Fernando Alonso proved a lot of things with his Indianapolis 500 bid. He underlined his greatness, his willingness to put himself on the line in the pursuit of racing glory, the capacity to dedicate himself entirely to learning - and mastering - a new discipline and the ability to fight for victory in this greatest of races.
But he also established once and for all that he is what might be called 'the racing driver's racing driver'. Even though we can't be sure he would have won the Indy 500, and we'll get on to that shortly, he would certainly have been in the hunt.
The world of racing drivers, and those who race on two wheels for that matter, is a small one. And throughout the Month of May the great, the good and even the merely average of racers were falling over themselves to praise Alonso's efforts.