Fernando Alonso heads straight from F1 to Indy

  • Published on 15 May 2017 13:42
  • comments 0
  • By: Rob Veenstra

Fernando Alonso saw the chequered flag and almost immediately jumped on a private jet after his home Spanish grand prix late on Sunday. F1 fans will not see the Spaniard at Monaco in a fortnight, as he is doing the Indy 500 instead.

"I fully respect Fernando but I don't think it's correct," said Alonso's former Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa. "You're racing in the most important category in the world and then you're not doing Monaco to do another race? I think if you ask any team boss in history he would say it's not correct," the Brazilian added.

But Alonso's McLaren boss is Zak Brown, and the American got on the private jet with the 35-year-old, bound for Indianapolis. "Tomorrow at 9am I will be at Indy for the first practice session," Alonso said before departing. "So I have 14 hours to relax, 9 of which will be on a plane but now I switch to Indy mode and all of my attention is on this adventure."

Alonso said he has no regrets about skipping Monaco, as even if he repeated his stirring performance of Barcelona, the top three teams will remain ahead of McLaren-Honda on the prestigious streets. But asked if finishing Sunday's race in Barcelona was a turning point, Alonso said: "No, the turning point will be when Honda brings something new."

Alonso told the Spanish newspaper ABC he had hoped the dawn of the all-new 2017 regulations would be Honda's turning point. "In formula one the normal thing is to hire the best engineers and copy the others," he said. "But Honda has remained true to its philosophy and took a while - too long - to realise that they need more from the outside," he said. (GMM)

Replies (0)

Login to reply

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 04:53

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 04:53

World Championship standings 2025

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2025

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
14 - Mar 16
Australia
21 - Mar 23
China
4 - Apr 6
Japan
11 - Apr 13
Bahrain
18 - Apr 20
Saudi Arabia
2 - May 4
United States of America
16 - May 18
Italy
23 - May 25
Monaco
30 - Jun 1
Spain
13 - Jun 15
Canada
27 - Jun 29
Austria
4 - Jul 6
United Kingdom
25 - Jul 27
Belgium
1 - Aug 3
Hungary
29 - Aug 31
Netherlands
5 - Sep 7
Italy
19 - Sep 21
Azerbaijan
3 - Oct 5
Singapore
17 - Oct 19
United States of America
24 - Oct 26
Mexico
7 - Nov 9
Brazil
21 - Nov 23
United States of America
28 - Nov 30
Qatar
5 - Dec 7
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2025

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
14 - Mar 16
Australia Albert Park
21 - Mar 23
4 - Apr 6
11 - Apr 13
18 - Apr 20
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
2 - May 4
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
16 - May 18
23 - May 25
Monaco Monte Carlo
30 - Jun 1
13 - Jun 15
27 - Jun 29
Austria Red Bull Ring
4 - Jul 6
United Kingdom Silverstone
25 - Jul 27
1 - Aug 3
Hungary Hungaroring
29 - Aug 31
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
5 - Sep 7
Italy Monza
19 - Sep 21
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
3 - Oct 5
17 - Oct 19
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
24 - Oct 26
7 - Nov 9
Brazil Interlagos
21 - Nov 23
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
28 - Nov 30
5 - Dec 7
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team Aston Martin
  • Points 580
  • Podiums 9
  • Grand Prix 178
  • Country ES
  • Date of b. Jul 29 1981 (43)
  • Place of b. Oviedo, ES
  • Weight 68 kg
  • Length 1.71 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar