Is it impossible to win Monaco, Indy and Le Mans now?

Fernando Alonso has suggested that, if he can't win eight world championships to eclipse Michael Schumacher, the best way to prove himself as the greatest racing driver is to win the so-called Triple Crown.

To win the Triple Crown - something only Graham Hill has achieved - would be a phenomenal achievement, but it's something of an oddity as a concept given how few drivers have ever had a chance of doing it.

The Triple Crown comprises the Monaco Grand Prix, Le Mans 24 Hours and Indianapolis 500. Let alone winning, just for Alonso to add Indianapolis 500 and Le Mans starts to his CV would put him among an elite group of drivers who have so much as started all three races.

Remarkably, just 38 drivers have raced at Monaco, Indy and Le Mans - although there have been some who failed to qualify for one of those on top of that number.

The first to complete a full set of starts was Andre Boillot, the younger brother of the great Georges Boillot, who ticked off the Monaco GP to complete a Triple Crown of participations in 1931. The most recent is Max Chilton, who just last year added the Indy 500 to his CV.

Beyond Hill, only one driver has even managed to win two of them and appear in all three. Jochen Rindt won at Monaco in 1970 and Le Mans in '65, and while he disliked Indy he did race there twice, finishing 24th in an Eagle in '67 and 32nd a year later driving a Brabham.

Tazio Nuvolari, Maurice Trintignant, AJ Foyt, Bruce McLaren and Juan Pablo Montoya have also won two of the three races, but each failed to so much as start one of the trio. That puts them among a total of 298 drivers who have started just two of the three events.

A further 16 of those 38 Triple Crown competitors have managed to win one of the races, leaving a total of 20 who have merely competed. The fact that the pool of drivers who have had the potential to achieve a Triple Crown, which was first achievable in 1929, when the Monaco GP was inaugurated, is so small it's a surprise anyone has ever pulled it off. After all, only 23 drivers have been classified in all three races, a number boosted by the fact that all starters at Indy get a result whether they make the finish or not.

Using this data, it's possible to create a ranking of the greatest Triple Crown drivers offering more depth than the usual list simply of those who have won one, two or three of the races. After all, given the nature of the challenge, it's surely more relevant to have picked up results in all three rather than rely on big results in two races.

To create this, it's a simple matter of taking the sum of each of the 38 drivers' best finish in the Triple Crown races. So Hill, for example, sits on the top of the table with a total of three, having won all three races. The below table comprises each one of those 38 drivers, with their best individual result at each of the three races included.

Triple Crown Contenders

The leading drivers to have raced at Indy, Monaco and Le Mans

The top 10 is certainly a diverse collection, and even includes a driver in Michael Andretti who didn't manage to win any of the Triple Crown races. But the fact that he was able to register second places at both Indy and Le Mans, on top of an eighth place on his sole Monaco appearance, arguably makes him more worthy in the Triple Crown stakes than a driver who has won two of the races and never contested the other.

But it is possible to create a more advanced Triple Crown ranking. Arguably, it's unnecessary given the Triple Crown is a simple challenge to win each of the individual races once, but by factoring in number of venues won at, number of venues raced at, total wins and the sum of classifications (100 is used if a driver's best finish is unclassified), you can achieve such a ranking.

For the purposes of this table, best F1 world championship position is used to differentiate those tied on points. This is a nod to the fact that some consider the world championship to be part of the Triple Crown in place of the Monaco GP, even though it seems thematically inconsistent given the other two are individual races.

This ranking inevitably still has Hill at the top, but elevates Jochen Rindt to second. As this ranking privileges victories, it allows Tom Kristensen (nine Le Mans wins) and Ayrton Senna (six Monaco wins) to sneak into the top 100. But to have any chance of the top 10, serious success in at least two of the races is required.

Triple Crown Ranking

Forix used a more complex formula to factor in success across the three races

The 'points' ranking is a useful one, but it can only act as a secondary ranking. The point of the Triple Crown is to win all three races, so participating in all three is surely the minimum requirement for serious consideration.

