Formula 1: Zak Brown believes McLaren will enter IndyCar in 2019

McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes that McLaren will also compete in IndyCar in the 2019 season in addition to competing in Formula 1.

Ever since McLaren ended their 38-year IndyCar absence and partnered with Andretti Autosport in the 2017 Indianapolis 500 to field an entry, the #29 Honda, for two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso in the race, there has been speculation that McLaren could return to IndyCar on a full-time basis beginning in the 2019 season.

Alonso’s entry in the 2017 Indy 500 forced him to skip the crown jewel of the Formula 1 schedule, the Monaco Grand Prix. However, this did not bother him, as he was extremely frustrated with the team and their unreliable Honda engines at that point. In fact, that is a key reason why he skipped the event to drive in the Indy 500.

With Alonso’s frustration with the McLaren Formula 1 team still growing even after they switched from their unreliable Honda engines to Renault engines this season, there has even been speculation that he would be return to the Indy 500 next year with McLaren and that he would perhaps even be the team’s full-time driver in IndyCar next season.

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Alonso, who had never driven in an IndyCar race nor an oval race prior to his attempt in last year’s Indy 500, qualified in fifth place for the race. He ended up leading 27 of its laps before being forced to retire with just 21 laps to go in the 200-lap race as a result of an unfortunate engine failure.

With all of this speculation mounting and being assisted by the announcement that Alonso is unlikely to return to the McLaren Formula 1 team next season and the announcement that 18-year-old McLaren reserve driver Lando Norris is his top replacement candidate, it would be shocking if Alonso did not end up in IndyCar full-time next season driving for McLaren.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown, who just attended IndyCar’s Chevrolet Dual in Detroit on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan two weekends ago along with Eric Boullier, McLaren’s Formula 1 racing director, feels a similar way, as he believes that McLaren entering IndyCar as a full-time team in the 2019 season looks favorable at this point.

Here is what Brown had to say about the matter, according to ESPN.

"“We’re seriously considering IndyCar. We’ve been doing due diligence for quite some time. As stated before, if we’re going to get into other forms of motorsport which McLaren has a great history in we need to do it in a way that first and foremost doesn’t compromise our Formula One activities or we won’t consider it.“It needs to be commercially viable, something we feel we can be competitive in and fits our brand. It has to tick all of those boxes, not most of those boxes. We’re not done yet with our due diligence but it’s looking favorable so we will take a decision in order to be prepared for 2019 sometime in the upcoming months.“If we’re confident all four of those elements really tick those boxes then it’s something that we will probably move forward on but we’re not done with the journey yet. We’re in talks with Fernando, as he said it was about this time last year that we started having conversations. He’s been doing Formula One a long time, he’s enjoying driving as much as he ever has. I think he’s driving better than he ever has.“As he’s mentioned I think he’s a little frustrated with Formula One being I think as he said becoming more of a constructors’ championship than a drivers’ championship. He loves Formula 1, he loves World Endurance and Daytona, so hopefully we will keep Fernando in the McLaren environment in some way, shape or form.”"

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Do you believe that McLaren will compete full-time in IndyCar in the 2019 season? If so, which team do you believe that they will partner with to compete full-time time? Do you believe that Fernando Alonso will be their driver? If not, who do you believe their driver will be?

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