Why Alonso must race in IndyCar in 2019

When Fernando Alonso's 2017 Indianapolis 500 assault was announced, he offered a very clear explanation for his desire to do it that stretched beyond simply wanting to win motorsport's 'triple crown'.

Even though he stated several times that he had no intention of racing in IndyCar full-time, what he said supports the idea that he must compete there next year should McLaren's bid for a permanent presence in America come off.

"If I want to be the best driver in the world, there are two options," he said. "I win eight Formula 1 world championships, one more than Michael [Schumacher], which is very unlikely.

"The second one is to win different series in different moments of my career and be a driver that can race and win in any car, in any series."

So, here's what Alonso should do. First, make sure Zak Brown's ambitious plan for a McLaren IndyCar team happens. While not yet a done deal, it's more likely than not, with both Michael Andretti's and Bobby Rahal's teams in discussions with McLaren.

One of the three key boxes Brown says need to be ticked to make this bid possible is that IndyCar is commercially viable, and using the driver who took the United States by storm for two weeks at the Brickyard last year is an obvious way to make that happen given his appeal to sponsors.

The other factors Brown wants satisfying are that IndyCar must fit the McLaren brand, and that the team would be competitive there. Having Alonso in the car should make sure of both of those aspects.

Alonso can then launch a focused assault on attempting to repeat Nigel Mansell's 1993 achievement and win the IndyCar crown at his first attempt. Ideally, doing so managing something Mansell never achieved and win the Indy 500.

This will also allow McLaren to keep Alonso on its books in the hope of bringing him back to F1 when its car is good enough to win. Alonso would be able to keep tabs on the team, certainly test the 2019 car and perhaps even turn up in some races to keep his hand in and monitor progress.

In doing so, Alonso would remain a contemporary F1 driver and race-sharp should an opportunity arise for him at an established frontrunning team. And if McLaren gets its act together, more likely for 2021, he'd still be young enough to come back and win some more races, even though he hits 40 in July that year. This is the perfect have-your-cake-and-eat-it scenario for Alonso.

An IndyCar deal would allow Alonso to see out the WEC superseason with Toyota

An IndyCar deal would also allow Alonso to see out the World Endurance Championship superseason with Toyota. The Sebring 12 Hours and Le Mans certainly won't clash as those weekends are left clear for IndyCar drivers, while the Spa round takes place on the first weekend of May, which will surely be a blank given that three weeks of action at Indianapolis follow.

That would give Alonso a second crack at ticking Le Mans off the bucket list should he not win it this weekend. And even if he won it, it could also allow him to take the World Endurance crown. He could end June next year a two-time Le Mans winner and the Indy 500 champion.

Why would Alonso take this route rather than staying in F1? Well, he put a brave face on his current plight in Montreal last weekend, but nobody's buying it.

"I prefer this year," said Alonso. "We had zero points here last year, and we are fighting for fourth in the constructors' championship - we scored points in every race this year apart from one retirement in Monaco when we were seventh.

"Tomorrow I think we will score points again, so it could be the eighth consecutive race, so I prefer this year."

Prefer, of course, does not mean like. Alonso is adding little to his greatness as a racing driver with endless heroic performances to finish seventh or eighth. But were he to rack up wins and titles in IndyCar and sportscars next season, his reputation would be enhanced massively.

Alonso is already on course to win the WEC title - although it has only been one race. Provided he sees out the full superseason (currently he's only confirmed for the five in 2018), there's a 50/50 chance he and team-mates Sebastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima will be crowned. Perhaps the prospects are slightly more favourable than that given Toyota is very motivated for its superstar driver to take a headline-grabbing title...

IndyCar is a different kettle of fish. There, he will be up against seasoned, high-level professional teams and drivers, all with a vast depth of experience to draw on. While the comparison with Mansell's achievement in 1993 is an easy one, it will actually be even harder for Alonso to pull it off.

The field was more spread out back in 1993, and Mansell was only up against another 12 full-season entries who had the latest-specification cars all season. And one of those was Hiro Matsushita. That doesn't devalue what Mansell did, it merely makes what Alonso would be up against even more challenging.

But we cannot underestimate the Alonso factor. He will be incredibly diligent. Ahead of both his 2017 Indy 500 assault and this year's Le Mans attack, he's devoted huge amounts of time to watching video footage of races, both broadcast and onboard, as well as spending endless hours in simulators.

Last year at Indy, he would do several hours in the Honda simulator in the morning before heading to the track for free practice. Alonso is a driver who leaves no stone unturned. Mansell did a similar thing, with the level of effort he put into preparing for his first CART season in 1993 rightly lauded at the time.

But Alonso will also be able to build up a team around him that works his way. At Indy, he saw plenty of potential to bring F1 approaches and knowhow to IndyCar, and with McLaren's involvement it would be possible to create a very tight, efficient and focused operation around him.

While it will likely effectively be a satellite operation, it will be as much 'Team Alonso' as 'McLaren'. This is what will give him a chance of beating high-quality opposition. It would be ridiculous to say he would definitely win the title in one attempt - but he could be in the mix.

Given McLaren's focus will increasingly turn to 2021, when F1's rules are reset, perhaps he could even have a two-year run at it?

It would be ridiculous to say Alonso will win the IndyCar title in one attempt - but he could be in the mix

With a full season of experience, and a seasoned team around him, Alonso is plenty good enough to have a serious chance of winning the title at the second attempt.

Alonso racing in IndyCar would solve another problem for McLaren, that of what to do with Stoffel Vandoorne and Lando Norris. There's every chance Norris will win Formula 2 this year and McLaren will have to use him in F1 or lose him. So, with Alonso off to IndyCar and WEC, McLaren can run Vandoorne and Norris.

This would also allow Vandoorne the chance to flourish in a team that is his own. He's a hugely talented driver, but has struggled in the shadow of Alonso, and the 0.233 seconds average qualifying gap is slightly higher than McLaren would want for a potential lead driver.

Meanwhile, Norris would have the chance to play himself into F1. And if Alonso wanted to take in some grands prix around his other commitments, Norris could be moved aside. Chances are there would only be the occasional opportunity for this to happen, so Norris would still rack up most of the season.

McLaren, of course, would rather have Alonso in its F1 car. That is its primary focus, and it's largely down to the Spaniard that it can argue it is in the fight for fourth in the constructors' championship.

The other side of that coin is that, to give McLaren credit where it's due, the race team itself does seem to be operating effectively, even if those responsible for designing the car aren't so strong.

Given that Alonso probably can't face another season of fighting for scraps, this route could be the only way for McLaren keep its prize asset. And Alonso is someone who knows exactly how strong a position he is in.

Based on recent evidence of bending over backwards to accommodate Alonso, if he asked to be McLaren team principal as a condition of staying on, the team would probably sign on the dotted line there and then.

In Alonso's dream scenario, he would have the chance to complete the triple crown and tick off both the WEC and IndyCar titles before returning to F1 and winning the third world championship he covets so much.

The final part is arguably the most fanciful, but if he did do all of that, how would he stack up against Schumacher? How do you balance seven world championships versus a driver with two or three who also won Le Mans, the Indy 500, the world sportscar crown and the IndyCar title?

It would certainly be fuel for endless debate for decades to come. And if Alonso is serious about that desire to prove himself to be the best driver in the world, what better way to do it than to build the kind of topline racing CV that seemed to be a thing of the past?

Sounds a lot more fun than being mired in the F1 midfield - both for Alonso and motorsport fans.