Another interesting point is that McLaren wanted to purchase a seat, and Fernando refused once he learned that he would be replacing a driver that earned the qualification.
He wants to do this the right way, while his team didn't take trying to qualify for the biggest race on Earth seriously enough. It sucks for him, but I respect him for not taking a seat away from someone who earned it.
Same thing with Hinchcliffe. SPM kinda wanted buy a seat for Hinchcliffe with one of there cars, but Hinchcliffe refused and wanted to do it the right way. And look what happened this year, Hinchcliffe did the right move. But Alonso did the best he could do with McLaren to make the field, but they will be hungry next season to make the field. But who knows if Alonso will race for McLaren or not.
@@BH28Racing I'd be surprised if he doesn't have second thoughts about it next year. This is going to eat at him until he picks a team next year, if McLaren decides not to go full time in the series
I mean thats the only thing thats cool when it comes to McLaren the livery, rest is just sad and pathetic its a shadow of a brand it used to be at least in motorsport, guess theyre to much focused on rereleasing the same McLaren road car with slight visual changes to sell the same car again.
@@John-lc1uq No John, it's just how big business works. Yes, Indy 500 was an afterthought to McLaren because their almost total focus was F1 - their sponsors would eviscerate them if they neglected their struggling F1 team then. You should see how strict Malboro was if their Penske livery was off.
I thought Bourdais' comment was interesting. He said to MP that nobody is happier to be going home than Alonso because he's there to win, not putter around at the back of the grid with a clusterf#ck of a team. Also, very good journalism from the AP. That gal wrote a great piece.
She goes for the guts and doesn't sugar coat anything, caught some heat from Nascar fans earlier this year but its blown over. She's a respectable journalist for sure.
What I was getting at, and I can't find the article, is that no F1 driver has ever been bumped then won in a later year. All F1 drivers who have won Indy have done so before getting bumped, if they did get bumped.
I hope this isn't the end of Alonso content for the month. It's the thing that makes us Alonso fans a bit excited, after all that's happened. I certainly clicked this video because of Alonso in the title.
That's only just scratching the surface, Zak Brown bought Andretti setup last minute to try rescue something but the mechanics didn't convert imperial to metric properly which is why Sunday morning you saw Alonso tearing chunks out of the speedway. A professional racing team cracked under the pressure of Indy.
But seriously, heads should have rolled the second they unloaded without a steering wheel at Texas. Imagine if that happened at Penske or Ganassi? You can't, because Roger or Chip would have fired someone if that happened. I don't know why they didn't have a steering wheel, they should have actually had two, one for the car in Woking, and one for the car supplied by Carlin. Zak Brown shouldn't have been knocking on Cosworth's door asking for a steering wheel
Honestly, this is way more humiliating than Penske in '95. And it's not just the paint or the steering wheel. Penske was bumped by a Ganassi car in '95. McLaren was bumped by a part-time effort that lost two sponsors in May.
Thank you David for your commentary. With no mainstream media coverage you are with out a doubt the best source of information. I think this is your best video yet, keep up the great work.
McLaren is now run by the board and they tell the team what to do because they know best in my opinion. Guss what if you cant even manage to get a steering wheel til the last minute what else was last minute. So sad for what was once a great tean
@@mechsgtpuma938 thats the problem. Ron Dennis was a management genius. Partnered with the right people and had the best people at the job. He sure as shit didn't care what color the fucking car was and rather would focus making the race first before changing the color
I'm not a hater at all as I have so much respect for Alonso BUT now that he won't be in the race, the coverage will be so much more balanced, unbiased, objective and hence better.
2 days later i'm still in awe of how astronomically bad this train wreck is. If there's any positive to pull from it, we were given the chance to witness one of the biggest fiascoes in Motorsport history, if not the biggest.
As embarrassing this is for Mclaren, who does have quite the admirable resume of achievements they've accomplished. I wouldn't rank this as a ''big fiasco'' , purely for the fact that they ''only'' failed to qualify''. This (in my opinion) fades into comparrison to every Indy 500 , or any event for that matter, that has seen and got a fatal crash marked on its record. Mclaren has the funds and resources to make this work, but they need to be 100% committed to it to make it work. Having a proper team management being part of it. If i'm allowed to make a tiny bridge to F1. Currently Mercedes GP is dominating by a huge margin. not because they are that much faster than Ferrari or Red Bull, but because their entire organisation, from the highest management down to the mechanic bolting on the tyres, is a flawless machine at the moment. #Commitment
@@lunasilvermoon2283 Fatal tragedies aside, I would respectfully argue the opposite. Their resume and attitude set them up for high expectations and they missed those expectations monumentally. Make no mistake, the cars and experience they had available to them were more than capable of at least making the show. The fact that a global icon that prides themselves on being one of the best Motorsport brands in the world defeated themselves by making amateur mistakes is what makes this such a huge deal. Prior to this week, Mclaren was "too big to fail" and the fact that they have will be a sore spot on the company until their (possible) return.
