IndyCar: The door is now open for Fernando Alonso to join

With the confirmation that Harding Racing and Steinbrenner Racing will be teaming up for the 2019 IndyCar season, the door is open for two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso to join the series.

For much of the 2018 IndyCar season, there was mounting speculation that two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso would be leaving Formula 1 following the conclusion of the 2018 season and that he would be making the switch to IndyCar for the 2019 season.

Alonso will, in fact, be retiring from Formula 1 once the 2018 season comes to an end, but there has not been any confirmation that he will drive in IndyCar. However, with the recent confirmation of the new partnership involving Harding Racing and Steinbrenner Racing, the door is open for him to do so.

The 37-year-old Spaniard made his IndyCar debut in last year’s Indianapolis 500, and he did so driving for a team formed by a partnership involving McLaren, the team for which he has driven in Formula 1 since the 2015 season, and full-time IndyCar team Andretti Autosport.

Alonso led 27 laps of the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana after starting in fifth place in his #29 Honda, but he was forced to finish in 24th after his engine failed with just 21 laps remaining.

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McLaren’s entry for Alonso in the 101st running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” ended their 38-year absence from IndyCar. Along with rumors that Alonso will switch from Formula 1 to IndyCar ahead of next season are rumors that McLaren will be the team to field a full-time entry for him and that they will do so through a partnership with Michael Andretti’s Honda-powered team once again.

However, McLaren had a toxic relationship with Honda when they used the Japanese manufacturer in Formula 1 from the 2015 season to the 2017 season, and it was recently confirmed that Honda will not be supplying an engine for a potential McLaren entry for Alonso in the 2019 season.

What this effectively appeared to mean was that Alonso driving for an Andretti Autosport-affiliated team was out of the question for next season since Chevrolet appeared to be the only engine option for McLaren. However, even with Chevrolet being the only engine option for the team, this may not end up being the case.

Harding Steinbrenner Racing are set to field two full-time entries next season, one for 2018 Indy Lights champion Patricio O’Ward and another for 2018 Indy Lights runner-up Colton Herta. The cars driven by these two drivers, the #8 and the #88, respectively, will likely be Chevrolet-powered cars since Harding Racing were a Chevrolet-powered team, although this has not been confirmed.

But despite the fact that Andretti Autosport are a Honda-powered team, Harding Steinbrenner Racing are set to rely on the technical expertise of Michael Andretti either way, which would be an unprecedented relationship if they are indeed confirmed as a Chevrolet-powered team.

What this effectively means is that McLaren can field a Chevrolet-powered entry for Alonso while still being affiliated with Andretti Autosport. At this point, this appears to be the most likely option as far as Alonso driving in IndyCar next year is concerned, and the door is open for it to become a reality even though this relationship between a Chevrolet team and Honda team would be an unprecedented one much like the relationship between Andretti Autosport and Harding Steinbrenner Racing will likely be.

The only other reasonable option for Alonso as far as him driving in IndyCar next year is concerned involves him totally abandoning McLaren and signing full-time as Andretti Autosport’s fifth driver to drive a Honda-powered entry.

However, this does not seem likely at this point given how involved McLaren have been with trying to put together a full-time IndyCar program for 2019. This is the case regardless of whether or not their team ends up being a one-car team or a two-car team.

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With the door open for Fernando Alonso to make the move to become a full-time IndyCar driver for the 2019 season, will he end up doing so? If so, which team will he drive for, and with which other team or teams will his team have a partnership or partnerships?