Alonso to miss Monaco GP to race at Indycar! | Page 4 | FerrariChat

Alonso to miss Monaco GP to race at Indycar!

Discussion in 'F1' started by Bas, Apr 12, 2017.

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  1. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    I think the most balls it takes in racing is going 220 MPH down the straight and see a solid wall in front of you at turn one getting closer and closer. No run off area. Just wall.

    Then, without lifting, make that turn and hope your car actually sticks to the road.

    It will be a new experience for Fred. F1 isn't like racing at Indy. There are scary parts of F1 tracks but nothing like that.
     
  2. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    Wasn't it Bernie who discouraged this sort of thing?
     
  3. greyboxer

    greyboxer F1 World Champ

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    I believe that may be happening right now and I suspect it may not be Button - no idea who it will be but they're being announced in time to do the test at Bahrain next week
     
  4. maulaf

    maulaf Formula 3

    Feb 24, 2011
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    I don't know. In Monaco experience is everything. It would be foolish to give a youngster a chance at this particular track. Anywhere else would be a different story. My money is on an honorary ticket to Mr Button.
     
  5. Bas

    Bas Four Time F1 World Champ

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    Meh, he'll get used to that very quickly. F1 cars do the same, turn in when a normal person doesn't understand why a car can turn at that speed. Perception at speed in Monaco is higher than Indy as the track is far narrower.
     
  6. Bas

    Bas Four Time F1 World Champ

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    +1 why keep Button employed as a reserve driver otherwise? Unless he got the same severance package Kimi got but in a slighty nicer way.
     
  7. TifosiUSA

    TifosiUSA F1 Veteran

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    Fuggin awesome.

    Who else but Alonso has the stones to do this? No one!
     
  8. greyboxer

    greyboxer F1 World Champ

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  9. tifoso2728

    tifoso2728 F1 Veteran
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    Agreed. My money is on Button to get the ride.
     
  10. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    +1 and here is a report on how it happend!!

    How Fernando Alonso's Indy 500 deal happened - IndyCar - Autosport

    McLaren executive director Zak Brown has revealed that the original idea of Fernando Alonso competing at the Indianapolis 500 this year was initially suggested a joke.

    Alonso shocked the world on Wednesday when he announced he would be skipping Formula 1's Monaco Grand Prix this year so he could line-up in a McLaren entry at the Indy 500.

    With the deal having only been finalised in the last few days - following talks over the Chinese Grand Prix weekend - it has emerged that the original proposal for an Indy 500 assault was proposed in jest before the start of the season.

    Brown said: "It is one of those where one of your jokes has some truth in it.

    "I said to Fernando pre-Australia: 'Hey one of these days we should do Indy together.'

    "I threw it out there to see what type of reaction I would get. He joked back and I thought I had thrown the bait in the water and would leave it at that.

    "But when Fernando and I were with Eric [Boullier, racing director] and Honda in Australia, it came up in conversation one of the mornings.

    "Fernando brought it up and said: 'Honda had an unbelievably great history at the Speedway and I have a dream to win the Triple Crown. I wanted to do Le Mans in the past and would love to do Indy with you.'"

    Alonso said the idea crystallised further in the days following the Australian GP when he held a chat with Brown while he was on a photo shoot in Los Angeles.

    The Spaniard said: "I received a call from Zak about different things, not this one, and in one moment of the conversation, it came out again the Indy 500 possibility.

    "At that point I was happy that McLaren was considering this Indy 500 entry, as they had won in the past a couple of times.

    "I was happy when Zak joined the team last year but I was even happier when Zak was telling me these plans for the future.

    "But in a way I was thinking for 2018, as obviously it was only 55 days until Indy 2017."

    Matters accelerated quickly, however, over the Chinese Grand Prix weekend when on Friday night, Alonso, along with his manager Luis Garcia Abad, met with Brown and Boullier for dinner on Friday night to discuss the plan further.

    Alonso added: "We talked a bit more serious about this, and we decided if this is going to happen it had to be made by tomorrow [Saturday] the decision.

    "I said 'I will sleep tonight' on Friday and on Saturday I would make a decision.

    "On Saturday I arrived at the circuit and said, 'Yes this is a good decision for everyone: a win, win for myself, for F1, the fans, everyone'.

    "I was not completely sure on Saturday in China if it was still possible to make it so quick, but we had a huge help from Indy, from the Speedway, from the promoter and together with Zak's contacts and Andretti Autosport.

    "They helped everything become real in two days."

    Brown said that it was only after Alonso gave the green light in China that he properly went about pursuing sorting the Indy entry.

    "When Fernando said. 'let's go do Indy 500 with Honda', I thought 'now I have to pull this off'. And we did.

    "There was a lot of hard work from IndyCar helping us being the scenes, Michael Andretti too, and it wouldn't happen without Honda's support.

