Fernando Alonso may have cut ties with the orbits of F1’s current top teams a while ago, but his value on the international drivers’ market remains undeniably high. Following yesterday’s Ricciardo bombshell, the Spaniard is being regarded as one of the key men to keep an eye on in the next few weeks, although his McLaren deals allows him to pull the plug on his evaluations as late as possible.

There is a real and concrete chance for Alonso to move overseas and embark on the Verizon IndyCar Series’ experience, as options are narrowing down in F1. Andretti Autosport team owner Michael Andretti, as reported by Autoweek USA, assured that the 2018 Le Mans 24 winner will either switch to IndyCar to compete in all races or he will not enter the championship at all. “It was put to Alonso if he wants to do a partial season and he said no. If he does it, he wants to do the whole thing or not at all.”

Andretti explained that a great deal of steps and details are still unaccomplished and both his team and McLaren are reaching a critical time, suggesting that the ultimate finalization is a matter of weeks.

“They have to get their driver situation settled. Zak has to work on his Formula 1 plan and he has a lot of work out there, but we will see what is going to happen.”

The American did not hesitate to praise the Spaniard, reminiscing about his memorable 2017 Indy 500 assault, other than underlining his “It Factor”.
“For me, I would love to work with him because be was a joy to work with. We had a lot of fun at Indy and I think we would have a lot of fun doing this all year long. It would create a buzz, and a buzz is something you can’t buy. It would go back to like it was when Nigel Mansell came over. It feels like the early 1990s when things started to go for IndyCar. The timing of Fernando coming to IndyCar could help it set off.”

According to Andretti, the way Alonso’s personality is perceived appears utterly twisted, hence the IndyCar opportunity would let him show his true colours. “FernandoAlonso is the complete opposite of Nigel Mansell. Everybody thought Mansell was so great and so nice and Fernando is the complete opposite. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Fernando is the nicest guy you would ever want to meet, but he has the perception of being a certain way and that is so wrong.”

In conclusion, Alonso’s arrival to IndyCar would enable a ‘cross-fertilization’ process, where the Spaniard makes the series grow in popularity and prestige, and the series permits him to revise his character, which would eventually depict him as a more likeable and pleasant figure.

Auhtor : Beatrice Zamuner