Why Alonso's latest McLaren reunion has cause for optimism

It was inevitable that someone this month would eventually ask McLaren CEO Zak Brown what lessons had been learned from the team's disastrous venture to Indianapolis in 2019, that resulted in Fernando Alonso's failure to qualify. He went into quite a long explanation, but he didn't need to: he had already nailed the answer in one sentence: "I think the biggest lesson we've learned is, 'Don't do what we did last year.'"

And they haven't. The partnership with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to form Arrow McLaren SP made so much sense and it's already bearing fruit. Despite hiring two hugely inexperienced IndyCar drivers - albeit, the last two Indy Lights champions - the team has already earned a pole and runner-up finish with Patricio 'Pato' O'Ward at Road America, and Oliver Askew delivered a podium finish at Iowa Speedway.

"And just think how good they'd be if we could give them any track time!"
said one team member, referring to the complete lack of testing and the heavily condensed race-weekend schedules of double-headers squeezed in over two days - both a result of the COVID-19 restrictions.

That throwaway remark is anything but throwaway: theoretically, this should have been the worst season to have newbies onboard. But the fact that Askew and O'Ward have shone is great credit to them, and also signals the strength of the team's infrastructure.
And now, for the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500, the team has Alonso too.

Speaking to the media the day before practice began last Wednesday, the two-time Formula 1 world champion admitted he'd been "very impressed" with both O'Ward and Askew, but was also reassured by the quality of the squad.

"I saw a very well-prepared, organised team, very hungry for success, doing something good this month," he said.

Even over a pixelated video conference call, as Alonso sat in a dimly lit motorhome, with the top half of his face in the shadow of the brim of his Kimoa cap and the bottom half covered by an anti-COVID mask, you could detect a flicker of boredom-meets-irritation when invited to make comparisons with last year.

"I think we need to wait and see where we are on speed, the pace of the car," he said. "But, yeah, it makes a difference, the team itself, how Arrow McLaren SP is well-prepared, their experience in the series. It's going to be a big difference compared to last year [when] we were not prepared enough for the challenge.

"I have reasonable confidence that this is going to be a good event for us. But we take it step by step. We know there are a lot of things to do from our side. We need to work very close to the team and learn every day, concentrate a little bit more on the race this year. For qualifying, there are only 33 cars. Maybe that eases the pressure and stress on the first couple of days, and we can concentrate on race day."

"When I learned my car was for Fernando, I did say to myself, 'The pressure's now on. There are no excuses'" Craig Hampson, engineer on #66

However much the team's mental burden was eased by knowing there were only as many contenders as grid slots for Indy this year, a different kind of hardship would soon arrive.

The first day went well, with Alonso finishing fifth fastest, and for most of the second day car #66 appeared destined to at least match that feat. This was no surprise to Alonso's race engineer - the team's R&D director Craig Hampson, who joined from Dale Coyne Racing last winter.

"As a team, Arrow McLaren SP has worked very, very hard to ensure we have good-performing Speedway cars this year, and we tried to use the extra couple of months we've had [due to the pandemic-related postponement of races] to continue working towards that, because this is ultimately the pinnacle of what we're aiming for this season," says Hampson.

"I was pretty happy with where we were in terms of speed of the car on Wednesday and Thursday. The handling [in traffic] wasn't as good as we needed it to be but we were getting it better and better, and we still had two more practices - 2h30m on Sunday and two hours on Carb Day - to continue working on it.

"What's going to be nice is that we've got three or four days that we can run some simulations on what we hope will be high-percentage changes that we can try on Carb Day. But the crash was super-unfortunate..."

On his 127th lap on Thursday, Alonso drove a tad too low at Turn 4, unsettled his car on the concrete strip that lines the grass, slid up hard into the outside wall, and that bounced him back across the track and sent him sliding backward down the pitlane. The team worked overnight on repairs to the car, but it's not been simply a case of replacing all the damaged parts.

