I have no idea what he has to gain. He has no chance of winning there and the McLaren chassis may give him a shot at Monaco.
I have no idea what he has to gain. He has no chance of winning there and the McLaren chassis may give him a shot at Monaco.
Just heard this myself and came here, but others have already posted it.
etifosi wrote: This is INSANE.
Nope, this is freeking awesome. I'm torn between wanting him to trounce the whole thing (very unlikely) and to come away humbled at how difficult it is (far far more likely) I really really can't wait for this. I almost (almost wish I was going this year to see him rather than last year for the 100th running and to see Rossi win. This is the best thing that's happened to Indy car in a long time IMHO.
Hell yeah.
It's an Andretti Honda car but will be run as a McLaren, I really hope it mimics the current F1 livery.
I love it when stuff comes from left field.
It looks like there's a chance of more to come from McLaren in the future. https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/mclaren-open-to-full-works-indycar-programme-in-future-892893
I will be buying overpriced McLaren Indy merchandise when it's out.
Murica. F$%^ Yeah
McLaren F$%^ Yeah
I'm a happy McLaren fan if no one has noticed.
I grew up off of turn 4 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and I'm loving the Alonso news! Good to see McLaren back, even if it's only as a paintjob. Good to see the Indy 500 getting some interest and reverence from the elite drivers in the world. Really interested to see how a very accomplished F1 driver handles an IndyCar going that fast for that long.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
Ok, yeah it's awesome-(ly) INSANE!
A fan created McLaren Indy livery. I hope reality is as good as this.
I love it! I highly doubt he's going to show up and dominate. As far as I know, he's never raced on an oval in his life. Sure, he has all the talent, but it's still a different discipline, and he'll be going against guys that have been doing it for years.
The other good thing is that it's good pub for the Indycar series, which needs it!
I hope Alonso gets on the podium (entirely possible) and will definitely be watching the race.
Alonso @ Indy........
it's a bone (not sure how yet) to Alonso for putting up with Honda.........
As to whiners... They all are.... I do believe that Vettel is more involved in the team, where as Hamilton is more aloof... example: Vettel after a win is excited, thanks the team and is usually a bit of a cheer leader... Hamilton tends to be less excited, and reserved...
oldeskewltoy wrote: Alonso @ Indy........ it's a bone (not sure how yet) to Alonso for putting up with Honda......... As to whiners... They all are.... I do believe that Vettel is more involved in the team, where as Hamilton is more aloof... example: Vettel after a win is excited, thanks the team and is usually a bit of a cheer leader... Hamilton tends to be less excited, and reserved...
Perhaps the team's home is an indicator of how the winners react.
Italians tend to be more overtly emotional. Brits and Germans hold it back.
We really don't know how Lewis does this in private. (Let alone the number of times he's won for Mercedes, vs. Vettel- who has just one win for the dancing donkeys)
Vettel had a different tone at Red Bull as well. Nowhere near as effusive after a win. He was also more used to it. Hamilton does thank the team, but they all have the attitude that only a win is expected. Ferrari is reacting to a potential change in fortunes.
The Indy news is good. I think it's the result of Bernie's dismissal, remember how pissed he was when Hulkenberg won Le Mans? He went out of his way to make it impossible to race both F1 and Le Mans. But there's a history of F1 drivers at Indy. Maybe someday we'll hear an unfiltered comparison of the two.
How cool would it be if he dominated and won the race like Rossi did? Two F1 drivers (ok, one driver, one reserve) come to win the Indy 500 back to back. Maybe it will restart the trend like in the '60's where your top drivers drove anything they could? That would be very cool.
I think he has a hard road ahead of him. But, at least he has a top team backing him. Rossi won last year on, let's be real, fantastic fuel management and a bit of luck. I think if he can keep the shiney side up and stay away from the wrecks, he might do well. You could argue that Kimi struggled in the truck series, but he wasn't on a top level team, either, which might have hindered him. That, and him complaining of his feet getting too hot.
Super Sunday is going to be exciting!
-Rob
If he were a real man, he'd do the triple. Theres
about four hours between the end of Monaco and the start of Indy. Thats easily enough time for a proper fighter to make the trip with a couple of mid air refuelings. Then, a quick hop to Charlotte for the 600, and he'd have all the man-cred he would ever need.
Streetwiseguy wrote: If he were a real man, he'd do the triple. Theres
Too bad the Concorde is retired. 
In reply to Tom_Spangler:
Hmm, cruise speed is/was Mach 2.02 Fuel burn at cruise is 46.85 lb/mi Max fuel load is 210,940 lb (95,680 kg) so that's a theoretical max range to out of gas of approx. 4,500 miles. Cote d'Azur Airport has a 9,0000 foot runway which should be long enough and Indy has an 11,000 runway so we're good to go from there. The issue is the distance between the two is 4,556 miles. So you're coming in on fumes with no reserve. Max official range I've seen listed is around 4K miles. So we need to go GRM on this E36 M3 and fit extra fuel tanks to make it happen. Assuming he's the only guy on board, but keeping two seats one for him and one for his balls, there are still plenty of seats that can be stripped out to make room for the tanks
Adrian_Thompson wrote: In reply to Tom_Spangler: Hmm, cruise speed is/was Mach 2.02 Fuel burn at cruise is 46.85 lb/mi Max fuel load is 210,940 lb (95,680 kg) so that's a theoretical max range to out of gas of approx. 4,500 miles. Cote d'Azur Airport has a 9,0000 foot runway which should be long enough and Indy has an 11,000 runway so we're good to go from there. The issue is the distance between the two is 4,556 miles. So you're coming in on fumes with no reserve. Max official range I've seen listed is around 4K miles. So we need to go GRM on this E36 M3 and fit extra fuel tanks to make it happen. Assuming he's the only guy on board, but keeping two seats one for him and one for his balls, there are still plenty of seats that can be stripped out to make room for the tanks
I am shocked and surprised that an active F1 driver has been given permission to miss a race and go to Indy ! I'll bet negotiations on that were interesting. I wonder whose idea it was to start with. Did Alonso want to go and got Honda involved, or did Honda pitch the idea and Alonso volunteered ? I just hope Alonso doesn't get wrecked out. This will give Indycar a huge, huge boost. Then there's the guy that gets to fill Alonso's seat at Monaco. How's that for a great opportunity? None of this would have happened if Bernie were still in charge. That's what I think anyway. As for Fernando having no chance at a victory, apparently too many people can't remember what happened just one year ago. That guy also had no shot, but he still wound up in victory lane. Go get 'em, Fernando.
