All eyes on Alonso at 101st Indy 500

‘Equipment capable of winning’

INDIANAPOLIS, May 27, (AFP): Fernando Alonso rocked racing when he opted to skip the Monaco Grand Prix to run in the Indianapolis 500, but the two-time world champion’s gamble was looking good as he prepared to swap one iconic venue for another on Sunday.

The Spanish driver has been quick to get to grips with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, qualifying fifth for Sunday’s 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 to make the second row of the starting grid behind pole-sitter Scott Dixon of New Zealand.

“I want to make something clear. I am not coming for a ‘week off’ or to just have fun — I am a racer, I am coming to race,” Alonso declared on the Players Tribune website. “The Indy 500 is one of the greatest events in the sport. Drivers all over the world know this. I belong there.”

More than a publicity stunt, Alonso said, his appearance at “The Brickyard” is a crucial second step in his bid to win motor racing’s “triple crown” of the Monaco Grand Prix, which he’s won twice, Indy, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Only one driver has done it, Britain’s Graham Hill.

Alonso

“To grow up as a driver and become a more complete driver you need to win the best races in the world, the most prestigious races in the world,” Alonso said. “The Indy 500 is the biggest race in the world.”

Alonso’s decision to make the trans-Atlantic leap this weekend was made easier by his Clarence-Honda team’s struggles in Formula One this season.

In Indianapolis, however, his Andretti Autosport McLaren-Honda equipment gives him plenty of opportunity to win, with his own inexperience on the 2.5mile (4-km) oval one of the biggest obstacles to victory.

“The equipment is capable of winning, he has the natural talent to be very competitive, but he doesn’t have the experience,” said Zak Brown, executive director of McLaren. “But he’s very smart. He’s coming in very well prepared and the Indy 500 is a tough race, so anything can happen.”

Certainly Alonso’s rivals consider him more of a threat than most Indy newcomers.

“He’s more prepared than most rookies,” said team-mate Marco Andretti, who will start from the third row.

“He has a lot of knowledge and experience of different cars in his previous teams. He’s probably more ready than me when I started here at 19.”

Plenty can go wrong, however, over the course of 500 miles to scupper the chances of even the most competitive cars.

In a field of 33 at speeds of 380 km/h the slightest mistake can spell disaster.

Alonso will be up against drivers much more accustomed to oval racing. No fewer than seven former Indy 500 winners line up for the start, including Dixon, the winner in 2008, and last year’s winner Alexander Rossi — third fastest in qualifying behind Dixon and Ed Carpenter.

“The hardest part of the race is the wind, the traffic, the circumstances ... The day of the race there is always a surprise for you,” Marco Andretti said.

There also remains some nagging uncertainty about the Honda engine, which have been less reliable than their Chevrolet counterparts.

Alonso himself had to switch engines just prior to a qualifying run that put him in the middle of the second row, flanked by Japan’s Takuma Sato and American J.R. Hildebrand.

“The hardest part is the race and everything that can happen in such an event: learn how to manage traffic, the little tricks for overtaking, using your car’s performance, when, why,” he said.

“All those little things that only experience can teach you. And I do not have that experience so I know I will be weaker in some aspects.”

The Finn’s Mercedes team-mate Briton Lewis Hamilton failed to make progress from Q2 and missed the cut for the top ten shootout, qualifying 14th after a miserable afternoon.

“Obviously, it’s great,” said a mumbling and softly-spoken Raikkonen afterwards, showing little emotion. “We’ll try to make the best of it tomorrow ... Yes, of course it is good, but here it is all about the fine details.”

Dutch teenager Max Verstappen took fourth place ahead of his Red Bull team-mate Australian Daniel Ricciardo, Spaniard Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso, Mexican Sergio Perez of Force India and Frenhcman Romain Grosjean of Haas.

Briton Jenson Button, back from retirement to replace two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso who is racing in the Indianapolis 500, was ninth for McLaren Honda ahead of his team-mate Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne.

Button has a 15-place grid penalty for engine replacements and that is expected to lift Hamilton up to 13th.

Ferrari’s Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen drives during the third practice session at the Monaco street circuit on May 27, in Monaco on the eve of the Monaco Formula

1 Grand Prix. (AFP)

“I don’t know what was wrong there,” said Vettel of Mercedes’ problems. “But this is one of the highlights of the season — to race at Monaco. It is a difficult one to get right, but if you do, it is great.”

Bottas said: “It was a really good lap for me. This is one of the most mentally-demanding circuits and I have felt support from the fans and appreciate it.”

On a perfect azure afternoon, with an air temperature of 27 degrees and a track reading of 53, Q1 delivered few surprises other than the early exit of Frenchman Esteban Ocon of Force India, who had crashed at Casino Square in the closing minutes of the morning’s final practice session.

The Q2 session began with the two Finns Bottas and Raikkonen on track swiftly followed by the title contenders Vettel and Hamilton, who survived a big ‘moment’ at the top of the hill en route to Casino Square.

It proved costly for Hamilton whose first flying lap was more than a second adrift of Raikkonen’s early fastest. “No grip, Bono,” said Hamilton, talking to his engineer before he was stopped at the weighbridge on his way to Mercedes’ pits.

By then, Raikkonen had clocked a 1:12.231 to leap half a second clear of Verstappen at the front until Vettel slotted into second on his second run.

In his haste, Hamilton weaved to heat his tyres and then had a major slide at the exit of Casino Square before he locked up at Mirabeau. “Something wrong with the car,” he reported.

With just seconds remaining, Hamilton’s hopes were ruined when Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne went into the barriers at the Swimming Pool exit, yellow flags flying.

“That’s me out, right?” said Hamilton, deprived of a clean lap and condemned to qualify 14th, one of five men eliminated along with Russian Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso, German Nico Hulkenberg of Renault, Dane Kevin Magnussen of Haas and Brazilian Felipe Massa of Williams.

“Yes, toasted,” came the reply for Hamilton as he pulled in to the pits, his chest heaving and hands waving with frustration.