Tag Archives: Monaco Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso to Drive for McLaren at This Year’s Indy 500

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Fernando Alonsois back in the race…

The 38-year-old Spanish race car driver will race at this year’s Indy 500 with McLaren‘s new IndyCar team.

Fernando Alonso

It’ll be Alonso’s third attempt to win the famous race, the final part of a ‘Triple Crown,’ which includes the Monaco Grand Prixand Le Mans 24 Hours. He has won both the other events on two occasions.

Were Alonso, who won the Formula One World Championshipin 2005 and 2006 for the Renaultteam, to achieve the feat, he would become just the second driver to do so, following Graham Hill‘s success in the 1960s.

Alonso drove for McLaren’s Formula Oneteam on two occasions, in 2007 and an infamously uncompetitive stint between 2015 and 2018. He stepped away from F1at the end of the latter spell and is yet to return.

“I am a racer and the Indy 500 is the greatest race in the world,” Alonso said.

“I have maximum respect for the race and everyone who competes in it, and all I want is to race against them and give my best.”

Alonso attempted to win the Indy 500 with a poorly-managed McLaren entry last year. A catalogue of errors culminated in the two-time F1 champion failing to qualify for the event.

He fared better on his debut in the race in 2017, qualifying fifth and leading a chunk of the race until an engine issue ended his race prematurely.

McLaren has stepped up its involvement in the series, entering a full-time outfit called SP Arrow McLaren for 2020. Alonso will partner the team’s full-time drivers, Pato O’Ward and Oliver Askew, for the event.

Alonso will race the team’s Chevrolet-powered car, having been blocked in his attempts to race for aHondaoutfit. 

Alonso was scathingly critical of the Japanese manufacturer during his final stint at McLaren and it has since decided he will never race one of their cars — he since won the Le Mans 24 Hours and World Endurance Championshipwith Toyota, a Honda rival.

Sergio Perez ThisClose to New Deal with Force India for 2018

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It looks like Sergio Perez may be staying put…

The 27-year-old Mexican driver is thisclose to agreeing to a new deal to stay with Force India for 2018, according to team officials.

Sergio Perez

At the Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of Formula One‘s summer break, Perez said he wanted to have his future resolved by the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of the month.

The Mexican said he was keen on staying with the Silverstone-based outfit for a fifth campaign, following another successful season.

Force India heads into the second half of 2017 occupying fourth place in the constructors’ standings as it looks to equal its best-ever finish in F1. Having only missed out on points with at least one of its cars on one occasion this year — at May’s Monaco Grand Prix — Force India is 60 points clear of nearest rivals Williams and 83 behind third-placed Red Bull, while Perez is the highest placed driver outside of the big three teams in seventh place in the drivers’ championship.

Perez has been linked with a possible switch to Renault or Ferrari over the past year but has already begun talks to extend his spell at Force India alongside teammate Esteban Ocon, who joined the team on a multi-year deal at the end of 2016.

Alonso & Montoya to Face Off Once Again at This Year’s Indy 500

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It’s a race back in time for Fernando Alonso and Juan Pablo Montoya…

The 35-year-old Spanish Formula One racer and the 41-year-old Colombian IndyCar Series driver will roll back the years and battle together once again at the Indy 500 on May 28.

Fernando Alonso & Juan Pablo Montoya

Alonso is missing the Monaco Grand Prix to drive at the Brickyard, which will see him race against a number of familiar faces — including Montoya, who also made his Formula One debut at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.

Despite spells with Williams and McLaren, Montoya never replicated Alonso’s title-winning success in F1 and had to make do with seven grand prix victories.

Montoya came into F1 having won the Indy 500 and CART championship in 2000 and has won the prestigious oval race more recently, in 2015. Alonso holds the Colombian in high regard from their days together in F1.

“I take Juan Pablo as one of the best drivers in the world, one of the most talented drivers I ever competed against,” Alonso said. “So to come here and drive together in the super speedway will be a massive thing for me.

“Hopefully I can learn as much as I can… I’m watching a lot of his onboard cameras because I think he’s one of the best out there. So really looking forward to talk to him and have some dinners with him at Indy because any tips would be welcome for him.”

Montoya says the chance to race Alonso, the 2005 and 2006 world champion, again was something he would not have expected at this stage of the Spaniard’s career.

“If you would have told me I was going to win a race ever against Alonso, it would be an endurance race or something, not in Indy to be honest,” Montoya said. “I think it’s great. I think having Fernando is going to be a really good day for motorsports, not only for IndyCar, but I think the attention overall for seeing Fernando and myself and everybody running Indy is going to be really big.”

Montoya says Alonso will have a steep learning curve if he wants to get to grips with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in time for the race.

“The biggest challenge is going to be first he has never done a race that is that long, and the traffic. He is going to have to learn and understand the traffic. I think if he is patient enough through the week and builds to it, I think he will be fine.

“He is a really good driver. He has really good teammates. People have run at Indy before and run well. There is no reason why he shouldn’t run well.”