@@WJr8833 You got a good point there. What I think this does further is that it doesn't only put pressure on their Indy ambitions.. for them to come back next year and prove they CAN do it, but this is going to extend into F1 as well. for the F1 division to get out of that hole and bring the fight (back) to Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull. The latter arguably being the most important for them to beat with them running the Honda engine now.
If the McLaren indycar effort was run that piss poorly, that pretty much explains how the F1 team is being run. I think the best thing Fernando can do is let his contact expire and never look back!!
I'm a F1 fan (but not an Alonso fan), but I was shocked when he and McLaren missed the cut. That raised my respect for the professionalism of all the Indycar teams (Juncos especially) by a huge margin.
@@crystalracing4794 Off course. But it also shows why McLaren hasn't been a top contender in F1 this decade. There is a distinct lack of organizational skills and professionalism there.
...and the Juncos made the field with a mismatched front wing and the paint around the AFP sanded down to the carbon fiber. Wow. Just by watching McLaren in the garage all week, it was easy to see that there were many issues. Once, the engineers pulled the entire car out of the garage without the engine cover, rear wing, or sidepod covers on the car, just to realize a few minutes later that they might want to put a few of those parts on before they go anywhere with it. I’ll never forget walking by the McLaren garage after Saturday’s qualifying and seeing Zak Brown and Gil De Ferran alone outside of their engineering room, talking sternly like two parents about to punish their child, before walking in to see Fernando and his engineers. I even wore a McLaren shirt for Sunday, still hoping, but no, they didn’t deserve it this year.
13:59 just look at penske, they have all the experience in the world and still they raced at homestead in '01 before the 500 as a shakedown, and they've done the gp with helio the last 2 season as a shakedown
Problem is McLaren thought that they would come in and kick America’s ass.Its harder than they think.McLaren engineers didn’t know shit.Not the drivers fault.Its the damn teams fault.McLarens run trying to get into the Indy 500 was pathetic
As a huge Dirt Car fan, this story is exactly why the Knoxville Nationals and the World 100 are the pinnacle of Dirt Racing. Hundreds of drivers from across the country make the pilgrimage to be a part of this event. There are days worth of practices, heats, and last chance qualifiers, but only 24 get to go to the big show. Scott Bloomquist has failed to qualify in the past, meanwhile other "local" up and comers achieved there dream of getting in. This is what the Indy 500 and the month of May has meant to me. I grew up watching the Indy 500 with my dad since the early 90s. He was a huge Bobby Rahal fan. I think any tampering with the format or rules would take away from the prestige. The idea that corporate money can't always overcome preparation is what motorsports should be about! These type of heartbreak stories, though disappointing (I'm a Fred fan), are what make this race so great!
Biggest point that DL made - After the accident, they had to get the spare car on the track NOW! I don’t care if it’s Hemelgarn purple at that point. They would have had three days this week to get it repainted. The arrogance and incompetence of that decision astounds me.
McLaren should give Juncos some or all of their sponsors. Then fund Juncos and use them for a future project. Small team Juncos is run better than the multi-billion dollar McLaren conglomerate.
To begin with the McLaren Group overall loses money. The F1 team has it's budget topped up by their shareholders, reportedly by $50M -$75M for 2018 and 2019, largely caused by the loss of Honda money. Last year the principal shareholders, Mumtalakat Holding , sold almost 10% of the company to the father of F2 driver Nicholas Latifi to get some new capital in. People think of McLaren from its glory days when it was awash in Marlboro money, that's not the case now. McLaren has no where near the money that Mercedes and Ferrari do. I suspect the McLaren board gave Brown the go ahead this year assuming they would do well. I'd bet now, especially with McLaren's financial situation, the odds of McLaren building a team to do a full season in Indycar are slim. I'll add I wouldn't be surprised to see Brown on a really short leash from now on, and all their focus is on F1.
Zac Brown said in a post-qualifying interview that after qualifying they discovered with all the overnight setup changes and borrowed they had made Satruday night they had the wrong gearset in the car. If they had changed the gearing they might have pulled 229 mph.
