The Spanish driver’s aggression shone through at the Brickyard. He will surely be back for another shot at the second leg of motor sport’s triple crownMore than a few questioned Fernando Alonso’s decision to skip the Monaco Grand Prix for the Indianapolis 500 when the double Formula One champion announced plans to try for the second leg of motor sport’s triple crown last month. But when that day finally came on Sunday, it was clear that he had made the right choice – even after finishing 24th in a race won by Japan’s Takuma Sato. “If we put aside the last 20 laps, which were a massive disappointment,” said McLaren-Honda team boss Zak Brown, “if we reflect back on the...
The double F1 world champion has much to learn as he prepares to make his IndyCar debut. But his team have a proven record of crossover successFrom now until this weekend, when the grid order is set for the 101st Indianapolis 500, most of the talk emanating from the track will be about practice – a discipline measured on the speed charts and through the marks on the Brickyard’s barrier walls. Of the 30-odd drivers hoping to challenge for the Borg-Warner trophy when the race goes green on 28 May, none will face more scrutiny than Fernando Alonso – who is skipping this year’s Monaco Grand Prix to try for the second stage of motorsport’s triple crown.Maybe that scrutiny is...
McLaren’s No1 driver seemed to enjoy a few day away from his F1 purgatory at the world-famous oval in readiness for Memorial Day weekendFernando Alonso smiled as he got out of the cockpit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday. That was good to see. A hundred laps of the two-and-a-half-mile high-speed oval had given him all the evidence he needed that driving a racing car could still be a fun thing to do.A couple of weeks ago, fed up with waiting for McLaren-Honda to give him a competitive Formula One car, Alonso announced that he intended to skip the Monaco Grand Prix – a race of supreme commercial importance to all F1 teams and their sponsors – on 28...
The former F1 world champion has ambitions to complete motorsport’s triple crown but the decision is also revealing about his relationship with the teamSo Fernando Alonso is to miss the Monaco Grand Prix to compete in this year’s Indy 500. After McLaren’s shock at the start of this season, when discovering their Honda power unit was woefully underperforming for the third year in succession, the team have turned the tables with a surprise of their own that has rather knocked those travails into a cocked hat. Perhaps that was partly the point but it also informs as to where the team are now, about Alonso, his future and relationship with McLaren. Equally, whatever the motives, it is a decision for...