Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso will test an IndyCar for the first time today with Andretti Autosport on the 2.5 mile Indianapolis oval.
Team owner Michael Andretti will set-up and test the car for a few laps before handing it over to Alonso, who, weather permitting, will then attempt to complete the ‘Rookie Orientation Programme’: 10 laps at 205-210mph, 15 laps at 210-215mph, and 15 laps at over 215mph.
The program is an extra practice session for first-time entrants to the Indy 500 which also serves as an assessment for car control and consistency. Today’s test is an attempt to pass that test, which the other entrants will take on May 15.
Last year, former Marussia F1 driver Max Chilton and Manor reserve driver Alexander Rossi passed the program. Rossi was the 2016 Indy 500 winner for Andretti Autosport, a rookie at the time.
Former F1 drivers who have won the Indy 500 also include Juan Pablo Montoya in 2000 and 2015, Jacques Villeneuve in 1995, Emerson Fittipaldi in 1989 and 1993 and Graham Hill in 1966 among others.
Nigel Mansell, 1992 F1 Drivers’ champion, moved to CART – the series now merged into IndyCar – in 1993 and won the series in his debut year. He became the only person ever to hold both titles simultaneously.
“In all my time in IndyCars, I never learned to feel comfortable on ovals despite winning four times on them and once winning a 500-mile race,” wrote Mansell in his 1996 autobiography.
“On ovals you have to commit yourself going into corners at 200mph plus. You brake very gingerly, if at all, and you try to carry as much speed as you can around the corner.
“All the time you know that if anything goes wrong, whether it be a tyre going down, a suspension problem or just having a little bit of oversteer, you’re going to hit the concrete wall on the outside of the track and have a monumental accident.
“It’s actually quite frightening. Some of the corners are really dangerous.”
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