    "That is how we got started and how we ended up where we are today. And we are all very excited about it."

    Alonso has not yet finalised his plans to test the IndyCar, but he hopes to drive the Dallara simulator soon.

    He will also attend the IndyCar race at Barber on April 23 to get closer to the Andretti Autosport team and better understand the cars and series.
     
  11. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

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    To be fair, all of the impact zones are now safer barriers. It isn't a solid concrete wall anymore. But yah, ovals are still dangerous.

    However, the most dangerous part IMO is the catch fence. It's a cheese grater for your face.
     
  12. jgonzalesm6

    jgonzalesm6 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #87 jgonzalesm6, Apr 12, 2017
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2017
    Very Nice. Mc/Honda in F1 and IndyCar and LeMans(maybe)....mechanically sound if you ask me.
     
  13. singletrack

    singletrack F1 Veteran

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    They haven't excluded any cars in years have they? They had exactly 33 entries last year, so everyone qualified.

    That being said, reporting indicates the prices have gone up substantially for a seat, so perhaps they will limit entries this year. Still, in an Andretti car, and with his skill, he will qualify.

    But I would say there is a 98% chance he crashes hard in testing.
     
  14. 375+

    375+ F1 World Champ
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    Thanks for posting.
     
  15. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    I think this is an amazing development!
     
  16. jgonzalesm6

    jgonzalesm6 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    LeMans looks prosperous too....

    McLaren not ruling out further IndyCar involvement

    McLaren is not ruling out further involvement in the Verizon IndyCar Series, following the surprise announcement that double Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso would compete in the 101st Indianapolis 500 with the team.

    It will mark McLaren’s return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time in 38 years, with the Woking-based outfit set to work alongside engine supplier Honda and full-time IndyCar outfit Andretti Autosport.

    This will mean Alonso will miss the coveted Monaco Grand Prix, a race the Spaniard has won on two occasions.

    Although Alonso is only scheduled to compete in one IndyCar race this season, McLaren’s Executive Committee Principal Mansour Ojjeh has hinted that the team could well return once again in the near future.

    “The Indy 500 is the only IndyCar race we’ll be entering this year, but we may possibly repeat that in years to come and it’s just possible that we may even run a full-works McLaren IndyCar operation at some point in the future. We’ll see,” explained Ojjeh.

    McLaren made their Indianapolis 500 debut way back in 1970, securing pole position the following year before eventually winning the race in 1974 and 1975 with Johnny Rutherford.

    “Equally, we may potentially enter the Le Mans 24 Hours again some time – we won it outright in 1995 with our iconic McLaren F1 GTR – but to be clear we have absolutely no definite plans to do so at this stage,” continued Ojjeh.

    Should McLaren opt to return to Le Mans, Alonso could certainly be considered a likely candidate for the drive.

    The Spaniard is undoubtedly aiming to become only the second driver in the history of motor sport to win the Triple Crown, a feat currently only ever achieved by Graham Hill

    It includes winning the Monaco Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans 24 Hours.

    source: https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/14305
     
  17. douglas360

    douglas360 Karting

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    Teams spend the entire month of May at Indy. Is Alonso seriously expecting to show up for qualifying and do well in the race? My guess is he'll be shuttling back and forth for the next 6 weeks trying to prep...big distraction for his F1 races in the meanwhile.
     
  18. TeamF1Jr

    TeamF1Jr Formula 3
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  19. Simon^2

    Simon^2 F1 World Champ

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    The risk of Indy is welcome compared to the death by 1000 cuts he's enduring now!

    The fact that McLaren Honda are supporting / allowing this speaks volumes of what the decision makers at McH think the rest of the F1 season holds.
     
  20. greyboxer

    greyboxer F1 World Champ

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    And yet and yet - Zak Brown says he has not been in the simulator this year (despite being in the UK for the past few days) and whilst it seems the vacancy is very sudden at today's second announcement they were still talking of multiple possibilities
     
  21. jgonzalesm6

    jgonzalesm6 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Has there been any car a manufacturer to enter 3 cars in F1, IndyCar and LeMans at the same year?
     
  22. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    Sorry you are WRONG. There is no run off area on the outside of the Indy oval. Tell me where you see that in any F1 track doing 225 mph.

    Show me a 90 degree turn that you don't lift going into with a wall right in front of you. No balls eh?

    The slowest corner at Monaco is 30 mph. The slowest at Indy is 215!
     
  23. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    Just more evidence McLaren is tossing in the towel this year.
     
  24. 375+

    375+ F1 World Champ
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    Ferrari in 1952.
    Ford had a presence in each category in 1967 but not as an entrant--engine supplier in F1 and Champcar, and constructor at le Mans. Same in subsequent years with JW Automotive GT40's at le Mans in 68 and 69.
     
  25. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    Ya know... I wonder how the rest of the Indy car drivers are taking this. My guess is they ain't too pleased.
     

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