IndyCar: Fernando Alonso has a McLaren ride if he wants it

By Asher Fair | Aug 10, 2019

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - NOVEMBER 23: Fernando Alonso of Spain and McLaren F1 walks in the Paddock before practice for the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit on November 23, 2018 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images) /

If Fernando Alonso is interested in competing in IndyCar next year, McLaren would be willing to field an additional car for him.

The “Will McLaren join IndyCar full-time?” saga finally came to an end Friday when the team announced that they will be forming a partnership with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to create Arrow McLaren Racing Schmidt Peterson (Arrow McLaren Racing SP) ahead of the 2020 season to field a two-car effort.

In doing so, Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports had to end their contract with Honda one year early. This contract was not set to expire until the end of the 2020 season, but Honda are unwilling to work with McLaren after their relationship with one another deteriorated as a result of their struggle of a three-year stint together in Formula 1 from the 2015 season through the 2017 season.

The team’s drivers have not yet been confirmed. James Hinchcliffe has another year left on his contract with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, but it is possible that he could stick with Honda by joining another team given his ties to the Japanese manufacturer, which include regular appearances in Honda commercials.

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Hinchcliffe’s statement about this new partnership appeared to indicate that he will be staying with the team, and team co-owner Sam Schmidt as well as McLaren CEO Zak Brown confirmed that he is still under contract through the 2020 season despite this new deal, but there has been no official confirmation that he will return.

Regardless of who ends up driving the team’s two full-time entries next year, the door is open for two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso in a third.

Alonso drove for McLaren in Formula 1 in the 2007 season and then again from the 2015 season through the 2018 season, and he has made two Indianapolis 500 attempts with the team.

McLaren formed a partnership with Andretti Autosport to field the #29 Honda for Alonso in the 2017 Indy 500, and Alonso had success. Despite the fact that he had never previously competed in an IndyCar race or in an oval race, he qualified in fifth place and 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 before his engine gave out on lap 180.

With Honda unwilling to supply the team engines for the 2019 Indy 500, they formed a technical with Carlin and aligned with Chevrolet, and it turned disastrous. With Alonso driving the #66 Chevrolet for the team, he ultimately failed to qualify for the race. The drivers of two of Carlin’s three regular cars also failed to do so.

Here is what McLaren CEO Zak Brown had to say about the possibility of fielding an entry for Alonso next year, according to RACER.

"“The door’s always open for Fernando. He’s part of the family, he’s a contracted McLaren driver and for the first time in a long time he doesn’t have a full racing calendar ahead of him. He’s obviously well aware of what we’re doing here, and I’ll be seeing him later in the year and we’ll be discussing our plans and his plans, and see if those converge at any point.”"

There were rumors that surfaced earlier this year that Alonso and McLaren had cut ties following their failed Indy 500 bid, but Brown called those rumors “fake news”.

Alonso did previously reveal that he would not be pursuing a full-time ride in the 2020 season, but McLaren also previously revealed that they would likely not pursue one either.

Now here they are set to field a two-car effort with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, and Alonso could make that a three-car effort if he so chooses. There have been no indications whatsoever, however, that he will.

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Of course, the additional possibility still exists that Fernando Alonso could join McLaren in IndyCar next year but only for another Indy 500 effort, which seems to be the most likely scenario and what he is most interested in since a victory in this race would make him only the second driver ever to win each of the three races of the Triple Crown of Motorsport. Only Graham Hill has won all three, the other two being the Monaco Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.