Alonso 'No' to Full 2020 IndyCar Season - Maybe New Team For Indy 500

[Paul Jeffrey]

Fernando Alonso has dismissed plans for a full assault on the 2020 IndyCar season, but admits a return to the Indy 500 is very much on the cards.

Having suffered the embarrassment of failing to qualify for this years Indy 500 despite an outstanding debut in the big race back in 2017, Fernando Alonso has been quick to rule out the rumours that a full tilt at the 2020 IndyCar series is on the cards when he ends his World Endurance Championship commitments at the season closing Le Mans 24 Hours later this month.

“If I do Indy, it will just be that race. The whole season is too much of a commitment with all the races and the preparation.” said the double F1 World Champion to the Speedweek publication.​

“If you join the series, then its to drive for the title, not to be a tourist. And for the title fight, you need a lot of time, a lot of preparation. In addition, many new areas to learn. This would be too much,”
​

Alonso has been very clear that he holds ambitions to win the motorsport 'triple crown' of Indy 500, Le Mans 24 Hour and Monaco race victories, and following what was quite frankly an embarrassing effort from his McLaren team this season, Alonso is quite clear that looking for a competitive drive outside of his current employer is certainly an option for next year, even if it is just for the big race in May:

" I have to see what options are available. If I do Indy again, I’ll look at the options and then choose the most competitive one.” added the Spaniard.
​

With Alonso still contractually tied to McLaren in his ambassadorial role, and with the British team making plenty of noise about their ambitions to look at other championships such as IndyCar and endurance racing alongside their Formula One commitments, Alonso's comments will certainly act as a much needed encouragement to the outfit that they need to start performing if they hope to retain the drivers commitment in future ventures beyond the failed Indy 500.

Alonso looks to be a strong favourite to add the 2018-19 WEC 'Super Season' championship to his 2018 Le Mans 24 Hour race victory later this month, and has already confirmed he will be stepping down from the Toyota team at the conclusion of LM24 - adding plenty of intrigue regarding what his plans are for the remainder of 2019 and beyond.

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[AlexBfromG]

I see him in some GT3 events, and when the hypercar WEC drops he might join some team there

 

[Maro_Marinov]

Pity, I would love to see him in a full Indycar season.

 

[birle1]

If he don't do all the season, or least the races on ovals, he will not win indy500. We see it this year.

 

[NDG]

I see him in some GT3 events, and when the hypercar WEC drops he might join some team there

Yeah, I was about to comment on that... Do the GT3 races, if they even have the equipment. Reading his comments, he sounds like he only wants to race if he have high percentage to win. It sounds to me like he don't want to do much work anymore. Serf proclaimed overrated IMO.

 

[UMC 22]

Reading his comments, he sounds like he only wants to race if he have high percentage to win. It sounds to me like he don't want to do much work anymore.

I don't think that's true. He simply wants to be able to compete, to be in with a chance of winning... which is exactly the same as any racing driver out there. Otherwise, why bother? If you don't want to win then you're clearly in the wrong line of work.

While rookies and up-and-coming drivers may have to put up with a few seasons in noncompetitive teams to prove themselves, I think Alonso is a far cry from having to prove anything to anybody isn't he? You can't blame him for wanting competitive teams now, given the years he wasted in the abysmal McLaren F1 team.

 

[Arkoudadis]

Alonso is eyeing a spot in F1 again! Waiting for Vettel to drop out of Ferrari so that he come back!

 

[RufGTI]

Adiós triple crown I'd say.

 

[aka2k]

Lame. He would've brought a lot to Indy. Plus, Indy is still quite fun compared to F1.

 

[SAGY31]

He's probably just too cautious and knows that reputation is on the line if he fails to be competitive. Let's be honest he would have a hard time beating the likes of Dixon, Rossi, Newgarden on their own "ground" and with equal machinery. Not that I think he's a lesser driver but he doesn't have any experience on any of the tracks IndyCar runs.

 

[gamer19]

Well, love his style but have to say... Ericsson almost beat his best ever Indy 500 result.
Almost.

edit: I've just been awarded with "Formula 2 driver" for this 2000th post.
Damn, should come up with something more witty yet even more meaningful.
Something people would use in their signatures you know...

 

[Copef1]

He's probably just too cautious and knows that reputation is on the line if he fails to be competitive. Let's be honest he would have a hard time beating the likes of Dixon, Rossi, Newgarden on their own "ground" and with equal machinery. Not that I think he's a lesser driver but he doesn't have any experience on any of the tracks IndyCar runs.

Nigel Mansell did it to the likes of Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Paul Tracy, Bobby Rahal, Al Unser Jr. Danny Sullivan, Jimmy Vasser, and Scott Pruitt in 1993. Nigel had no experience on any track that season, and won the championship, beating some of the greatest Indycar champions of all time. I don't see any reason why Alonso couldn't beat Dixon, Newgarden, and Rossi, given the right team. After all in 2017 he ran up front all day at Indy, and may well have won had the engine not let him down.

