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Bummer news out of Indy, McLaren failed to qualify. Can't fault the team that bumped Alonso but it would have been good for the event if McLaren (with Alonso) had qualified and was competitive on race day. His best shot at victory may be to bring sponsor dollars to one of the big team and have them run an extra car. Hard to picture McLaren becoming win-ready anytime soon.

A seriously bad look for Mclaren. With all of the money, and resources at their disposal, to have such a epic fail?
The team looked out to sea from the very first test session, Fernando drove heroically to try, and put it in the race, but the team just didn't know what they were doing when it came to setup.
I'm thinking we've seen the end of the Alonso-Mclaren relationship.
This article says it all. https://racer.com/2019/05/20/miller-was ... -surprise/

This was such an embarrassment for Mclaren. The car went out onto track sending up sparks due to suspension set much to low. The team was in over it's head. If Alonso wants to win at Indy he needs to call the Captain - Roger Penske.

I don't think its all on McLaren. Alonso was pretty adamant on Saturday that he wasn't happy with attempting to qualify for a fifth time, and also said he didn't feel any pressure. That shows that he wasn't in the mindset to do well. Still not a great look for McLaren of course. Rumors were that he was basically running the same parts as Penske as well as a setup from another team on Sunday but he couldn't get his speed up.

PTR wrote:This was such an embarrassment for Mclaren. The car went out onto track sending up sparks due to suspension set much to low.

You have no idea. The car was sending up sparks because McLaren didn't know the difference between inches and millimetres.

https://apnews.com/a8653967a9714ac7a9a3ba576f712fff

After reading that artical I don't have a good opinion about Zac Brown. He refers to himself in the third person as he tells how he had to do a task which is beneath him. He blames those in his employ for his failure. I don't recall ever hearing Rodger Penske blame his team when things didn't go right. What has Zac accomplished in auto racing? Maybe he has accomplishments, and I am unaware of them. He doesn't seem to have ever provided Fernando with a competitive race. car.

He competed somewhat successfully as a racing driver in the 90s, which explains why he talks in the third person. He also owns United Autosport which is doing pretty well on the sportscar circuit.

I still don't get why engineers ever convert between imperial and metric. It seems to cause more problems than its worth.

I don't think he's saying the task of getting the wheel was beneath him, just that its not the best use of his time. I work in IT as a manager, and while I'll help out, its not a great use of my time to be setting up the receptionist computer for example. I think thats what he was saying there. Everyone has a skill set and they should be utilizing that skillset, not doing something that anyone else on the team can do.

There was a simple reason for Fernando not able to qualify for this year's Indy: He was with the 'WRONG' team!!!

Two years ago, he got a chance with Honda's pull and raced with the Andretti Team. One of the top team at INDY with a ton of experiences. So immediately, he had a great decent car as a base and experienced personnel to help him developing the car. So he did really, really well.

Then the Mclaren-Honda relationship ended that year and Fernando was taking a break after the 2018 season for F1.

So if he wants to race at INDY in 2019. It would be with the Chevy Engine instead. Unfortunately, there is only one top team with that engine: Penske. They already have all 4 drivers nominated and they wouldn't have room to fill in one more.

Therefore, his car will be prepared by Carlin. A relatively new team with only in its second year in operations for IndyCars. Since preparing for the Indy 500 takes for more work and experience to get ready. Fernando is on a steep learning curve along with the entire team. So it wasn't a surprise that he had a nasty crash, his car was setting up wrong. Most of all, it is the overall 'speed' that counts and not the 'fastest lap'.

It is sad for Fernando, but perhaps to Mclaren. That would be a big wake-up call to be aligned with a big experienced team instead.

As always, Sniff Petrol has the real scoop on what transpired:

https://sniffpetrol.com/2019/05/20/alon ... pointment/

McLaren to blame. Total F1 arrogance.