Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Indy 500 preparations for McLaren have been far from smooth so far, but McLaren sporting director Gil de Ferran says the team must remain calm in their bid for a record victory.
Pretty much every motorsport fan knows about the hugely impressive Indianapolis 500 debut of Fernando Alonso back in 2017, and most are probably aware that the popular Spaniard is back again for another go this season with his brand new McLaren IndyCar team - but things have been far from smooth for team and driver during the opening three days of practice for the big race.
Going back to Indy was always on the cards for a driver looking to secure the coveted 'triple crown' of Monaco Grand Prix, Le Mans 24 Hour and Indy 500 race victories, and this year Alonso will be talking the 'Greatest Spectacle in Racing' with the newly formed McLaren Racing IndyCar squad, upping the pressure, and the difficulty, in their joint bid to win the biggest motor race in the American calendar.
Unlike the relatively smooth sailing of 2017, this year things haven't quite gone to plan for the driver - with day one mechanical issues side-lining the bright orange car for much of the running, then Alonso himself causing some headaches back in the garage following a sizeable accident during the second day of on track running when he suffered a considerable impact into the outside wall following a loss of downforce when running behind another car.
The result of that accident would see McLaren having to lose another day while preparing the spare car, robbing team and driver of much needed track time ahead of the big race later this month.
Despite the troubles encountered so far in their race preparations, former IndyCar star and now McLaren sporting director, Gil de Ferran feels his team must remain calm and focussed if they are to make up for lost track time. Speaking to IndyCar.com the Brazilian said:
“We’ve been dealt a hand. These are the circumstances we have to deal with, and we have to deal with them in a calm and determined manner. That’s the whole thing. It happened. We have a great group of guys who are working super hard. We’ll see what happens. We’ve got to put one foot in front of the other.”
“There’s no denying that the last two days have put a dent in our preparations – not only car preparation, but the setup development. It’s no secret to anyone that at Indy it’s important to have a slow, steady evolution of the setup of the car. When events like this happen, you put a wave in that steady evolution.”
Alonso and McLaren would spend much of the day at the track firmly enclosed within the team garage as the squad look to make ready the spare Dallara chassis following the crash on Wednesday, with the team retaining the original car as a back-up machine should further issues be encountered by the former double F1 World Champion prior to race day on May 26th.“There’s no denying that the last two days have put a dent in our preparations – not only car preparation, but the setup development. It’s no secret to anyone that at Indy it’s important to have a slow, steady evolution of the setup of the car. When events like this happen, you put a wave in that steady evolution.”
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