Alonso Missing Monaco to do Indy 500
Discussion
NRS said:
What competitive team in F1 will want him? He obviously has skills, but it seems the team player is perhaps lacking. Plus he is a bit older. When you have Max, Lewis and Sebastian then it would be difficult for him to get a place in the top 3 as generally having 2 of the best drivers in one team is not a good idea.
Yes, if Honda don't improve dramatically this year, where can he go next year in F1?If he does well and enjoys it I can see him going to Indy.
WestyCarl said:
Yes, if Honda don't improve dramatically this year, where can he go next year in F1?
If he does well and enjoys it I can see him going to Indy.
Enjoyment is the key here I believe. He's still got a few years of being at the top of his game and I think whatever makes him happiest is where he'll end up.If he does well and enjoys it I can see him going to Indy.
WestyCarl said:
NRS said:
What competitive team in F1 will want him? He obviously has skills, but it seems the team player is perhaps lacking. Plus he is a bit older. When you have Max, Lewis and Sebastian then it would be difficult for him to get a place in the top 3 as generally having 2 of the best drivers in one team is not a good idea.
Yes, if Honda don't improve dramatically this year, where can he go next year in F1?If he does well and enjoys it I can see him going to Indy.
Great job from Alonso. Getting into the Fast 9 wasn't a great surprise but to qualify fifth amongst teammates and potentlally for the pole was hugely impressive. Partly goes to show how well Andretti Autosport/Honda prepped their cars for the 500 and Alonso's talent at getting up to speed.
IMHO Max is doing very well - maybe not a world champion but a definite top mid field driver.No way is he a top at midfield driver. He's wasting a damn good seat in one of the best teams by struggling to get top ten finishes. Scott Dixon is a race winners and always a threat for the drivers championship, TK is thereabouts with podiums, Charlie Kimball has been a solid driver though probably getting the top 10s he regularly and there's Max who's seems to struggle with the close competition and struggling to break into the top race results.
skeggysteve said:
SmoothCriminal said:
Wow Max Chilton is there and performing as well as he did in f1 
Yes, but he is faster than JPM and other winners.IMHO Max is doing very well - maybe not a world champion but a definite top mid field driver.
entropy said:
Great job from Alonso. Getting into the Fast 9 wasn't a great surprise but to qualify fifth amongst teammates and potentlally for the pole was hugely impressive. Partly goes to show how well Andretti Autosport/Honda prepped their cars for the 500 and Alonso's talent at getting up to speed.
IMHO Max is doing very well - maybe not a world champion but a definite top mid field driver.No way is he a top at midfield driver. He's wasting a damn good seat in one of the best teams by struggling to get top ten finishes. Scott Dixon is a race winners and always a threat for the drivers championship, TK is thereabouts with podiums, Charlie Kimball has been a solid driver though probably getting the top 10s he regularly and there's Max who's seems to struggle with the close competition and struggling to break into the top race results.
Many of the current top drivers took several seasons to get anywhere near winning - Max is only in his second full season.skeggysteve said:
SmoothCriminal said:
Wow Max Chilton is there and performing as well as he did in f1
Yes, but he is faster than JPM and other winners.IMHO Max is doing very well - maybe not a world champion but a definite top mid field driver.
entropy said:
No way is he a top at midfield driver. He's wasting a damn good seat in one of the best teams by struggling to get top ten finishes. Scott Dixon is a race winners and always a threat for the drivers championship, TK is thereabouts with podiums, Charlie Kimball has been a solid driver though probably getting the top 10s he regularly and there's Max who's seems to struggle with the close competition and struggling to break into the top race results.
Kimball is behind Chilton in the championship, Kanaan has not got a podium this year.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_IndyCar_Series#...
WestyCarl said:
What are the chances of Alonso enjoying this so much he turns his back on F1 for a whole season of Indy? .
Zero, the Indy 500 is a standout race, the Indycar season would be like going back to GP2, only on lower grade circuits with drivers past their best..When Mansell went to CART, the competition was better with more serious racing in a more varied grid of cars that were proper pieces of kit, not the current one make series with old and fat drivers.
jsf said:
Zero, the Indy 500 is a standout race, the Indycar season would be like going back to GP2, only on lower grade circuits with drivers past their best..
When Mansell went to CART, the competition was better with more serious racing in a more varied grid of cars that were proper pieces of kit, not the current one make series with old and fat drivers.
that's a little harsh....When Mansell went to CART, the competition was better with more serious racing in a more varied grid of cars that were proper pieces of kit, not the current one make series with old and fat drivers.
...if its so easy then Alonso shouldn't just win the 500 but run away from those old fat drivers..
I'd imagine if Alonso does retire from F1 this year he'll go racing in sports cars and line up an attempt at Le Mans, assuming he doesn't win Indy at the first attempt he may try and have a go at that again next year too.