It might be a double edged sword in regards to viewers. On one hand, there were a lot of F1 snobs here in Europe that thought it would be easy, because “it’s just turning left”. Some of those won’t bother watching now, but on the other there are some of those F1 snobs that might take it a bit more seriously.
They chose to build their own wheel but didn’t finish it and had to order one from McLaren. They actually had a steering wheel, but they failed to order the shift paddles from Cosworth.
Thank you for lowering the volume of the "Indy 500 month"-intro. It's always significantly louder than everything else, and that bass always wakes the whole house. Not having to frantically turn it down was a welcome surprise.
Chasefan#9 It’s not about performance, it’s about brand recognition. You can bet your ass that Ferrari would not allow a car on the track that wasn’t the right shade of red.
Initially I disagreed with your take on doing away with the Indy GP not after some observations I agree it needs to change. Maybe move it back a week. Cramming 500 practice and qualifying into a mere 9 days isn't working out especially with the unpredictable Spring weather.
McLaren more or less tried to have a go at the 500 alone this year. The previous time Alonso ran in the 500 the team was managed by Andretti Motorsport. This time McLaren wanted to run the show themselves and they seem to have grossly underestimated the challenge they were facing. Bob Fernley (Former team boss at Force India F1) was tapped to run the project, and possibly to run future projects like their Lemans ambitions but this was such a gong show that he got axed. I would love to know the whole story but if I had to guess Fernley was in way over his head and Zak Brown stepped in far too late to fix the problems.
I hope the sponsorship money wasn't paid unless the car made the race! Those companies could still get on a couple of cars that were prepared for the race and actually made the field!
I'm just amazed, David, that you're able to get the die-cast models of this year's Indy 500 so soon! Here in India, it really is hard to get hold of IndyCar models and even IndyCar race coverage! Hard for fans here.
the Indy 500 to Indycar is what the Knoxville Nationals are to sprint car racing. The field is dense, the chances of making the race are so slim that even the best drivers could miss the race. it's all about the grueling fight to be the winner and it starts just by making it.
I see David Land in Kimoa hat....I click like. You have got me so hooked on Indy this year after watching your build up over the last few months. Thank you.
Had Alonso not had the falling out with Honda they wouldn't have had to go low tier with Carlin. The paint is a minor detail Mclaren had a superiority complex with coming from F1 but they underestimated the task at hand. McLaren needs to decide do they want to split their resources between F1 and Indy to be competitive in one series or the other.
Low tier? It's a spec series with 2 engines that it every car will be able to perform with the proper team behind the car. McLaren has money the honda wouldn't have helped when clearly it was McLaren being unprepared.
Great commentary! Spot on with your remarks. I cannot overstate what a train wreck McLaren’s preparation and overall management execution was with this event. Alonzo excused, there are not enough swords for them to all fall on for this disgraceful performance. Hopefully they learned some valuable lessons that will help next year and possibly even help with their F1 teams.
People been thinking that for years now. I'm for one am also stumped why in the fuck he is still bothering to try with those idiots. The grand Mclaren ship has been at drift for years now. No idea how they manage to float from one shitshow to another. And seeing the state their F1 team has been in for quite some time now i don't know wtf they are doing taking on Indy aswell. They have problems enough to sort out on the F1 side without going around making an ass of themselfs in other racingclasses to boot.
the question is who lost the steering wheel from the time the car was loaded onto the truck (cant see em doing that without a steering wheel) and when they pulled into the track at Texas
It's funny how every competitive car Alonso drives he is able to win in!...Except McLaren and I actually like McLaren...We'll see what happens in the future...Now Alonso will get ready for Le Man!
Fantastic video David. From where I sit, this has been the best 500 in quite a while, and we haven't even had the race yet! I hope McLaren tries again. I hope McLaren does a full time entry, with Conor Daly as a driver, how epic would that be! This is the stuff legendary events are made of. I think the world racing scene is taking notice that whoa, that stuff is no joke back there in the States.
Ironic to think the last time a big scalp was caught out (Penske 1995) the series suffered the CART-IRL civil war afterwards. The Indy 500's reputation as one of the biggest marquee events of the motorsport calendar has finally been restored worldwide.
Obviously pure coincidence but...you DO have a point. Question is will the Indy 500 sustain this restored credibility going forward that it had before the CART-IRL war. Hopefully yes, or at least until the next big scalp.
When your a multi-billion dollar organization and you get bumped from the 500 by Clausen racing and Junco,s that is really bad.These small teams only have the fraction of the $ that McLaren have and got it done.Makes it so much more sweet for Pippa Mann and Kyle Kaiser.They have to be so proud.
