Live Stream of Fernando at the Speedway...

If you have time, I suppose

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXh9uxthFnk

They were supposed to start testing at 9:30, but are running late due to cool morning weather. Looks to be a great day to test.

FINALLY, he's heading out.

Funny how the youtube comments are complaining that he's only going 205-210, which is where he has to run for a few more laps before going faster.

He still has to pass the rookie test.

I give him credit for giving the Indy 500 a try. A lot of F1 guys won't take the risk. The speeds at Indy are far greater than any F1 track, and the chances of getting hurt are much greater.

230mph+ for 3 hours takes an amazing amount of concentration. I'll be there once again this year.....hopefully he'll qualify. It's always fun to see how F1 guys handle Indy. It's a unique place.

Joe Gearin wrote: I give him credit for giving the Indy 500 a try. A lot of F1 guys won't take the risk. The speeds at Indy are far greater than any F1 track, and the chances of getting hurt are much greater. 230mph+ for 3 hours takes an amazing amount of concentration. I'll be there once again this year.....hopefully he'll qualify. It's always fun to see how F1 guys handle Indy. It's a unique place.

A lot of them do want to, but people like Bernie did everything they could to prevent it.

I think he will qualify fine, he's doing a lot of laps, easily cleared the rookie test, and seems to be running the car in race trim at 221mph.

Great news! His presence will make the race more interesting. Indycar seems to be gathering steam, despite the odd looking cars. Hopefully we can see a resurgence in open wheeled racing in the U.S.

They've finally regained most of the speed that was lost after the IRL / Champcar split.

I watched most of the coverage, I was impressed with Falonso, honestly Marco may have a tough time in the Car, but I think he will make a good coach/team owner one day.

How can anyone say Anything Negitive about anyone from any Country Making laps at Indy. Stupid People Make me Sad.

In reply to GTXVette:

Given some of the posts- trolls. Lots and lots of trolls.

In reply to alfadriver:

Definitely world-class trolling, saw a bunch of racial slurs in the posts, really wasn't expecting that. Fernando looked really good in the car, very smooth even when he pinched the line coming out of the turns a couple of times. Looked like he'd done it before, definitely not like a rookie.

I think the last F1 crossover to run won in his rookie attempt. But Juan Pablo Montoya was always special.

Huckleberry wrote: I think the last F1 crossover to run won in his rookie attempt. But Juan Pablo Montoya was always special.

JPM wasn't an F1 crossover, he was a CART crossover when he won as a rookie. His F1 career was after that, though I know he did some testing for Williams beforehand.

Huckleberry wrote: I think the last F1 crossover to run won in his rookie attempt. But Juan Pablo Montoya was always special.

Who Juan?

06HHR wrote: In reply to alfadriver: Definitely world-class trolling, saw a bunch of racial slurs in the posts, really wasn't expecting that. Fernando looked really good in the car, very smooth even when he pinched the line coming out of the turns a couple of times. Looked like he'd done it before, definitely not like a rookie.

I'm not seeing any negative comments or racial slurs. There seems to be very few views and virtually no comments.

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

This was back around 11:00-11:30 this morning during his rookie testing. Tons of comments coming through then from all over the world. They live-streamed his rookie qualifications so they had real time comments scrolling on the right side of the webpage.

06HHR wrote: In reply to Adrian_Thompson: This was back around 11:00-11:30 this morning during his rookie testing. Tons of comments coming through then from all over the world.

Yeah, there was some kind of chat window in the upper right part of the screen that was full of all kinds of nonsense. I turned it off immediately.

Ignoring the trolling content...

Fernando did look good out there- and his comments to Robin Miller were good, too- he downplayed the comments that he looked really comfortable out there. Has a long way to go, but so far, so good.

FWIW, at Monza they get close to Indy speeds. Also, if you want focus, I think many F1 tracks require greater focus. As for his speed, he's progressing well. It was funny to hear the commentators mention he's bringing more press than what's usually at the actual race, as he's the most popular driver in the world. Their words, not mine.

In reply to markwemple:

I'm not saying it's a bad comparison, but current F1 cars typically hit top speeds around 220mph at Monza (we'll see how the increased drag of this years cars affect that). Last years Indy 500 pole sitter had an average speed over 230mph during qualifying. Top speeds get well over that. And they don't run 2 or 3 wide in the turns at Monza.

Overall, it was a solid start for Alonso. I'm curious to see how he progresses as the month goes on, and how he reacts to other cars along side, in the draft, etc.

In reply to STM317:

I agree that the comparison isn't exactly good. There's a difference between peaking at 220 and having run off space for a mistake and averaging 220 and having a solid wall to show your mistakes.

Also, in my limited time racing, I've found that circle tracks are less forgiving in terms of basic line mistakes- not for crashing, but for time. You have to hit the marks much more closely for those 4 corners to have a chance.

But the biggest thing is space and time. There's less space to drive at the 500 thanks to all the cars, and the race lasts for almost twice as long as a normal F1 race.

Basically, I'm never going to side for one kind of driving over another in terms of difficulty. I may never like watching NASCAR, but there's no doubt in my mind that doing that is incredibly difficult.

Another thing to consider---- the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is damn narrow. You don't realize how little space there is, until you get out on track, and look down that front straight. I was able to sneak over the wall during the SVRA race at Indy a couple of years ago (track was cold) and kiss the bricks. I've been to the race for 27 years in a row, but you never realize how little space those guys have to work with, until you stand on that track. It's an eye opener.

From my time in Nascar, I can tell you that setting up an oval car is incredibly difficult, much moreso than a road race car. Each corner is independent, yet still connected if that makes sense. You tend to adjust in terms of axles in road racing.

And on an oval, the car is everything. There is no way for a good driver to carry a bad car, but there is a way for a bad driver to not do well in a good car. Hitting the sweet spot is extremely difficult. But when you do, it's magic. Of course that may only be for a lap and then the track will change and you have to start over. We always liked night races as the track is more stable than when the sun and heat beat down on it.

From the interviews I've seen from Alonso and Andretti, it appears he is asking the right questions and making good decisions. The last time I remember this much attention on any one driver was Nigel Mansell, and he did a nice job in his first attempt.

Joe Gearin wrote: Another thing to consider---- the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is damn narrow. You don't realize how little space there is, until you get out on track, and look down that front straight. I was able to sneak over the wall during the SVRA race at Indy a couple of years ago (track was cold) and kiss the bricks. I've been to the race for 27 years in a row, but you never realize how little space those guys have to work with, until you stand on that track. It's an eye opener.

Add to that running 230-plus down the front straight into what looks like a solid wall of people.

I watched the whole thing live yesterday since I'm supposed to be taking it easy recovering. I was impressed. After only maybe 25 laps in a different type of car he'd never driven, at track he'd never driven on, in a type of racing he's never done, with everyone feeding him information plus the media covering it he was still able to go out and run 5 consecutive laps during the rookie check out with an average lap speed that didn't vary more than .4 MPH total between 219.1 and 219.5 MPH knowing he had a 220 MPH limit.