 

[MetalMania]

I think if Alonso landed with a good Indy Car team he would be competetive immediately if he's all the driver himself and most people say he still is. There's plenty of history in Indy Car of guys coming in and going right to the top. Mansell as already mentioned, Alex Zanardi and Sebastian Bourdais come to mind. Didn't Bourdais win the championship as a rookie and go on to take 4 in a row? Robert Wickens was sensational last year until his horrible accident at Pocono, he didn't win but he was close a number of times and was in the championship mix right away. Even the "mid-field" Indy Car teams manage to win a few races every year with drivers arguably not of the caliber of Fernando Alonso (which should not be read with any disrespect whatsoever, considering Alonso's 2 WDC titles and pile of F1 wins), which is a far cry from what you can expect in F1 currently.

*This is not to say he wouldn't be challenged. The top drivers and teams in Indy Car are the real deal and will not be easy to beat, but if he wants to stay in a somewhat similar style of racing and have a reasonable chance of being podium/win competetive every race, AND improve his chances of achieving the "triple crown", I think a season (at least) of Indy Car racing should seriously be reconsidered. Also, the Indy Car season is significantly shorter than F1, so his time commitment would arguably be less.

 

[michelforest]

Alonso probably doesn't want to spend all of his time in Indycar. And he probably realises that the Indy 500 is the only Indycar race people care about, outside of racing fanatics. Want proof? Without googling it up, tell me who won at Pocono last year? Or Sonoma?

I do have to point out that I really like Indycar. I think the racing is much better than F1. However, the TV ratings for Indy are pathetic, except for the 500. They're so bad that, here in Canada, not a single network was willing to buy the TV rights. The only way Indycar could get a deal was with some obscure channel that charges 20$ a month and that nobody watches.

Again, I'm not saying Indycar is bad. It's great racing. But Alonso's goal is to win the triple crown, not an Indycar championship.

 

[wombat999]

Nigel Mansell did it to the likes of Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Paul Tracy, Bobby Rahal, Al Unser Jr. Danny Sullivan, Jimmy Vasser, and Scott Pruitt in 1993. Nigel had no experience on any track that season, and won the championship, beating some of the greatest Indycar champions of all time. I don't see any reason why Alonso couldn't beat Dixon, Newgarden, and Rossi, given the right team. After all in 2017 he ran up front all day at Indy, and may well have won had the engine not let him down.

Mansell was abysmal on ovals.
As for commitment, he sat on his hands the following year which was very odd compared to Mario who always worked his butt off within Newman-Haas.
Compared to Alonso (who is his own man) 'Noigil' was/is a complete dick.
Alonso will do what he wants to do, racing as such is really just a hobby for him these days.

 

[Ho3n3r]

Mansell was abysmal on ovals.
As for commitment, he sat on his hands the following year which was very odd compared to Mario who always worked his butt off within Newman-Haas.
Compared to Alonso (who is his own man) 'Noigil' was/is a complete dick.
Alonso will do what he wants to do, racing as such is really just a hobby for him these days.

What are you on about? His oval results in 1993 were:
- Indy: 3rd (in only his 4th race)
- Milwaukee: 1st
- Michigan: 1st
- New Hampshire: 1st
- Nazareth: 1st

I'm no fan of his, but saying he was abysmal on ovals is being very economical with the truth. He went backwards overall the next 2 years when he got fat, but he was so bad that he was even slow in 1995 in the McLaren, being outshone by relative nobody Mark Blundell.

 

[Copef1]

Mansell was abysmal on ovals.
As for commitment, he sat on his hands the following year which was very odd compared to Mario who always worked his butt off within Newman-Haas.
Compared to Alonso (who is his own man) 'Noigil' was/is a complete dick.
Alonso will do what he wants to do, racing as such is really just a hobby for him these days.

I don't know really know what you are talking about. Nigel only raced in IndyCar for 2 years, both with Newman/Haas, and his teammate was Mario Andretti, who he finished higher in the standings than, both years. I love Mario, but stats are stats.

 

[wombat999]

Let me clarify that!
Over his two seasons in CART Mansell scored 5 wins and 9 pole positions out of 31 race starts.
Do the math.

 

[manc0ntr0]

If I remember correctly, he doesn't like the behaviour of the the car with road configuration

 

[Copef1]

Let me clarify that!
Over his two seasons in CART Mansell scored 5 wins and 9 pole positions out of 31 race starts.
Do the math.

This doesn't even remotely tell the story. In 93 Mansell won 5 races, and the championship, in his first season in Indycars. Mario finished 6th in the points that season with only 1 win. In 94, Penske, built a world beater in the form of the Penske PC23, which Al Unser Jr, Emerson Fittipaldi, and Paul Tracy, (Penske's drivers that year), used to win 12 of the 16 races that year, and most of the pole positions. Mansell finished 8th in the points, in what was a down year for Newman Haas, as Mario finished 14th in points.