Formula 1: 5 drivers who should attempt the Indianapolis 500

Fernando Alonso

We’ll start with the most obvious choice, and that is two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso, who attempted the Indy 500 for the first time last year after forgoing an attempt to compete in the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix with McLaren, his Formula 1 team, after he grew frustrated with the lack of reliability of the Honda engines.

Alonso, 36, has had far more success in Formula 1 so far this season following McLaren’s switch to Renault engines. In fact, he has yet to finish a race outside of the top seven in four attempts, and he sits in sixth place in the championship standings. However, he still stated that he misses being in the Indy 500, according to Motorsport.com.

"“I will watch the race closely and yeah, I miss being there, to be honest. It’s difficult for me to think of extra races right now!” he said. “But I miss being there. When they test now with the new aero package and things like that, you watch on television and you would like to do one lap, you know? So definitely I want to test again.”"

When he came to the Indy 500 last year to compete in his first IndyCar race for Andretti Autosport, Alonso had success. He qualified in fifth place for the race and led 27 laps of it before his Honda engine let go on him on lap 180 with just 20 laps to go in the event. He officially finished in 24th, but he likely would have had a chance for at least a top five finish had his engine not failed.

With Alonso likely not returning to McLaren in Formula 1 next season and Lando Norris likely set to replace him, there is already speculation building that he will return to compete in the Indy 500 in 2019 and perhaps that he may even come to IndyCar as a full-time driver next year as well.

At the very least, Alonso should certainly come back to the Indy 500 as early as next year, and the likelihood that he will do so appears to be pretty high right now.