IndyCar: Nothing wrong with Colton Herta’s take on Fernando Alonso

By Asher Fair | Apr 28, 2019

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - NOVEMBER 22: Fernando Alonso of Spain and McLaren F1 walks in the Paddock during previews ahead of the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit on November 22, 2018 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images) /

Full-time IndyCar driver Colton Herta was criticized for his comments about Fernando Alonso racing in the Indianapolis 500, but there is nothing wrong with what he said.

After making comments that were perceived by many as disrespectful regarding two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso returning to IndyCar to make his second career start in this year’s Indianapolis 500, Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta took a decent amount of criticism on social media.

But in reality, there was nothing wrong nor disrespectful with what the 19-year-old Valencia, California native had to say about the 37-year-old Spaniard returning to the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” after competing in it for the first time two years ago.

When asked if he thought it was “cool” to sit next to Alonso, here is what Herta had to say, according to IndyStar.

"“I don’t see it that way, no. Maybe if I was at a Grand Prix weekend, maybe a bit more. But not on these weekends, because he’s kind of coming into my playground now…in America. If I was over in Rockingham (Motor Speedway), yes, it would be pretty cool, but it’s different here.”"

While several fans admired the teenager for how he responded to the question, others criticized him and claimed that he didn’t give Alonso the respect that he is due.

But again, he said nothing wrong nor disrespectful at any point.

For those who are criticizing him, what do you expect him to say? Do you expect him to bow down to Alonso because he has had success in other series and because everyone else is so high on him competing in the Indy 500 again? Do you expect him to admit defeat to a driver who he is apparently supposed to feel inferior to before the month of May even gets underway?

Maybe he could have paid tribute to the late Jim Nabors, a fan-favorite at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana for singing “Back Home Again in Indiana” before the Indy 500 on 36 occasions from 1972 to 2014.

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Like Nabors’s character Gomer Pyle in the 1960s sitcom Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Herta could have claimed:

“This fight is unfair! My opponent is a stronger and better driver than I am, and I think it’s silly to race him! I do not wish to race someone so much better than I am!”

That is about where the logic of Herta’s comments somehow being “disrespectful” leads.

Let’s not forget the fact that Herta became an IndyCar winner in just his third career start in the series and Alonso has not yet even finished an IndyCar race. It’s not like Herta is just some pay driver whose career-high finish is 16th place or something. Through the first four races of this season, he has been the face of the strongest IndyCar rookie class in quite some time.

Alonso was forced to retire from the 101st running of the Indy 500, which was his IndyCar debut, two years ago with just 21 of the race’s 200 laps remaining due to an engine failure. He led 27 of the first 179 laps at the Brickyard after starting in fifth place in his #29 McLaren-Honda-Andretti Honda.

Herta also spent several seasons competing in the Road to Indy, including one in the U.S. F2000 Championship and two in Indy Lights, to get to this point in his career. So when he talks about the Indy 500 being his “playground”, despite the fact that he hasn’t actually competed in the race itself before and Alonso has, he is 100% correct.

Yes, Alonso is a 32-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner and a two-time Formula 1 champion. He is a two-time Monaco Grand Prix winner, and he also won the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona. As far as his racing accomplishments go, they obviously outweigh those of the teenaged Herta by quite a heavy margin.

With his two Monaco Grand Prix victories and his 24 Hours of Le Mans victory, Alonso is one Indy 500 victory away from becoming just the second driver to ever win each of the three races of the Triple Crown of Motorsport. Only the late Graham Hill has ever done so.

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But while Fernando Alonso’s does have many major racing accomplishments to his name and he is one of the greatest race car drivers of all-time, IndyCar isn’t Formula 1, nor is it anything else that Alonso has had success in. IndyCar is IndyCar, and the Indianapolis 500 is the crown jewel of the IndyCar schedule. Alonso has competed in just one IndyCar race in his racing career.

Could Alonso have success in IndyCar? Absolutely. Could he win this year’s Indy 500? Absolutely. But right now, IndyCar, particularly the Indy 500, is, in fact, Colton Herta’s “playground”, and it is the “playground” for every other IndyCar driver, especially when those drivers are compared to Alonso. With all things considered, nothing Herta said was wrong nor disrespectful in the very least.