"It takes about three months to build an Indy 500 car," Hampson explains of the non-stop fettling, tweaking, massaging and panel-fit adjustments that are applied to a superspeedway car in order not to bleed speed. "Well, the entire right side of that car was wiped out. We lost the underwing, the tyre ramp, the front wing, both sides of the suspension, gearbox... And that's why we were as quick or quicker than our team-mates on Wednesday and Thursday and we are slower now."

Alonso has qualified 26th, compared with 15th for O'Ward and 21st for Askew. And, while he turned 115 laps in Sunday practice and finished the session in 11th, there is only so much you can read into the speeds in that session. Rivals can be in the tow of 10 cars or one car, on tyres that are one lap old or 25 laps old, or just running a completely different programme.

Still, Hampson is confident there is time to get car #66 nearer the pace of the expected frontrunners, notwithstanding the fact that engine supplier Chevrolet appears to be at a power disadvantage compared with Honda at Indy this year.

"I have a list of everything we need to do," he says, "and the team is going to work as hard as they can between now and Carb Day. I think we can get 90% of the stuff back. It's not going to be easy: the shop crew have a lot to do. But they say they'll do everything they can for Fernando, who was very apologetic, shouldered it all, which is what a pro does."

It's fair to say Hampson has become a fan of his driver, which is hardly a surprise, for they share similar levels of intensity when it comes to their jobs.

"When I learned my car was for Fernando, I did say to myself, 'The pressure's now on. There are no excuses.' Everyone knows that he's incredibly focused, incredibly serious, and when you have someone of his calibre it forces you to pick up your game.

"Not that you weren't already working as hard as you could, but you need to deliver everything you can, given the level of expectation he's functioning at."

Building a rapport was difficult, however, due to revised logistics as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yes, it didn't work out nearly as well as it could have," adds Hampson. "We did communicate on email quite frequently, and on video chat. But the first time I met him face to face was when he came to the shop last week.

"Of course, the original intention was to have him testing at Indianapolis when we were all supposed to get a test [in April] and doing multiple simulator sessions. All that went by the wayside. So one of our challenges this year is our drivers' relative lack of experience at the Speedway.

"Fernando is very, very sensitive to things like steering feel, tyres, dirty air. And he remembers everything" Craig Hampson

"Last year Pato tried to qualify but crashed and didn't make the show, Fernando made the show with another team in 2017 but last year he crashed, that set them back and he didn't make the show, and Oliver had never driven an IndyCar around the Speedway prior to the first day of practice this week. So between our three entries, we have the grand total of one Indy 500 start!

"And while he's an incredibly accomplished driver, Fernando doesn't have a lot of oval racing experience. He can say, 'We did this in 2017 [at Andretti Autosport] and it felt good', but obviously the aerokit has changed since then and now we've got an aeroscreen on top, which has added a lot of weight and affected the aerodynamics.

PLUS: How the aeroscreen will change the Indianapolis 500

"But if that lack of experience truly bothered us, we wouldn't have asked Fernando to drive. In fact, we're happy to get him because he brings an amazing amount of talent and focus and smarts that add a lot to the programme. Another good thing is to have our full-time guys able to watch how Fernando approaches a race weekend - how he debriefs, how he talks about the car, his demeanour, what he studies, his intensity.

"In terms of feedback, Fernando is clearly very, very sensitive to things like steering feel, tyres, dirty air. His sensitivity is clearly turned up to 11. And I noticed he has a steel-trap memory! I don't know if that's true for multiple things in his life but it definitely exists for things to do with his race car. He remembers everything. It may just be a God-given talent but he's certainly using it to his advantage."

Team founder and co-owner Sam Schmidt also believes in his temporary star driver, and also in his staff line-up. "I know no one works harder than Fernando in terms of preparation, due diligence, debriefs and so on, and I think he's impressed with us," he says.

"In the last 10 years we've had two poles at Indy, so we've had quick cars and chances to win and yet I'd say personnel-wise, car-wise, technology-wise, we have never been better prepared than we are this year."

With a 500-mile race entailing seven pitstops (depending on length and number of caution periods), slick pitlane work is essential, and this is where a team that adds an extra car for Indy will often falter, either because the crew isn't full-time or because they're drawn from various sources and therefore haven't previously worked under pressure as a single entity.

