McLaren ready for "full effort" in Indy 500 challenge

F1 News

22 April 2019 at 17:34

McLaren and Fernando Alonso are having a second go at the famous Indianapolis 500 this year, and McLaren boss Zak Brown says that this time round will be “totally different” for the team.

Alonso is chasing the third part of the famous Triple Crown, having already won the Monaco Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. If successful, the Spaniard will join Graham Hill as the only men to have achieved it.

In 2017, Alonso made the ‘Fast Nine’ in qualifying and was running well in the race before an engine problem forced him to retire, and Brown knows that 2019 will be a tough test for McLaren.

He said: “This time is a totally different experience. This is a full McLaren effort.

"We're getting some assistance from Carlin, but that is more operational, giving Fernando some teammates, some data sharing, things of that nature, which is good, because being a one-car team, you can get lost around Indianapolis.

"We need some kind of support and some element of having some teammates come the month of May. So this is a big undertaking."