IndyCar Drivers Excited by Alonso Arrival in 2019

Two-time F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso announced that 2018 will be his final season. Now, there is speculation in the Verizon IndyCar Series paddock that the Spaniard may join full-time in 2019.

It has certainly generated tremendous interest among fans and the media. It has also captured a buzz from the drivers.

“It’s been a topic of conversation among the drivers the last few days, with his teaser video about the announcement he was going to make, followed by the announcement he was going to retire from Formula 1 at the end of the year,” Spencer Pigot of Ed Carpenter Racing told Autoweek. “There have been rumors going around the internet.

“I don’t know more than anyone else, but for sure, we as drivers talk about that. I think it would be cool if he were in IndyCar. We’ll see. I think he has lots of options and if he were to come race with us over here, I think that would be great.”

Just as Nigel Mansell’s time in CART from 1993-94 brought more eyes to Indy-car racing, those eyes saw the other talent that was in the series. Alonso could do the same thing to this generation of IndyCar drivers, including younger drivers as Pigot that could pay off later in their careers.

“That’s the way I look at it,” Pigot said. “It would be a huge positive for the series if he came over as well as everyone else in the championship as well, the teams, drivers and sponsors.”

Conor Daly is a part-time IndyCar Series driver who will return to action this weekend at Pocono Raceway for the ABC Supply 500. He will also make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut next week at Road America driving a Mustang for Roush Fenway Racing.

Daly finds all of the attention a bit amusing.

“We sort of laugh at how much social media activity there is,” Daly told Autoweek. “There are people overanticipating everything.  Yo’, guys, just chill. Yes, he’s retiring from Formula 1, but we still don’t know what is going on. Yes, it would be awesome if Fernando were in an IndyCar. I’m a big fan. All of us as drivers would appreciate that. We know our series is strong and if we added a talent like Fernando Alonso, that would be awesome. I think it’s a great opportunity for the series, but we have to be careful about oversaturating the internet with pure Fernando activity.

“Obviously, people love it, but it can get a little overboard. At some point, we have to look at reality and hopefully he will be a participant in IndyCar and we can all do battle against each other.”

If Alonso joins IndyCar, it would be an additional car and team in the series rather than taking a ride away from another driver.

“No matter what I just said, 100 percent it’s positive that Alonso is even in the discussion with IndyCar along with McLaren,” Daly said. “I think it’s an incredibly cool move. I really appreciate the fact McLaren is dedicating time and money towards an IndyCar program or at least investigating it because it means we have done our job in our series to put us on the map.

“I think it’s really positive.”