McLaren Confirms Fernando Alonso Will Do an IndyCar Road Course Test
Update 8/31/2018: According to Motorsport.com, McLaren confirmed Alonso will be testing a 2018-spec IndyCar next week following the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. McLaren boss Zak Brown said Alonso has yet to decide if he's joining the IndyCar series, and that McLaren is working with Andretti to run the test. The date and location of the test have yet to be revealed, and will not be open to the press or the public. Our original article covering Alonso's rumored move to IndyCar, first published on August 15th, 2018, can be seen below.
Double F1 world-champion Fernando Alonso announced his retirement from the series yesterday, but he's not done racing. For starters, he'll stay with Toyota through next year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, completing the World Endurance Championship 2019-2020 super season. Now, it looks like IndyCar is a possibility, too: Marshall Pruett at Racer reports that Alonso is rumored to do an IndyCar road-course test next month.
Alonso made his first foray into IndyCar last year via an Andretti Autosport-McLaren single-race partnership for the Indy 500. For his upcoming test, he'll be driving an Andretti Dallara DW-12 with Honda power and the new 2018 road-course aero package. Racer doesn't have confirmation of the date and location yet-multiple test dates have been held for Alonso-but it'll probably be at Barber Motorsports Park near Atlanta following the September 2nd IndyCar race in Portland.
McLaren is aiming to enter the IndyCar series full-time next year through a partnership with an existing team. Andretti Autosport is the most likely candidate, though that's not a done deal, as McLaren and Honda (Andretti's engine supplier) don't have a great relationship. The Japanese company supplied McLaren's F1 team with engines that were notoriously unreliable and underpowered; as a result, McLaren ended that partnership for the 2018 season. If Alonso and McLaren were to go to IndyCar, they'd likely need Chevy power due to the McLaren-Honda rift.
Pruett and veteran IndyCar reporter Robin Miller detailed Alonso's options to join the series in an extensive Racer story earlier this week. They report that Andretti Autosport is in talks with Harding Racing-which uses Chevy engines-to form a partnership. Harding Racing could operate the McLaren team, which would allow Andretti to maintain its relationship with Honda.
Alonso's first outing in an IndyCar was a good one. He led a number of laps at the 2017 Indy 500 before succumbing to engine failure. By all accounts he enjoyed his time spent in the States and racing on oval tracks. With a much more open schedule in 2019, perhaps he could make more than just one IndyCar appearance next season.
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