Formula 1: Will Fernando Alonso drive full-time in IndyCar in 2019?

With two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso likely not returning to McLaren in the 2019 season, will he drive full-time in IndyCar?

Multiple reports have suggested that Fernando Alonso’s time with McLaren in Formula 1 is coming to an end following the conclusion of the 2018 season, and several reports have even gone as far as suggesting that Lando Norris is slated to drive for the team as his replacement in the 2019 season.

What many IndyCar fans expected there would be as a result of these reports was speculation regarding Alonso potentially crossing the pond and driving full-time in IndyCar in the 2019 season, and that’s exactly what they are about to get.

With how long it took for McLaren and Fernando Alonso to agree on a new Formula 1 contract last season for this season, there was speculation that perhaps the 36-year-old two-time Formula 1 champion would be coming to IndyCar full-time in the 2018 season.

However, as we now know, that did not happen, as McLaren and Alonso agreed to a deal for the 2018 season after McLaren agreed to use Renault engines as opposed to Honda engines.

This speculation stemmed largely from the fact that Alonso had just driven in the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500. In fact, he drove in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” last year for the first time after giving up his seat to Jenson Button in the Monaco Grand Prix, which is the most prestigious race on the the Formula 1 calendar, as his frustrations with McLaren and the lack of reliability of their Honda engines was mounting.

Up until that point in the 2017 Formula 1 season, Alonso had started only four of the five races, and of those five, he finished only one of them. His one finish was just a 12th place result in the Spanish Grand Prix.

If you are reading this article, and even if you are not, you had as many points as Alonso did in Formula 1 as of last year’s Monaco Grand Prix.

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Given the fact that Alonso is 36 years old, it is very unlikely that another Formula 1 team will sign him if he does up leaving McLaren following the conclusion of the 2018 season like many people now expect him to. Could that put IndyCar in the mix for him in the 2019 season, potentially even on a full-time scale?

In January, Alonso stated that he was eyeing a return to the Indy 500 and that he believed it would be great if he could return to the race again in 2019. This was before it was revealed that driving full-time for McLaren in the 2019 Formula 1 season was likely not going to happen for him.

With all signs pointing to Alonso leaving McLaren and thus being done as a full-time driver in Formula 1 following the conclusion of the 2018 season, IndyCar could definitely be in the mix for him, as he has clearly shown interest in doing so since driving in last year’s Indy 500.

I was wrong about him coming to IndyCar full-time for the 2018 season, but I’m going to stick with my gut and make a way-too-early prediction that he ends up coming to the sport full-time in the 2019 season.

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Will Fernando Alonso end up coming to IndyCar as a full-time driver in the 2019 season? Will he at least return to the Indy 500 for the second time after doing so last year?