FORT WORTH, TEXAS – The process has been methodical and tireless for McLaren as it prepares for 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
On Tuesday, one of the biggest steps to date was completed when two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso returned to an Indy car – prepped for the first time by McLaren – to turn 105 laps around Texas Motor Speedway in a private one-car test.
Bob Fernley, president of McLaren IndyCar, has been spearheading the program and admitted that “everything” has been a challenge to this point.
“To say it was an ambitious program, when you think that on Dec. 1 we had a clean sheet of paper, it's been a remarkable effort,” Fernley told IndyCar.com. “But it's a remarkable effort of a group of people that are just dedicated to making it happen.
“We're only as good as the people that are working with us. I'm blessed to have an incredibly good team around me.”
Although Alonso has just one career start in the NTT IndyCar Series – in the 2017 Indianapolis 500 when he qualified fifth and led 27 laps before retiring late with a mechanical failure – he has been a primary component in the team’s execution.
“I think the driving factor and the passion behind everybody on this team is the fact they want to support Fernando,” said Fernley, at left in the photo above with Alonso. “They're excited that Fernando is the driver, that McLaren are obviously the team behind it, and I think you'd be mad not wanting to participate in it.”
Fernley also knows that team members realize the significance of being part of Alonso’s quest to join racing immortality by winning the Indianapolis 500 to complete the final leg of the famed Triple Crown of motorsports. Part of Fernley’s task is to manage those expectations considering the work that still needs to be done.
“On one hand, if somebody had come to me in December and said, 'Can I put together an Indy car team that could participate in the May Indy 500?' The answer would be, 'Yes,’” he said. “’Can you put together a team that is going to compete in the Indy 500?’ That's a different thing entirely.
“So it requires another step because we're competing against teams that are the best of the best. For us to be able to get on par with them is a challenge.”
McLaren prepared its primary Indianapolis 500 car for Alonso at the F1 team’s base of operations in Woking, England. That car is expected to take to the track for the first time in an Indianapolis Motor Speedway open test on April 24.
The McLaren undertaking has been aided by Carlin, leaning on the fellow British-based team that entered NTT IndyCar Series competition last year. Carlin has provided data, necessary pit equipment and provided Alonso’s backup/test car, as well as space for McLaren to use at Carlin’s INDYCAR shop in Florida.
Prior to leading McLaren IndyCar, Fernley was a deputy team principal in Formula One with Sahara Force India (now called SportPesa Racing Point). Additionally, he experienced a run during the 1980s in Indy car racing and Can-Am.
“The fact that I did several years of Indy car (racing), even though it has moved on significantly, it's more sophisticated today than it was, the fundamentals of Indy car (racing) are probably not dissimilar (now),” he said.
“Having that experience helps because you know what you had to do to put on a successful team for INDYCAR. You've got to detach yourself totally from Formula One because one is a development series and one is an optimization series, so we've got to refocus the mind.
“You're doing it with a significantly fewer group of people, but it didn't daunt me in any way because when we set the parameters out in December for what we wanted to achieve, as of this point Phase 1 we've just now completed. So both chassis had gone through their processes, both chassis are ready to go. We've now just got a small glitch because, of course, we've got to respond to this AFP (Advanced Frontal Protection) program, which we're now doing and this one will go back to Indy for next week to have that done.
“So we've just got to build that in, but other than that, it's on target for where we wanted it to be.”
McLaren has made it no secret it is reviewing a potential full-time endeavor in the NTT IndyCar Series in the future. As for what needs to happen during the month of May in order to feel confident about that possibility, Fernley said that decision doesn’t fall on his shoulders.
“My job is to do the best we possibly can to deliver a good result at Indy,” he said. “And when we've done all of that, then the shareholders and the management, Zak Brown (CEO of McLaren) in particular, will make a decision on whether they want to go forward or not.
“So, let's take one step at a time, deliver Indy. And if we deliver Indy, hopefully, there's a future.”
The 103rd Indianapolis 500 takes place Sunday, May 26. Tickets are available at IMS.com. The race airs live at 11 a.m. ET on NBC and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.
