McLaren Still Noncommittal About Alonso's Future, IndyCar Entry

McLaren are holding the cards with regard to their future plans with Fernando Alonso and their possible participation in the IndyCar Series next year close to their chest.

The Spaniard announced he will leave Formula 1 after 17 seasons at the end of the 2018 campaign. His future has been a constant topic of discussion ever since the revelation on Aug. 14.

Alonso was expected to conduct an IndyCar road test in the near future after announcing his departure from F1, but Jay Frye, IndyCar’s president of competition and operations confirmed to Motorsport.com that he has not received any “notification” of an upcoming Alonso test.

McLaren are said to be keen to enter IndyCar Series with the backing of Honda as their power unit supplier, but the report claims it could prove to be a complication as the Japanese manufacturer has already stated that they are running at full capacity when it comes to supplying engines next year.

This could see the Woking-based team having to run Chevrolet power if they enter the sport next season. McLaren, however, continue to maintain that no decision has been taken with regard to Alonso’s or their future and that their primary focus at the moment is Formula 1.

“We’re not confirming anything regarding Fernando, IndyCar or McLaren involvement, for the simple reason that no decision has been taken,” Tim Bampton, McLaren’s communication director, told Motorsport.com. “We’re not going to give a running commentary on our IndyCar evaluations nor whether or when Fernando is testing.”

“Honestly, our stance remains what we’ve said the past couple of months, which is that we’re going to continue to evaluate IndyCar but our prime focus is on Formula 1. There’s been a lot of noise about IndyCar but we don’t want to further contribute to that; when we’ve got something to say, we’ll say it. The team still needs to make a decision,” he said.

Bampton, however, made it clear that even if the team do enter the IndyCar Series it will be a long-term commitment and not just a one-off to satisfy Alonso’s need to win the Indy500 race.

He also suggested that McLaren could enter the IndyCar Series for a one-off drive at Indianapolis next year – similar to what they did in 2017 – and push their full-time entry into the sport to 2020.

“As think I said before, if we were to enter IndyCar, it wouldn’t be just to give Fernando something to do! It would be a long-term commitment because we believe in the series and because the U.S. market is an important one for the McLaren Group as a whole,” the team’s communication director said.

“I know the situation is frustrating for people, for fans, but there are many permutations. First and most important is, do we do IndyCar at all? Then, do we do just the Indy 500 next year and delay a fulltime campaign until 2020? Do we come in fulltime next year? Is it just Fernando that we enter, or is it Fernando plus one? I can assure you that nothing has been confirmed so anything else that’s out there is purely speculation,” he added.