Racing lines: Alonso down but not done with Indianapolis
Alonso qualified on the ninth row and limped home 21st
F1 legend again fell flat at the Indy 500 – but he’s far from ready to call it a day
The Indianapolis 500 is like a Beach Boys surfing song: so infectious and exuberant that you can’t help tapping along and more American than Tom Hanks eating apple pie on the 4th of July.
Like just about everything in this screwed-up year, the 2020 edition carried a misfire, running to empty grandstands in August rather than before a quarter of a million people on its usual Memorial Day slot at the end of May. But even so, it’s the Indy 500, baby! Takuma Sato still poured the traditional quart of milk over his head with abandon, as the only Japanese driver to have won the famous race added a second victory to his historic first from 2017.
Fernando Alonso rolled in a lowly and clutchless 21st, having qualified only 26th of 33. The two-time Formula 1 champion’s quest to complete motorsport’s unofficial triple crown of glory – the Monaco Grand Prix, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indy 500 – remains unfulfilled. It was better than last year, when he didn’t even qualify, but it was no great surprise, given that his Arrow McLaren SP had a Chevrolet engine when a Honda was the thing to have.
That’s what powered him on his unforgettable debut in 2017, when he was among the leading pack in the closing stages only for it to blow. Since then, Honda has vetoed Alonso due to the uncharitable things he had to say about its hybrid engines when they were powering his uncompetitive F1 McLarens a few years ago. It’s another bridge burned in a career that has been great but could have been much more so.
*Old-school star power*
Alonso will return to F1 in 2021 – in the year that he turns 40 – for a third spell with Renault. This was the best seat that he could land when Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari (for whom he drove between 2010 and 2014) remained resolute in keeping the door shut to him. How he fares will likely revolve around what Renault can give him, rather than his age, but we will see.
What he will certainly bring is that old star power, the kind that has made him loved at Indy. Alonso is old-school in that respect, as is his attitude to racing. Frozen out of competitive F1 drives with no one to blame but himself, he has chosen a refreshing path to light up the World Endurance Championship and Le Mans (which he has won twice), the Daytona 24 Hours (conquered in 2019) and even the Dakar Rally this year, on which he belied his lack of off-road experience to earn respect, if not stage wins.
Will he return to Indy for another crack at the quest? Not in the next two years, if all goes to plan at Renault. But AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti raced at the 500 well into their 50s, and while modern aerodynamics make racing more demanding now than it used to be, Alonso is made from the same stuff. He will go back. One day.
*Bittersweet for Williams*
I can’t help having mixed feelings about Williams succeeding in its quest to find a new owner. The priority was to save the beleaguered F1 team, and the deal with American private investment firm Dorilton Capital certainly hits that spot. But for Frank Williams not to own an F1 team, as he has since 1969, just feels off. As with Tyrrell in the late 1990s, such a move was inevitable; Williams hasn’t been a good F1 team for a long time. And, unlike with Tyrrell, this deal at least guarantees the Williams name will stay on the grid. But for how long?
Changing an F1 team’s name isn’t easy, due to the binding financial contracts they all sign to be a part of grand prix racing. Williams, like the rest of the grid, has just signed up to a new so-called Concorde Agreement to ensure its continued presence in F1, and it’s no coincidence that the Dorilton deal followed quickly in its wake. It also means the Williams family will have been able to negotiate top price.
But now the team is out of their hands, all bets are off about its future shape and guise. How long will these investors want to own an F1 team? Could it be sold again, to a Lawrence Stroll type or even a car manufacturer? Do they really give a damn about motor racing? All we know for sure is that from now on, even if the name above the garage doors remains familiar, it’s not Williams as we’ve known it.
*Colin Turkington shows his class*
Three meetings in four weeks, nine races and six winners for five makes of car. The breathless British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) is as frenetic as ever – and by the time you read this, another weekend of action will have passed at Knockhill. But after Oulton Park, who sat atop the points standings? Colin Turkington, of course. Who else?
The Northern Irishman is chasing a record fifth title in his Team BMW 3 Series and has already won twice this season. But as much as he enjoys winning races, he knows that victories aren’t always the priority. In a series that throws in reverse grids and weight penalties for success, the only way to become champion is to pick your way through a season and keep your points tally consistently ticking over. Turkington didn’t win any races at Oulton, but he still left with an increased lead.
That’s why he’s a four-time champion. Turkington knows better than anyone that nothing is guaranteed, that luck might play a part, just as it did in his favour last year. But he’s still the BTCC’s most rounded contender. If anyone is going to beat him to the 2020 crown, they’ll need to be at their very best.
*READ MORE*
*Official: Fernando Alonso to return to F1 with Renault in 2021 *
*Should Fernando Alonso be considered an F1 great?*
*Racing lines: The line between innovating and cheating is slim in F1 *