IndyCar: Fernando Alonso still not ruling out future full-time ride

By Asher Fair | Apr 11, 2019

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 26: Fernando Alonso of Spain, driver of the #29 Chandon Honda prepares to drive during Carb day for the 101st Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on May 26, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso is still not ruling out the possibility of driving full-time in IndyCar in the future.

Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso made his IndyCar debut in the 2017 Indianapolis 500, as the team for which he drove in Formula 1 at the time, McLaren, ended their 38-year-old absence from the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” and partnered with Andretti Autosport to field the #29 Honda for him.

After the 37-year-old Spaniard’s impressive performance in the 101st running of the Indy 500, which included him qualifying in fifth place and leading 27 of the race’s first 179 laps before his engine failed with 21 laps remaining, there was speculation that he would become a full-time IndyCar driver in the 2018 season.

Alonso put an end to this speculation when he re-signed with McLaren for the 2018 Formula 1 season, but this speculation heated up again late in the 2018 season after he announced that he would be retiring from Formula 1 after the season ended.

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While Alonso is not a full-time IndyCar driver this season, he is set to return to the Indy 500 this year, this time as the driver of the #66 McLaren Chevrolet. The Woking-based team are set to form a technical alliance with Carlin for this race this year.

Alonso is set to enter this 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana with a chance of becoming just the second driver to win each of the three races of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, as he is a two-time Monaco Grand Prix winner and he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time last year. Only Graham Hill has ever won all three of these races.

That said, Alonso, who returned to the cockpit of an IndyCar in a test session at Texas Motor Speedway on Tuesday, may want to do more in IndyCar than simply continue his pursuit of the Triple Crown of Motorsport.

He still hasn’t ruled out competing in the sport as a full-time driver at some point in the future. Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to IndyStar.

"“It was not this year, but I think it is not out of the question for the future. Right now I’m not thinking about it.”"

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Will Fernando Alonso ever compete in IndyCar on a full-time basis? If so, when will he officially become a rookie in America’s premier open-wheel racing series?