[jfxavier]

Fernando Alonso tests for the first time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with McLaren/Andretti Autosport!









Here's the LIVE You Tube Channel for all who are keen to follow Alonso's Rookie orientation.

https://youtu.be/UXh9uxthFnk

[ecenandu]

Two birds, one stone. Ouch.

[Octane_Power]

So does he get to skip F1 races as per his wish or is it decided by McLaren?

I saw Mark Webber's interview where he mentioned that racing in F1 is just not challenging enough for Alonso, hence he is looking for something more challenging; that's why wondering if he gets to choose to skips F1 races.

-Bhargav

[jfxavier]

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

So does he get to skip F1 races as per his wish or is it decided by McLaren?

I saw Mark Webber's interview where he mentioned that racing in F1 is just not challenging enough for Alonso, hence he is looking for something more challenging; that's why wondering if he gets to choose to skips F1 races.

-Bhargav

I think McLaren and Alonso both are trying to get through these tough times by following Alonso's dream of the triple crown. It seems to be the right time as Honda is doing well in the Indy series now.

Here is the press conference after the Rookie orientation program for Fernando.

https://youtu.be/of5VUO7osCM

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

Two birds, one stone. Ouch.

Oh man! That's bad. Looks like he cannot afford to have a single session on a track without any incidents nowadays. Already seeing some memes on WhatApp on this one.

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

So does he get to skip F1 races as per his wish or is it decided by McLaren?

Read from this post by jfxavier on wards in the silly season thread to know how this evolved. Maybe we should move all those posts to this thread.


There is a good chance for Alonso to win the Indy 500. Alonso' team Andretti is the winners of two of the last three Indy 500s. Indy allows team mates to support each other to win a race (save fuel by slip streaming etc, F1 driver Alex Rossi won it using that strategy last year).

And guess who got the biggest squad in Indy at present?? Andretti, with 6 cars. And we can bet that Alonso isn't skipping Monaco to help someone else win the Indy 500.

Read this brilliant thread by Keith Collantine for the details. And how Alonso is good at maximizing returns from his team mates. source

[am1m]

Don't know anything about IndyCar racing, so have a question - is it tougher to win at IndyCar than at F1? Obviously it would depend on team resources and the like, but in general, are F1 drivers more skilled than IndyCar drivers? I know Montoya came from IndyCar (or some form of American Motorsport), did well at F1 and went back again.

[Yusha]

Originally Posted by am1m

Don't know anything about IndyCar racing, so have a question - is it tougher to win at IndyCar than at F1? Obviously it would depend on team resources and the like, but in general, are F1 drivers more skilled than IndyCar drivers? I know Montoya came from IndyCar (or some form of American Motorsport), did well at F1 and went back again.

Winning is tough in both series but for different reasons. In F1 you need to have the right engine, well funded team, best possible aero design and a good driver. The drivers in F1 do not add as much to the cars performance as their counterparts in Indy racing.

Indy cars are tougher to drive. They have no power steering, less down force and the drivers have a much larger role to play.

Skills are subjective. Their is no evidence to suggest that drivers from F1 are better than drivers in IndyCAR or vice versa. The demands that their respective racing discipline make from them is vastly different.

All I know is that oval racing is much tougher due to pack racing and the aero maelstrom these guys drive in.

A F1 driver competing in IndyCAR would feel more at home on a road course compared to a oval.

[Hatari]

Been following the coverage live and excited to see how he fares when its time for 1st practice.

Talking about the comparison, Rossi won the 500 last year and he was not among the top drivers in F1. So I dont think its tougher to drive IndyCar.

A good driver in either format will continue to be so in the other. Where Alonso will stand out is that he is the best out there when it comes to adaptability and getting the best out of a car.

But the thrill of racing should be more at the Indy 500 given how close the pack is and that your 2 or 3 abreast quite often.

[thatfastdude19]

How much I wish that McLaren-Honda F1 team could have had a more competitive machine. Would love to see an awesome three-way battle between Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren and in between Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel.

Alonso has still got so much potential and I just wish that he could have been in a better situation with a more competitive car in F1. It's sad to see a world champion to always end up at the end of the grid.

