Indy 500: What do Fernando Alonso's poor runs say about the level of F1?

What do Fernando Alonso’s terrible Indy 500 qualifying runs say about the level of Formula 1? Lewis Hamilton will likely not be available for comment.

Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso made his IndyCar debut in the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway two years ago driving the #29 Honda fielded by a partnership between McLaren, the team for which he drove in Formula 1 at the time, and Andretti Autosport.

Alonso qualified in fifth place for this 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana, and he led 27 of the first 179 laps of the race before his Honda engine failed and he was relegated to a 24th place finish.

Taking note of Alonso’s impressive qualifying effort in what was the first qualifying attempt that he had ever made for not only an IndyCar race but an oval race as well, five-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton saw the opportunity to take a shot at the level of skill within the IndyCar field.

After the 37-year-old Spaniard qualified in fifth place for the 2017 Indy 500, here is what the 34-year-old Briton had to say about the matter, according to USA Today.

"“I took a look at the qualifying results. Fernando, in his first qualifying, came fifth. Does that say something about [the level] of IndyCar? Great drivers, if they can’t succeed in Formula One, look for titles in other races, but to see him come fifth against drivers who do this all year round is…interesting.”"

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When Alonso drove in the 2017 Indy 500, he was driving for the top team in the series, Andretti Autosport, something that Hamilton knows all too well from throughout his Formula 1 career. Four of Andretti Autosport’s drivers spent much of that race in the top four, and Alonso was one of them.

Despite the fact that the engines in two of the team’s five cars ended up failing, they still won the race with Takuma Sato and had three of their drivers finish in the top eight.

This year, however, that isn’t the case. Alonso is driving the #66 McLaren Racing Chevrolet, and McLaren have formed a technical alliance with Carlin for this race. Carlin are nowhere near as strong now as Andretti Autosport were back in 2017, and no one expected that they would be.

In fact, two of Carlin’s three drivers (Patricio O’Ward and Max Chilton) are set to compete in today’s (weather permitting) Bump Day qualifying session as a result of it, as Charlie Kimball is their only driver who locked himself into the field with a 20th place qualifying effort in yesterday’s qualifying session.

Alonso made a total of five four-lap qualifying attempts for this race in yesterday’s qualifying session, and he still failed to lock himself into the field by finishing in the top 30 on the speed chart, as he finished in 31st place. He is one of the six drivers who is set to compete in today’s Bump Day qualifying session as a result of it, and he can qualify in no higher than 31st.

The 30th and final driver who locked herself into the field for this race was Clauson-Marshall Racing’s Pippa Mann. Her four-lap average speed was 227.244 miles per hour in her lone qualifying attempt.

Alonso’s five qualifying attempts for this race were as follows:

225.113 miles per hour
WAIVED
227.000 miles per hour
224.414 miles per hour
227.224 miles per hour (31st place)

Is this really the best that Formula 1 has to offer?

Let’s translate Hamilton’s nearsighted, arrogant quote into the 2019 version just to prove how nearsighted and arrogant it is.

“I took a look at the qualifying results. Fernando, in his second qualifying, came 31st. Does that say something about [the level] of Formula 1? Great drivers, if they succeed in Formula 1, look for titles in other races, but to see a two-time Formula 1 champion come 31st behind over a dozen of other IndyCar drivers who only do this once a year is…interesting.”

So what does it say about the Formula 1 field?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing, just like the fact that Alonso qualified in fifth place for the 2017 Indy 500 — the fact that one driver qualified well in one race — said absolutely nothing “interesting” about the lack of skill in the IndyCar field.

But I can only assume that we won’t be hearing from Hamilton about Alonso’s performance this year since it doesn’t fit his narrative to rip the Formula 1 field where driving for a powerhouse team like he does as opposed to a bad team makes all the difference in the world.

Next. Top 10 Indianapolis 500 drivers of all-time. dark

Will Fernando Alonso end up qualifying for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 at all? If so, will he qualify in 31st, 32nd or 33rd place? If not, when will he return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway to attempt to compete in the race once again?

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Indy 500: What do Fernando Alonso’s poor runs say about the level of F1?

By Asher Fair | May 19, 2019

What do Fernando Alonso’s terrible Indy 500 qualifying runs say about the level of Formula 1? Lewis Hamilton will likely not be available for comment.