Alonso has made no secret of it, and there'll be no shortage of rumours, twists & turns, so I figured it would be worth starting a thread for it. I'll start with this, from Aunti Beeb... http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/42040840
Good luck to him, but he should have started it earlier in 2015 or 2016 when it was clear Honda weren't capable of producing a power unit worthy of an F1 car. I do think he could have won Indy this year following his performance all through the month of May, which I was really surprised at how he just went over and pretty much schooled he entire field. I thought he'd struggle and just hit the wall trying too hard. Le Mans is very unpredictable, but also unless he can secure a place in the no.1 team of whichever manufacturer he goes with, he won't stand a chance without issues for the other cars. That's the way Le Man works. Is he clear for Indy in 2018? If not, do you think he's go and do the full Indy series for a year or two to get more oval experience, wipe the floor with them on the street circuits and add the championship to the Indy 500 and Le Man. Would make him undisputablely the most versatile driver then.
I think that, like us, he was overly optimistic on how quickly Honda would fix their obvious short-comings, and that Monaco was their best chance for a decent result. I think he'll go to Indy when his F1 career finally runs down, if he hasn't won the 500 by then, which he will if he has the car, toherwise it'll probably be sportscar racing. Maybe he'll try Daytona too, try and beat Hamilton to it. p.s. indisputably
Who'd risk taking him? If you're in any way superstitious as a team owner then taking Alonso is like smashing every mirror in sight.
His car in Monaco had an engine problem and was sent to the back of the grid. Not a good chance of points. Probably the best decision ever made by Alonso
Webber, Coulthard and Eddie were quite critical of the decision, can;t see the problem myself, he's not going to suddenly forget how to drive an F1 car.
I like reading about his methodical & disciplined approach. No testosterone-fuelled charging around. No grandstanding. Just learning the car, learning the circuit, learning the skills, learning the procedures, absorbing a hugely steep learning curve like a sponge, dialling himself in, and then going faster and faster and faster and faster. Same with his maiden Indy campaign, when the verdicts from across the sport progressed from very impressive, to extremely impressive, to astonishing, to holy cow, this novice from F1 could actually win this thing! I'm guessing these are some of the characteristics of a truly top driver (the meticulous discipline and attention to detail - learning everything as completely as possible and then focusing it all). He won't be unique - I'm sure some of the other current top drivers could do it too (but maybe not all of them?). And others from days gone by.
And for all that, it's still 11 years since he last one a WDC in F1. Whilst many herald him as the 'most complete driver', clearly something was missing somewhere in the package. It's hard to look at a 2 x WDC and think their career was not a good one, but you just wonder how good it COULD have been if his out of cockpit decision making had been better. A Le Mans and Indy (even a Daytona 24) would certainly go someway to putting that right. Maybe Bathurst too if he fancied a few beers whilst doing it?
You have to question Alonso's commitment to F1 now. If he was truly focused on being a WDC again, then there is no way he would be doing all of this as it will be a distraction to him. Has he already seen that this years McLaren is unlikely to give him any chance at all? He seems happy just to bank his McLaren pay cheque now.
Is Button still the official Reserve driver and will he have to step in again during Alonso's absence or does the Le Mans 24hours not interfere with a GP weekend this year does anyone know?
No not anymore. The reserve is Lando Norris. Also It wont interfere. Heres his schedule: March 25 Australian Grand Prix April 8 Bahrain Grand Prix April 15 Chinese Grand Prix April 29 Azerbaijan Grand Prix May 5 WEC Spa May 13 Spanish Grand Prix May 27 Monaco Grand Prix June 10 Canadian Grand Prix June 16-17 Le Mans 24 Hours June 24 French Grand Prix July 1 Austrian Grand Prix July 8 British Grand Prix July 22 German Grand Prix July 29 Hungarian Grand Prix August 19 WEC Silverstone August 26 Belgian Grand Prix September 2 Italian Grand Prix September 16 Singapore Grand Prix September 30 Russian Grand Prix October 7 Japanese Grand Prix October 21 United States Grand Prix (Wont be doing WEC Fuji) October 28 Mexican Grand Prix November 11 Brazilian Grand Prix November 18 WEC Shanghai November 25 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
In fairness Toyota is a prime team for not winning when there's no competition. Them and Fernando have a similar level of luck.