F1
Laurence Edmondson, F1 Editor 7y

Fernando Alonso lists the main challenges facing him at Indy 500

Formula One, AutoRacing

After completing his first test day in an IndyCar, F1 driver Fernando Alonso says he now has a better understanding of the challenges facing him ahead of his one-off race at the Indy 500 later this month.

Alonso drove 110 laps in a private test at Indianapolis on Wednesday, including 40 laps dedicated to the Indy 500's Rookie Orientation Program (ROP) before a series of runs at higher speeds that eventually built up to a top speed of 222.548 mph. The day's testing with the Andretti Autosport team was the first time the former F1 champion has driven a racing car on an oval, but his successful completion of the ROP means he is now cleared to take part in the Indy 500 later this month.

Speaking in a press conference after the event, Alonso was pleased with his test day but said the biggest challenges were still to come.

"I think there are a couple of things that I'm definitely not up to speed on," he said. "One is the traffic thing, I think we need to go step by step. Today was just running alone and trying to feel the car, the circuit and all the things that are involved with this technique.

"Second will be setting up the car. The guys make constant changes to the car. One on the steering wheel while running, and those on the pit lane, those tiny changes, tuning the car perfectly on the week for the qualifying and then doing the same for the race, and sometimes also on the pit stops, getting up to speed until the last part of the race.

"So on that aspect, I am not up to speed. I am not able at the moment to feel the car or the small changes that we can make to the car, because I'm not driving the car; the car is driving me around at the moment.

"So these are the things that we need to hopefully learn in the first days of free practice and, as I said many times, I'm with the best team possible for that. Even for the traffic thing, we are six cars [in the team]. So we will make sure that I will arrive ready on Sunday 28th with a lot of laps behind cars."

Alonso said it took him a couple of laps to build up the confidence to take Turn 1 flatout.

"So the first couple of laps, you lift off and then you go in the corner, so you start feeling the grip, the car, and you try to follow that target [time for the ROP] that you need to reach at the end of the lap in terms of the speed.

So that was one thing. And then at one point, they told me, OK, you're done with all the limitations, so you just need to do 15 laps above 215. So run free as you feel. And I knew that Marco [Andretti, who shook down the car before Alonso's test] was flat out in Turn 1, so I said, I will do flat out now in Turn 1 because the car is able to do it.

"So I arrived to Turn 1, and I was convinced 100 per cent that I was doing flat out, but the foot was not flat out, you know, it has his own life, it was not connected, my brain with the foot at that moment.

"So at the second or third lap, I was able to do it. But in the first lap, it was definitely a very good feeling to be able to feel the respect of the place, the respect of the car, the respect of the speed. It's something that for any racing driver, it's just pure adrenaline, so it was a good day."

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