I think Fernando will do ok. It is a very different game from what he is used to, though. Gotta wonder about future, too. Is this a sign of things to come? Wouldn't be the first F1 driver to semi retire to Champcar. I'm still waiting for Jensens announcement. He was at a cup race a couple of weeks ago...
The win last year was a gas mileage thing, and those wins go to the crew cheif, not the driver.
I don't understand the focus on drivers reactions or off track stuff (as long as they aren't doing evil things)
I think all of these young guys struggle to figure out how to handle the media regardless of racing success or failure. I always thought Alonso got a mean treatment by the English and American press as his English skills weren't perfect and saying normal things in literal translated Spanish to English didn't sound good. So people would react strongly to what he said and it wasn't fair. Raikkonen acts like a half mute robot. Vettel tells terrible jokes. I think he is a terrible interview but some people like him. Hamilton has always praised the team regardless of how animated he got after a win. For each of them there are fans that will hate regardless of how they act.
ncjay wrote: I am shocked and surprised that an active F1 driver has been given permission to miss a race and go to Indy ! I'll bet negotiations on that were interesting. I wonder whose idea it was to start with. Did Alonso want to go and got Honda involved, or did Honda pitch the idea and Alonso volunteered ? I just hope Alonso doesn't get wrecked out. This will give Indycar a huge, huge boost. Then there's the guy that gets to fill Alonso's seat at Monaco. How's that for a great opportunity? None of this would have happened if Bernie were still in charge. That's what I think anyway. As for Fernando having no chance at a victory, apparently too many people can't remember what happened just one year ago. That guy also had no shot, but he still wound up in victory lane. Go get 'em, Fernando.
It's actually being presented as the idea coming from the team, Zak Brown to be specific. It started out as Joke before the start of the season. I see it as Honda throwing him a bone for the E36 M3 they're putting him through and as a low pressure toe in the water for the team to get a feel for Indy by partnering with Andretti with a view to a full team in the future.
Carlin who are arguably the most successful 'ladder series' team in Europe with multiple GP2, GP3, F3 etc championships are now here in Indy Lights. I think there are so many ultra good racers coming up through the ranks in Europe with only 20 seats available in F1, drivers are looking for a place to go. If you go back 20-30 years there were 26-30 F1 seats available and the drivers didnt' have careers spanning 10-15-20 years at the top of F1. Partly because people weren't getting to F1 until their mid 20's as opposed to late teens, and also there was unfortunately still a significant risk of getting invalided out, or worse.
Also look at the economics. A season in Indy Lights costs less than $1M while a top GP2 ride can cost over $2m. A back of the grid Indy team can scrape by on probably $3-4M for one car, while even the likes of Sauber are spending probably $20-25m per car. In general I think people are starting to see American open wheel racing as untapped potential for drivers and value/$ That will probably mean a 10 year upswing followed by 5 years of awesomeness then another bust. Every thing is cyclical and it's 20-25 years since the last American open wheel golden age. We're due another.
It doesn't really make sense for McLaren to run Indy full-time. It's a spec car that's limited to setup tweaks and race management - makes it hard to sell supercars on the basis of your technical prowress. Of course, being a running joke in F1 isn't helping either!
Adrian_Thompson wrote: In reply to Tom_Spangler: Hmm, cruise speed is/was Mach 2.02 Fuel burn at cruise is 46.85 lb/mi Max fuel load is 210,940 lb (95,680 kg) so that's a theoretical max range to out of gas of approx. 4,500 miles. Cote d'Azur Airport has a 9,0000 foot runway which should be long enough and Indy has an 11,000 runway so we're good to go from there. The issue is the distance between the two is 4,556 miles. So you're coming in on fumes with no reserve. Max official range I've seen listed is around 4K miles. So we need to go GRM on this E36 M3 and fit extra fuel tanks to make it happen. Assuming he's the only guy on board, but keeping two seats one for him and one for his balls, there are still plenty of seats that can be stripped out to make room for the tanks
Dust off an SR-71? :)
Wilson gave up his seat for Alonso to guarantee a 2018 ride for himself.
So Bahrain!
I am thinking that MB will finally be beat to pole position. Ferrari will take the pole.
Hamilton will win due to pit strategy.
Werhlein will finish in the points.
Red bull will slide back into the midpack.
Looking forward to the race.
Just saw NBCs interview with Alonso.
Seems 100% clear to me that when he's done with F1, he is off to Indycar. For sure, this won't be his only attempt at the 500.
During CART's heyday in the 90s when guys like Zanardi, Stefan Johansson, Martin Brundle, Emmo and his nephew, Raul Boesel, and Maurico Gugelmin were racing there, I used to jokingly refer to it as the "Formula 1 senior tour". Now it looks like those days may be coming back. I mean, heck, there's already Bourdais, Sato, arguably Rossi.......
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