Crowds flock to the Alonso show
F1 star will risk all for his new Indy fans
FERNANDO Alonso shows up on an electric skateboard, holding a remote control in his right hand and enjoying a rare degree of independence.
His arrival at the Andretti Autosport team hospitality tent for this interview is one of the few times his presence has not been attended by huge numbers of avidly curious fans.
Another rare refuge is his motorhome parked in the Speedway’s infield among a line of mobile homes belonging to his fellow drivers. It may look like a glorified caravan from the outside but is done up like a palace inside. It was handed over to him with the fridge filled.
Everywhere else he is mobbed. While he chats to his team. While he climbs into his cockpit. Want to know which garage is his? The one with an eight-deep crowd outside it. C11.
There are a few cordons here and there. The odd stack of Firestone tyres between driver and spectator. But mostly, at this fan-friendly mecca, the Alonso obsessed autograph-hunter can get within touching distance of the one global star in tomorrow’s 101st Indianapolis 500.
Arguably never at Indy, and certainly not since Nigel Mansell came here as reigning Formula One champion in 1993, has hoopla surrounded one figure so closely as the thick-necked, squarejawed Spaniard who is sitting opposite me. Tradition is sacrosanct at the self-styled world’s most spectacular race from the moment a military gun starts the big-day build-up at 6am. But along with the ceremony comes danger. Fifty-seven drivers and mechanics have died since the race was first held in 1911.
Despite safety improvements over the years, many of his European contemporaries would not dare do what Alonso (right) is undertaking, swapping a Formula One cockpit to charge around a banked oval at 230mph.
This is no place for novices, but despite being a double world champion, that is exactly what Alonso is. Does he not worry about the perils? ‘You know that there are risks but that is part of motor racing,’ he said. ‘For that reason winning Monte Carlo, winning the Indy 500, winning Le Mans are valued. There are risks attached.
‘You deal with it. You close the visor and want to be quicker and quicker. We keep enjoying races in places like this. It is something that attracts the fans and the drivers. People maybe like it because it is not like watching a tennis game.’
This goes to the heart of why Alonso, 35, is missing Monaco to compete here for McLaren Honda Andretti as he tries to emulate Graham Hill as the only winner of the Triple Crown — Monaco, Indy 500 and Le Mans 24 Hours.
He is a racer, and one who is impressing everybody here. His driving coach, Gil de Ferran, a former 500 winner, told me this week: ‘A driving god has descended from Mount Olympus to bless us with his presence.’ Some might find that insulting to several drivers such as Scott Dixon, the pole sitter who broke the 232mph barrier in qualifying. But Alonso’s on-track performance has been mighty impressive. He qualified fifth and continued to run fast in final practice yesterday, declaring his orange-liveried car ‘the best it has been’. The only concern, and a potentially big one, was another Honda engine failure, this time for James Hinchcliffe. It was the Japanese company’s ninth blow-up of the past fortnight. Just imagine if Alonso is leading and Honda, the bane of his Formula One life, let him down. Alonso can only control the variables within his command, and he certainly has. He has devoured hours of videos of previous races, including the entire 200 laps filmed on an in-board camera, and has spent ‘free’ days on the simulator.
Alonso has not always been noted as a team player but here he has been struck by the camaraderie of the pit lane, and he has returned the generosity with what strikes every observer as absolute friendliness. Nobody has a bad word to say about him.
‘It is dangerous, so here people don’t play games,’ said Alonso, whose strategy will be called by team boss Michael Andretti.
‘Even before qualifying (teammate) Ryan Hunter-Reay came to my cockpit, seven minutes before it was my turn, to say he had just finished his run and told me that the car felt a bit loose at Turn One and at Turn Two there is wind pushing you so he made certain adjustments, and said, “Good luck, man”. The cars are running very fast. There is a respect for this race.’
And no little respect for him.