That is not going to be an issue for car #66, assures Schmidt: "Before the deal with Fernando was signed, we knew it might happen and we also knew that we were aiming for a third full-time car in 2021. Also, before COVID, the plan was to run a third car in at least three or four races this year, including the 500.

"Last fall we made the commitment to hire a full line-up of crew members who have been on board the entire time, and have been practising pitstops the entire time. We've had our own internal pitstop competitions, and we have one of the best fuellers - if not the best, actually.

"So, this is like no other extra-car crew ever run, because these are people with full-time positions here. Everyone involved with Alonso's car is totally on par with those on our two full-season cars. Oh, and Craig's engineering it, which gives you some idea of the level of commitment we have to this entry."

Alonso's commitment isn't wavering either, despite his lowly grid slot, because this will be his last chance to race at Indy until at least 2023, due to his new F1 deal with Renault. And he knows enough about IndyCar racing, about the 500, and about the quality of his engineer and team that 500 miles should be plenty long enough to reach the front.

"I think we have a good race car because the first few days we were on the competitive side," says Alonso. "The starting place for the race is not changing our hopes for next Sunday. All our focus now is on the race. This place offers a lot of possibilities, even for the people starting at the back, and we will be looking to take that possibility next week."

Who Alonso will have to beat

Assuming that smart strategy, aggressive driving and slick pitstops get Fernando Alonso into the top 10, he'll still face a daunting task once he gets there. Polesitter Marco Andretti has been fast and confident running in traffic, as has his temporary Andretti Autosport team-mate James Hinchcliffe, whereas Alexander Rossi has appeared less assured, and Colton Herta and Ryan Hunter-Reay have varied.

Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon, who will start second, seems to have a car that can run fast alone or trail closely and pass, but the driver who most impressed last Sunday was the 2017 winner Takuma Sato, who will roll off from the outside of the front row. The #30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda was eerily consistent over its qualifying run, but come the afternoon session, when everyone reverted to race day set-ups, he appeared well able to drag past his rivals (even though Sato finished only 26th on the speed charts).

Rinus VeeKay is the highest-starting Chevrolet-powered driver in the #21 Ed Carpenter Racing car but, although he's been looking tremendously brave in traffic, the more consistent driver for the team when in race trim has been Conor Daly. Still, VeeKay should have a fine Rookie of the Year battle with Alex Palou of Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh, and Oliver Askew.

Even in one of those rare years when he isn't starting from the front row, Ed Carpenter may be able to produce the goods

It's important not to dismiss Team Penske as having one of its off years, despite its worst average qualifying position since its infamous DNQ in 1995. In previous years, starting at or near the front, The Captain's cars have generally been set up to run fast in a minimum of dirty air, which has often left the drivers somewhat impotent when handling traffic or running in the wake of a similarly quick rival.

With Josef Newgarden qualifying 13th and his three Indy-winning team-mates starting outside the top 20, it forces all of them to run more downforce from the word go, which could serve them well if the track gets hot and slick, and should help reduce the lateral slip that is expected to wear out the tyres faster this year due to the weight of the aeroscreen.

The same is true for Ed Carpenter, who couldn't get near VeeKay's qualifying pace and initially was some way off Daly's race trim pace. But the only driver/owner in the field is a wily and experienced pilot at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and so even in one of those rare years when he isn't starting from the front row he may be able to produce the goods.

Of course, extra downforce means extra drag, which may be more of a hindrance for Chevrolet runners such as Penske, Arrow McLaren SP and Ed Carpenter Racing if the advantage that Honda showed at 1.5-bar turbo boost on Fast Friday and throughout qualifying is maintained at 1.3-bar in the race.

But practice suggests that any edge the HPD units have is reduced to near negligible at the lower boost level. And it's been interesting that when average speeds over a 30-lap stint have been gauged throughout practice, the Penske cars - and in particular, Will Power's - have regularly featured at or near the top of the table.

Still, however good their handling and however gentle their cars are to the Firestone tyres, Power, Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves have a steep mountain to climb right from the drop of the green flag.