Alonso to race at Indy 500 instead of Monaco GP

Fernando Alonso has confirmed that he will be missing this year's Monaco Grand Prix and will instead be racing in the Indy 500, one of the three races on the Triple Crown of Motorsport.

It is not yet clear who will replace Alonso at McLaren for the event, however, they have reserve driver Jenson Button on hand as an ambassador and reserve driver. 

Alonso will race a McLaren entry run by the Honda-affiliated Andretti Autosport IndyCar team, lead by former F1 racer Michael Andretti.

"I'm immensely excited that I'll be racing in this year's Indy 500, with McLaren, Honda and Andretti Autosport," said Alonso.

"The Indy 500 is one of the most famous races on the global motorsport calendar, rivalled only by the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Monaco Grand Prix, and it's of course a regret of mine that I won't be able to race at Monaco this year.

"But Monaco will be the only 2017 Grand Prix I'll be missing, and I'll be back in the cockpit of the McLaren-Honda MCL32 for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal in early June."

McLaren has won the Indy 500 before, back in 1974 and '76 with Johnny Rutherford. It's been 23 years since a driver last raced in both a Formula 1 and the Indy 500 in the same season, with that honour going to Nigel Mansell.

Michael Andretti, CEO, Andretti Autosport: “It’s a great honour to partner with McLaren for the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 and to bring Fernando into one of our Andretti Autosport Hondas. I want to thank Zak [Brown], Honda and McLaren for this tremendous opportunity.

"We've been working very closely in the planning of this new partnership and I believe we've laid the foundation for a successful month of May. We're looking forward to giving Fernando an effort in reaching one of his biggest career goals of winning the Indy 500."

Fergal Walsh