IndyCar Buy or Sell: Fernando Alonso full-time in 2018?

With all of the rides with top Formula One teams taken in the 2018 season, could Fernando Alonso come to IndyCar full-time?

Thanks to a frustrating couple of years with McLaren-Honda and their lack of speed and engine reliability in Formula One, Fernando Alonso decided in the middle of this past April that he wanted to try something new at the end of this past May.

Instead of racing in the main event of the Formula One calendar, the Monaco Grand Prix, which was arguably the race at which Alonso and his team had the best chance at securing a good finish at this season, he opted to come overseas so he could drive an IndyCar for the very first time at the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500.

His frustrations in Formula One made sense. At the time, he had driven in 42 races for McLaren dating back to the 2015 season. Of those 42 races, he finished only 27 of them. And of the 27 races that he actually did finish, just 11 were top 10 finishes, with only three of which being top 5 results.

So Alonso made his Indy 500 debut for Andretti Autosport in the #29 Honda car while McLaren made their return to the IndyCar circuit after a 38-year absence. When it was all said and done, Alonso was more than impressive at Indianapolis on the 2.5-mile superspeedway oval for a driver who has driven exclusively on the road and street courses of Formula One since 2001.

He ended up qualifying 5th place in the middle of the second row for the Indy 500 and leading 27 of the race’s 200 laps. However, both unfortunately and fittingly, a Honda engine failure ended his race with just 21 laps to go, so he ended up finishing in 24th place.

But when Alonso emerged from his smoking #29 Honda following the engine failure, you would have thought he won the race. The fans in attendance gave him quite the ovation after his impressive month of May, even though it ended in utter disappointment.

Given the quick adaptation of the two-time Formula One world champion to the fastest IndyCar superspeedway track on the schedule as well as the reception said champion got from the fans and his current struggled in Formula One, could Fernando Alonso possibly make the move to IndyCar as a full-time driver in the 2018 season?

Fernando Alonso in IndyCar full-time in 2018: BUY

First off, the 36-year-old Alonso has been driving in Formula One since 2001. He has driven in one career IndyCar race. One. So what would be the point of writing a whole article explaining why a racing veteran who has driven in one career IndyCar race will not be driving in IndyCar in 2018? What would be the point in writing a whole article just to sell the idea?

If I were to sell this idea, I might as well write an article explaining why I do not believe Lewis Hamilton will be driving in the NASCAR Cup Series next season. Think about it.

As referenced in a separate article, skeptics have claimed that Alonso to IndyCar talks have only picked up simply so he can have leverage in order to get the Formula One ride he wants. However, all of the top Formula One rides are taken for next season, so this explanation no longer holds water, especially since those talks have only recently escalated following the solidification of driver lineups of Mercedes and Ferrari for next season. Mercedes looks to be sticking with Lewis Hamilton (no, he’s not going to NASCAR) and Valtteri Bottas, while Ferrari is sticking with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.