Indy 500: Fernando Alonso, Andretti Autosport deal looming

By Asher Fair | Jan 30, 2020

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 28: Fernando Alonso of Spain, driver of the #29 McLaren-Honda-Andretti Honda, waves during driver introductions alongside JR Hildebrand, driver of the #21 Preferred Freezer Service Chevrolet, and Takuma Sato of Japan, driver of the #26 Andretti Autosport Honda,ahead of the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on May 28, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

Andretti Autosport and Fernando Alonso are set to confirm that they will join forces once again for this year’s running of the Indy 500 in May.

Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso made his IndyCar debut nearly three years ago when McLaren, his Formula 1 team at the time, partnered with Andretti Autosport to field the #29 Honda in the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The 38-year-old Spaniard was impressive in his debut three years ago, qualifying in fifth place and leading 27 laps around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) superspeedway in Speedway, Indiana before an engine failure knocked him out of competition with 21 of the race’s 200 laps remaining and left him officially scored in 24th.

However, after missing the race in 2018, he returned last year in a Chevrolet-powered #66 car for McLaren, fielded through a technical alliance with Carlin, and it was an effort to forget, as he was one of three drivers who failed to qualify for the race.

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Now he is slated to return to Michael Andretti’s powerhouse team behind the wheel of the #29 Honda for the 104th running of this race in May. According to AS.com’s Manu Franco, this news will be made official later this week.

This would end the speculation that Alonso can never, ever drive for a Honda-powered team again because of his rough stint with the Japanese manufacturer in Formula 1 from 2015 to 2017, a stint that included him making his infamous “GP2 engine” remark during the team’s home race in 2015.

While it is clear that Honda still aren’t keen on working with McLaren, hence Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ early switch to Chevrolet when they formed a partnership with McLaren to become Arrow McLaren SP for the 2020 season, the fact that they did not work with Alonso for last year’s Indy 500 had to do with the fact that he was still tied to McLaren and the fact that he was competing for global rival Toyota in the World Endurance Championship at the time.

He was, after all, permitted to test an Andretti Autosport Honda at Barber Motorsports Park in September of 2018. While there were the usual Firestone logos, Sunoco logos, #29 decals and Andretti Autosport logos on the machine, there were no Honda logos, which points directly to the Toyota conflict.

Alonso is also no longer under contract with McLaren in any way, as that relationship officially came to an end last week, and he is no longer tied to Toyota.

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The 104th running of the Indianapolis 500, which is the sixth of 17 races on the 2020 IndyCar schedule, is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 24, and it is set to be broadcast live from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET on NBC.