[deetjohn]

Alonso' Indy run has caught the fancy around the world. Live coverage on the internet of the first test run attracted more than 2 million views on Wednesday. The was split up between 950,000 views on IndyCar’s official Facebook channel and 1.2 million viewers on the official IndyCar channel on YouTube. Yanks are the best when it comes to marketing anything and F1 can surely learn one of two about this, hope Chase Carey is keeping a close watch.

souce

Originally Posted by am1m

Don't know anything about IndyCar racing, so have a question - is it tougher to win at IndyCar than at F1?

As Yusha rightly noted, Indy is physically more raw - those cars need more effort to drive.

Regarding skill required, its not that easy to judge. If its a marker, we do have many F1 drivers who went to Indy and won though. But a swap from Indy to F1 is much tougher I believe, starting with fitness. The current F1 drivers are just a few stones away from being anorexic due to the weight demands of these hybrid machines. And I also think F1 drivers requires faster processing of information compared to Indy.

[sun_king]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

<snip>
As Yusha rightly noted, Indy is physically more raw - those cars need more effort to drive.

Regarding skill required, its not that easy to judge. If its a marker, we do have many F1 drivers who went to Indy and won though. But a swap from Indy to F1 is much tougher I believe, starting with fitness. The current F1 drivers are just a few stones away from being anorexic due to the weight demands of these hybrid machines. And I also think F1 drivers requires faster processing of information compared to Indy.

Personally I'm of the opinion that F1 requires a little more skill. Whatever follows is on the assumptions that the F1 field is spread out with maybe 5 teams fielding cars that are capable of winning a race and that aerodynamics of one F1 car does not affect another - lets forget reality for a while

-- The G-forces are way higher in F1 and exists on more axes, the oval doesn't force the drivers to turn left, right, left and so on. G-forces exist both ways on the lateral axes in F1 while it is lopsided in Indy. Along the longitudinal, acceleration and braking is more drastic in F1. Taking decisions when subjected to reciprocating G-forces would require more skills. And this is why fitness is key for an F1 driver, those neck muscles are strengthened to support the weight of more than five helmeted heads!

-- An F1 race is a balance of attack and defense, a driver has the the option to attack for a position and also to defend a position. By choosing the racing line, strategy and exploiting the field dynamics, a driver (even a slower one) can defend his position. I have not watched many Indy races and so I may be wrong here, but what I have seen is that the only defense option in Indy is to drive faster!

-- When it rains, I guess I need not say more.

-- An F1 car finishes the race alone, not considering the pep talks and cajoling from the pits. He gets no assistance from his team mate while in Indy it is quite common to get aerodynamic support from friendly racers.

To quote a guy who won both Indy and F1 (while failing miserably as a singer), Jacques Villeneuve: "Competitive-wise? Oh, F1's definitely a step up. I don't know why, I guess it's because the States is more laid-back in general. We were always having a laugh out there. I never trained then. I jogged and went skiing a bit in the winter, but that was all, and I was still good enough to win. You didn't have to race like you qualified, like you do in F1 where every lap is flat-out."

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Alonso' Indy run has caught the fancy around the world. Live coverage on the internet of the first test run attracted more than 2 million views on Wednesday. The was split up between 950,000 views on IndyCar’s official Facebook channel and 1.2 million viewers on the official IndyCar channel on YouTube. Yanks are the best when it comes to marketing anything and F1 can surely learn one of two about this, hope Chase Carey is keeping a close watch.

Must compliment the coverage, outstanding fly on the wall stuff. They were airing each run and what the objective was out of it. Never seen this before!

Digital just takes it to a different level as well. F1 really needs to wake up to this.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Hatari

F1 really needs to wake up to this.

True, F1 does seem to have a problem marketing itself in the new digital age. I remember reading somewhere that Enzo Ferrari really only looked at his road cars as a means to fund his racing ventures. Perhaps a bit of that attitude still remains in F1, where the old owners felt the public should feel privileged to watch the best race each other. I remember watching every single lap of every single F1 race when I was in college. Now, I haven't tuned into a race live in over 2 years! I just read the news online after.

Anyway, getting back to the topic, I guess it just shows how highly Alonso is rated for his employers to allow him to race in the Indy and keep him happy till they can put together a competitive car.

[jfxavier]

Here is last year's story of Rossi victory in short.

https://youtu.be/5HzCNMnCgz0

Some pictures of ALO on track.

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by jfxavier

Here is last year's story of Rossi victory in short.

Man! Maybe Alonso can get some Castrol edge supercar oil back to Woking for the rest of the season. Didn't expect that from MotorTrend.


He looks genuinely happy at Indy though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRcCn3PTv3E