IndyCar: Carlos Sainz Jr. driving for McLaren Racing in 2019 Indy 500?

Carlos Sainz Jr. has been rumored to compete in the biggest race of the 2019 IndyCar season, the Indy 500, for McLaren Racing.

McLaren are set to enter the 2019 Indianapolis 500 at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana as McLaren Racing, and two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso is set to drive for the team.

The 37-year-old Spaniard drove for the Woking-based team in the 2017 Indy 500 when they ended their 38-year absence from the race and partnered with Andretti Autosport to field the #29 Honda IndyCar.

For the 103rd running of the race in May, however, McLaren Racing are set to compete as their own team, and they are set to use a Chevrolet engine to power Alonso’s car.

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But now there are rumors that McLaren Racing will field two cars in the 2019 edition of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” and that the team’s second driver will be Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr.

Spanish newspaper MomentoGP has reported that Sainz Jr. will be Alonso’s teammate in the 2019 Indy 500 behind the wheel of a Chevrolet-powered McLaren Racing IndyCar, but this has not been confirmed by Sainz Jr. nor McLaren Racing.

MomentoGP reported that the 24-year-old Spaniard would test an IndyCar during over the winter so he does not go into the official stages of preparation for the race blind, as he has never previously competed in any IndyCar race.

Should these rumors be taken seriously?

According to MomentoGP itself, no, they should not be, as this publication’s report was nothing more than a prank.

Como ya algunos se dieron cuenta ayer (otros no tanto 😂) la noticia de Carlos fue nuestro pequeño granito del día de las inocentadas. https://t.co/8z5jWxw31o
— MomentoGP (@MomentoGP) December 29, 2018

Sainz Jr. has competed in Formula 1 since the 2015 season. He drove for Scuderia Toro Rosso in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and he drove for the team for most of the 2017 season before replacing Jolyon Palmer at Renault Sport, the team for which he drove throughout the entire 2018 season.

Carlos Sainz Jr. is set to drive for McLaren in the 2019 Formula 1 season, and he is set to do so as Alonso’s replacement on a multi-year contract. Alonso retired from Formula 1 following the conclusion of the 2018 season. As of now, competing om the Indy 500 is not in his plans, and neither is making his IndyCar debut.