If he stays in F1 I reckon Mercedes might be interested in him if they decide they need two world class drivers and aren't satisfied with Bottas (who I think is doing a good job and is likely to improve). It might be a headache for Toto and Lauda but I'd imagine the Mercedes board would love the idea.
Can't imagine him going back to Ferrari if Kimi goes and Red Bull generally promote from within and Sainz would be likely to get the nod there if either of the current two go elsewhere. After that its Force India, Williams or Renault. but only Renault are a realistic option there if you want a potentially championship winning car.
Either way, looking forward to Indy, would be amazing if he could win it. Hope he goes well, deserves a decent result after some crap years at McLaren and Ferrari before that (although the Ferrari years must seem like a beautiful dream by comparison)
If he stays in F1 I reckon Mercedes might be interested in him if they decide they need two world class drivers and aren't satisfied with Bottas (who I think is doing a good job and is likely to improve). It might be a headache for Toto and Lauda but I'd imagine the Mercedes board would love the idea.
Can't imagine him going back to Ferrari if Kimi goes and Red Bull generally promote from within and Sainz would be likely to get the nod there if either of the current two go elsewhere. After that its Force India, Williams or Renault. but only Renault are a realistic option there if you want a potentially championship winning car.
Either way, looking forward to Indy, would be amazing if he could win it. Hope he goes well, deserves a decent result after some crap years at McLaren and Ferrari before that (although the Ferrari years must seem like a beautiful dream by comparison)
jsf said:
Zero, the Indy 500 is a standout race, the Indycar season would be like going back to GP2, only on lower grade circuits with drivers past their best..
When Mansell went to CART, the competition was better with more serious racing in a more varied grid of cars that were proper pieces of kit, not the current one make series with old and fat drivers.
Drivers are younger now, in Mansell's day in 1993 there were 17 drivers aged 40 and above including 47 year old Emerson Fittipaldi, 53 year old Mario Andretti, and 58 year old AJ Foyt. And Mansell was 40 himself.When Mansell went to CART, the competition was better with more serious racing in a more varied grid of cars that were proper pieces of kit, not the current one make series with old and fat drivers.
In 1993 there were 32 Lolas, with 4 Penske's own chassis, one Galmer and one Rahal own. Engines like today were a sensible 2 option, Ford or Chevrolet, there were a few Buick based engines but they were only ever competitive at Indy in qualifying and usually blew up in the race.
This year there are 6 drivers 40+
Takuma Sato - 40
Juan Pablo Montoya - 41
Tony Kanaan - 42
Oriel Servia - 42
Helio Castro-Neves - 42
Buddy Lazier (only doing the 500) - 49
And with the exception of Lazier they are all quick.
One chassis built for safety and the choice of two competitive engines, Chevrolet or Honda.
I think it's harder and more competitive today.
ash73 said:
... pity they can't get that across better on TV maybe with some slip indicators or something.
I watched the qualification last night or should I say "Fast Nine Shoot Out"? And, although the commentators were wetting themselves it was impossible to see any perceptible difference between the various fast runs. In comparison to the F1 feed the coverage was about 10 years behind. Hardly any on board cameras (if any?), the graphics were a low-tech and used a mish-mash of kph with the commentators talking in mph and of course there was the confusion of distance with time e.g. "This circuit is two and half miles an hour long" !?!? but I'll excuse that as they're Americans. Must say I watched because of Alonso but without him I didn't find it exciting. I'll dip into the race next week (why do they need a week between quali' (oops shootout) and the race that just let's the excitement subside. I can't imagine watching the whole 2 1/2 hours of them going round in circles but let's see... I did watch the races when Mansell was in CART because I seem to remember for a couple of years they were shown on UK TV late at night. The street tracks were always more interesting for me so in a way it's a pity Alonso isn't doing some of those. Now that would be fun to watch! MartG said:
They don't bother much with onboard cameras during qualy - in the race it's different, and way ahead of what f1 has to offer. The cameras are remote controlled and pan around to follow overtakes etc.
Fair enough, as I say I will certainly watch some of the race. I just thought quali was a bit of a non-event compared to F1. RichB said:
the graphics were a low-tech and used a mish-mash of kph with the commentators talking in mph
The US side were doing it purely for the European Alonso fan base? You only have to look on Indycar's youtube channel at the view counts, everything about Alonso is between 10 and 25 times higher than anyone else.Edited by FourWheelDrift on Monday 22 May 21:29
Alsono's qualifying run from the stands, you also get a good look at the scoring totem flash green, white and chequered matching the flags waved from the starters post.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ5qfdPDwyw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ5qfdPDwyw
ash73 said:
Scott Dixon's pole laps:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc6kis8M4aQ
Does that, then gets robbed at gunpoint by some teenagers at a Taco Bell. Good old US of A.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc6kis8M4aQ
http://www.espn.com/racing/story/_/id/19436735/ind...
Dixon & Dario got held up in a Taco Bell drive thru : http://www.espn.com/racing/story/_/id/19436735/ind...
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