Two-time F1 champion Alonso skipping Monaco GP for Indy 500

Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso announced yesterday that he will race for McLaren at the Indianapolis 500 next month in a surprise switch that means the Spanish driver miss the Monaco Grand Prix on the same day.

It will be Alonso’s first time in the showcase race as he steps up his bid to win the so-called “Triple Crown” of motor sport: the Monaco GP, the Indianapolis 500 and the Le Mans 24 Hours race.

McLaren said the Monaco GP will be the only Formula One race that Alonso will miss.

The British-based team hasn’t announced who will replace Alonso for the most glitzy race on the F1 calendar, held a few hours before the Indy 500 on May 28 this year.

Alonso, who has 32 grand prix victories, didn’t earn a point in the first two races of the 2017 season — in Australia and China — and McLaren is struggling to be competitive once again.

McLaren will be racing in the Indianapolis 500 for the first time in 38 years.

Its entry will be a Dallara DW12 chassis, run by the Andretti Autosport team headed by Michael Andretti — a former IndyCar champion who raced in Formula One for McLaren in 1993.

Alonso will fly to Indianapolis immediately after the Spanish Grand Prix on May 14 to get in two weeks of IndyCar practice.

Andretti will have six cars in the Indianapolis 500, including Alexander Rossi, the former F1 test driver who was the surprise winner of last year’s 100th running of the classic.

For Alonso to drive in the Indy 500, Stefan Wilson had to give up his expected ride with Andretti.

Wilson is expected to get the opportunity to drive in the 2018 Indianapolis 500.

The Andretti team has shown much improvement from last year, when Honda was dominated all season by Chevrolet. Honda drivers have won the first two races of the season, and the Andretti cars have been competitive.

There had been rumblings in the paddock over the weekend in Long Beach that IndyCar officials were trying to bring in a “showstopper” for this year’s 500. Alonso makes sense now that McLaren is run by Zak Brown, who ran an Indianapolis-based marketing firm for years before his gradual move into Formula One.

He has often been consulted by IndyCar management and was even in talks for an official role with the series.