Given so few drivers have qualified for that list, the Triple Crown is, at best, a somewhat nebulous concept. Other sports have similar honours, be they official or unofficial, for winning a selection of titles. In tennis, you can win a full set of four Grand Slam tournaments; in road cycling, you can win all three Grand Tours; in golf, you can win the four majors - the list goes on.

But in most of those, the number of competitors who appear in all is vastly bigger. That is reflected in the fact that, while uncommon, success still happens with more frequency than motorsport's once-achieved Triple Crown.

That doesn't mean it's not a magnificent achievement to take all three, but it does mean that, as an aspiration, it's something of an oddity that is not easily achievable within a normal career.

But perhaps that's something that Alonso could help to change. He is still a long shot to achieve a Triple Crown, for even though he has already ticked off the Monaco GP, it's hard to see him returning to Indy while he's still racing in F1. So to have a chance, he realistically either needs to win in 2017, or to leave grand prix racing pretty soon in order to give himself a good number of cracks at both The Brickyard and Le Mans.

And there's the problem - such success does not easily sit with the way careers work. And, contrary to popular belief, this is not generally the fault of the drivers.

While some grand prix drivers are wary of the safety of Indy and generally talk it down, Rubens Barrichello is a good example of one who changed his tune once F1 opportunities had dried up. He always insisted he would never race at Indy, joking that his wife would not allow it. But once out of F1, there he was. While contracted in F1 and therefore unable to race at Indy, he could rule it out. Once unshackled, he was there. In fact, he will join the existing 38 in June when he makes his Le Mans 24 Hours debut.

It's fair to say that F1, IndyCar and sportscar racing have an uneasy relationship with each other. Generally speaking, insularity has been the way of things in recent times, for organisers, teams and even some fans. But the announcement that Alonso is going to Indy has gained F1 vast coverage in the USA, and far from reflecting badly on grand prix racing, as some argue, has actually boosted its profile.

Nico Hulkenberg racing at, and winning, Le Mans in 2015 was also a win-win for both sides. As a highly-rated, if under-opportunitied, F1 driver, he stacked up well with the best in sportscars but, while very good, he wasn't extraordinary. His appearance was beneficial for F1, very beneficial for sportscars and good for motorsport as a whole.

So while the Triple Crown isn't really a 'thing' - it's more a coincidental construct resulting from Hill's determination to win Le Mans late in his career to complete the set - it's perhaps something that should be.

The Indy 500 has never really been connected to European motorsport, even when it awarded world championship points from 1950-60 (not one of the drivers who scored a point at the Brickyard ever did so in 'regular' world championship races). But here's an opportunity.

With motorsport's place in the world a matter for some debate, and on the principle that, actually, rather than championships being excessively tribal and insular in their approach to each other, perhaps the Triple Crown should be turned into something more tangible.

What if IndyCar, F1 and the ACO (the FIA sets the date for Monaco and Le Mans, so that should make that easier) found a way to ensure their schedules do not clash? It would be difficult, especially with Indy taking two weeks and Le Mans also including a test day in early June, but not impossible.

Then suppose they, collectively, put up a huge prize fund for anyone winning a Triple Crown? That would certainly create an interesting incentive, not just for drivers but also for teams. And it would allow for massive cross-promotion that should benefit the individual championships and, most importantly, motorsport as a whole.

Motorsport is a disparate and disconnected sport, but as the reaction to the horrendous injuries suffered by British F4 driver Billy Monger has shown, it is capable of pulling together. Wouldn't it be great if that kind of togetherness could be achieved on a more regular basis?

Of course, it's inconceivable this would happen. Bickering over dates, territorial battles and insularity would win out. But it's the kind of idea needed to help this sport to ensure its relevance in a changing world.

For now, we'll have to be satisfied with Alonso talking up his desire for the Triple Crown. As history shows, winning it is a long shot. But if anyone can, it's Alonso.