

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

Thanks. It is not ignorance but my opinion based on watching both since the early 90's and dropping Indy at the point indicated. I did not say it was a 'walk in the park'. I believe that the series has fallen from a higher position since the Champ / IRL mess and its never regained its status.

For the drivers, Dario Franchitti said several years ago that he never went to F1 even though he had opportunity because he would have to go to a mid pack to back marker team. Whether that was down to financial support or ability is up for debate since he did not reveal those facts. I can't think of any others that have had any success making the move to F1 except for JPM, whom I used to support during his time at Williams BMW. Wish he would have stayed in F1.

Moreover, I don't believe Indy cars garner the fan base, publicity, or attendance figures as does F1. Just another factor in my opinion that Indy cars has fallen down the ladder.

Let's call it confusion then because Indycar popularity has nothing to with the difficulty and nuances of racing in much less succeeding in the Indy 500.

[cairns]

So all Juan Pablo Montoya needs to do is win LeMans....(not that that's likely).

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by cairns

So all Juan Pablo Montoya needs to do is win LeMans....(not that that's likely).

He could get a drive at Audi

Oh, wait...

[Rtrorkt]

Jenson Button set to replace Fernando Alonso for McLaren at Monaco Grand Prix - BBC Sport

[Aragorn]

" I can't think of any others that have had any success making the move to F1 except for JPM, whom I used to support during his time at Williams BMW."

The only other driver I can think of that won Indy (1995) and the CART Championship and then went on to win the F1 drivers title is Jacques Villeneuve in the 90's. His stint at BAR kind of downplayed his earlier success, but he still won and was a great CART champion that went on to win the title in F1 with Williams in 97. He has tried to win LeMans for the triple like Graham Hill.

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by astrochex

Let's call it confusion then because Indycar popularity has nothing to with the difficulty and nuances of racing in much less succeeding in the Indy 500.

I think you and I are talking apples and oranges.

My point all throughout the thread is that F1 is considered the pinnacle of motorsport. I don't believe I have made comment on the difficulty of Indy 500, so here goes. I do believe the 500 is extremely difficult and not for just some dude off the street that thinks he can drive. Alonso is not just some dude but he already has a ride in another formula, which has a race that weekend.

The point, and that of the quoted comment from BBC Sport, is that if Alonso does not win or do very well it will be a black mark for F1 given it is considered superior to Indy Car.

Secondly, I believe the Indy Car series fallen on hard times which I think is a shame. I remember a time in the 90's when Champ and F1 were very close in racing quality, popularity, and exposure, and that Champ would have been in a place that F1 is in now if that had remained constant. That all changed with the IRL Indy 500 lockout and with the division of Champ and IRL as two different series. That division nearly killed both and only Champ survived. It would be nice to see that return but things have likely gotten to a point that it will never be a reality.

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by Aragorn

" I can't think of any others that have had any success making the move to F1 except for JPM, whom I used to support during his time at Williams BMW."

The only other driver I can think of that won Indy (1995) and the CART Championship and then went on to win the F1 drivers title is Jacques Villeneuve in the 90's. His stint at BAR kind of downplayed his earlier success, but he still won and was a great CART champion that went on to win the title in F1 with Williams in 97. He has tried to win LeMans for the triple like Graham Hill.

Dang, can't believe I forgot about Jacques. He and Schumi went at it pretty hard.

On another note, I would love to see Williams back at the front.

[Aragorn]

Seeing the post above about Jenson replacing Alonso at McLaren during Monaco is great news. He is still my favorite driver of this era in F1. Always made time for interviews and came across as a really nice guy. Glad he was able to win the title with Brawn after so many years. Hope he is able to finish well and get some points for Honda and McLaren. Might just get lucky like Panis in a Ligier (with a Mugen Honda engine) back in 1996.