Alonso Says More To Come In 2019, Not Only Indy 500, WEC

Fernando Alonso announced he will leave Formula 1 at the end of the 2018 season, but made it clear his racing days were far from over. The Spaniard was keen to explore other forms of motor racing and get back to winning races and challenging for titles.

The McLaren driver has had a poor four years in F1 owing to the inability of his current team to build a competitive car. Alonso feels he has achieved everything he needed to in F1 and was now looking at other avenues of motor racing.

The Spanish racer’s plans for 2019 was initially unclear with speculation regarding a potential full-time switch to IndyCar, which he dismissed during a recent interview. But his plans for next season are now taking shape with commitments confirmed in both the World Endurance Championship and IndyCar.

Alonso will drive the entire 2018-19 season of the WEC, which culminates with his second outing at the 24 hours of Le Mans in June. McLaren and their Spanish driver also recently confirmed they will give the iconic Indy 500 race yet another go.

The double F1 world champion has made it clear winning motorsports fabled Triple Crown is high on his list of priorities and after a failed attempt in 2017, the McLaren- Alonso combination will be again making a one-off foray into the IndyCar Series.

While the Spaniard is not interested in a full-time drive in the American single-seater series, the Woking-based team could use 2019’s one-off entry as a precursor to making a potential full-time entry into the sport in 2020.

Alonso led a handful of laps during his first Indy 500 foray, but as has been common with his days with McLaren in F1, a reliability issue ended his race early as the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The former Ferrari and Renault driver is also said to be in conversation with the bosses of Formula E, with former F1 driver Felipe Massa suggesting Alonso could join the electric single-seater series sooner rather than later.

Alonso himself has now revealed there are more plans afoot for the 2019 season apart from his commitments with Toyota in WEC and McLaren at the Indy 500 race.

“I will do many more, you will know step by step. [Indy500] is the first announcement,” Alonso said, as quoted on Planet F1. “Apart from the three WEC races, I think there are [also] four tests. … If you add the three race weekends, there are already seven, until June, plus Indycar tests and the two weeks of the Indy500.”

The 37-year-old racing driver pointed out despite not driving a full race calendar, he will busy for most of the weekends at least in the first-half of the year. There will be a lot of preparation needed if he is going to be successful in IndyCar, while he is also fighting for the World Endurance Championship title.

“If you see the calendar until June, there are only two or three weekends. Even though it seems that there are not too many careers, there are many preparations for these. I’m looking forward to it,” the Spanish racer added.