IndyCar: Fernando Alonso in line for expanded schedule in 2020?

Fernando Alonso could compete in more than just the Indianapolis 500 for Arrow McLaren SP throughout the 2020 IndyCar season.

Arrow McLaren SP recently confirmed that two-time Formula 1 champion and former McLaren Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso is set to drive the team’s third car in the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

He is set to join full-time IndyCar drivers Patricio O’Ward and Oliver Askew in this race behind the wheel of the #66 Ruoff Mortgage-sponsored Chevrolet.

This deal came about after what was believed to be all but a done deal with Andretti Autosport fell through.

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Michael Andretti’s team ended up naming former Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver James Hinchcliffe, who is also one of Andretti’s former full-time drivers, to drive the car Alonso would have driven.

It was believed that had the 38-year-old Spaniard ended up with Andretti Autosport for this race, the sixth of 17 races on the 2020 schedule, he would have competed in a few other races throughout the remainder of the season.

Now that he is with Arrow McLaren SP, this is still a possibility, and there is a slight chance that he could end up competing in one of the first five races of the season to prepare for the Indy 500 as well. Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to F1i.

"“That was part of the conversations I had with both teams – what they were thinking about that – and it’s still an open point to develop. Someone thinks that later in the year it can be a possibility to experience a normal IndyCar race, just to see how it feels and add some more experience.“I have the thought that maybe that would be before the Indy 500 because it gives me a little bit of preparation, because this year I’m not doing F1 and I’m not doing the World Endurance Championship so my last race was the Dakar Rally which is completely opposite style!“So maybe one race before or an extra test would be a help also for me, even if it’s not an oval race. So there are things that are under negotiations and something that took a role in the final decision [to join Arrow McLaren] as well.”"

Alonso has only competed in one IndyCar race, and that was the 2017 Indy 500. He competed for Andretti Autosport through a partnership with McLaren and qualified in fifth place. After leading 27 laps of the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) oval in Speedway, Indiana, an engine failure with 21 laps remaining knocked him out of contention.

He attempted to compete in the race last year with McLaren, but he ultimately failed to qualify after a heroic last-gasp qualifying effort by Juncos Racing’s Kyle Kaiser knocked him from the race’s 33rd and final starting position.

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Will Fernando Alonso compete in his first non-Indianapolis 500 IndyCar races at some point throughout the 2020 season with Arrow McLaren SP?