I agree, I think McLaren feels embarrassed by this situation and will make it their priority to come back with a vengeance next year. I wouldn't be surprised if a few people loose their jobs over this.
I like your perspective regarding McLaren. They NEED to save face. At this level it should NEVER have happened. Someone dropped the ball. Getting a team together and racing at Texas. Smart move. McLaren can't just walk away from this. To say that it was embarrassing to the brand and to the company is an understatement. This can be a great thing in the long run if McLaren follows your advice regarding Texas. To leave a back up car not prepared, or to not use it irregardless of paint that was just plain dumb.
This all boils to a sheer lack of awareness and understanding of the nuances of what it takes to make the Indy 500. Partnering with Carlin was a mistake. They didn't have the experience to give McLaren pointers to get to grips with the car. I understand they tried to partner with ECR and it didn't come to fruition. McLaren should be ashamed, and rightfully getting beat up in the international press. As for their commitment, they have to expand the program to more than one race.
I heard that the car was also geared incorrectly and thats yet another reason they only hit 227. The car was literally set up so it couldn't go any faster. Had they geared it correctly it would have made up at least a little bit for some of their other issues. What a boondoggle from beginning to end.
The teams, Sporting Director, an IndyCar champion, Indy 500 winner, current close course speed record holder, and a former employee (driver) of Penske, who should know, "The Penske Way", of race operations, Gil De ferran, dropped the ball, IMO.
Donald M. Gawron 100%. deFerren’s the guy with the most recent Indy experience not Fernley, he should have been more on top of this than anyone especially as he knows the level of preparation it takes to be successful there. “Honestly Gil, what is it you do again at McLaren to earn a paycheck?” And his grovelling at the presser was sickening.
This farce is absolutely unacceptable. This is a legendary outfit with decades of experience across many disciplines and an infinite budget; McLaren should have known better. The paint thing was ridiculous considering how Juncos didn't even finish the wrap for the car that bumped Alonso. Sad considering Alonso really wasn't at fault in all this; he couldn't have done any better on Sunday.
David i asked that question on Twitter what would it take for Fernando Alonso McLaren and them to go racing at Texas cause that backup car is setup for Texas well tested but man that would be something
Alonso was pure class and I hope he comes back a few more times and gets a top notch ride. He was the adult in the room in this entire drama. He answered the silly questions and made no excuses. He drove the car past the limit every time. My admiration for the guy grew immensely through this and I've always respected his talent and persona.
I believe this proves how the F1 snobs look down their noses at Indy. They all figure it would be a cake-walk to at the very least qualify at or near the top.
Alonso will be presumably be looking at Andretti, Ganassi and Penske for a full time seat next season. If he wants the triple crown, commit to the series.
If "Fred" truly wants to win the Indy 500, he needs to be full time in the series, and he needs to be with a team who knows how to win. Sadly McLaren Carlin racing DOES NOT know how to do that!
The moment the Texas test debacle happened Brown should have made changes. Tbh he should have know before that, things weren't going well. Brown tries to pin blame on a lot of factors, but at the end if the day this all starts with him
David, first, get some aloe on that sunburn... Second, breathe deeply, again... hold it... again. Now, the world will continue without interruption. FWIIW, I think this is good for Indy car racing as a whole. F1 may scoff a bit, but the rules are the rules and Indy car didn't been them just to keep one guy or one team in the race, even if he was a great fan draw and a class act Two time World Champion. To the specifics, in any organization, its leader can delegate authority but can never, delegate responsibility. It seems to me McLaren thought it could just blow into town and because of who they are, they would be a big deal. You hit it right toward the end, the Indy 500 is heightened by this. Good on Indy Car for the way it has handled the whole thing. And if someone is thinking to sell out their spot to Alonso and McLaren, I hope they realize in selling they'll never find another sponsor if they take the money and run. Good job, as always.
I was about to bring up the Penske cars in 95 when they had Rahal liveries. I think the 2017 McLaren Formula 1 cars had a different shade of orange compared to what they have now. At least they could have focused on qualifying for the 500 and then getting the color right for the race.
I dont understand how Fernley, the man who took SFI to 2 4th place seasons in F1with a shoe string budget, could be so INCREDIBLY incompetent with a 1 race program.
Great that you mentioned Munoz and Hildebrand. They're the two best drivers out there who don't have rides because they don't have the money to buy one.
According to the BBC's F1 writers (who might have been getting their information from the same source you did; it's very late my time and I'm not reading the article in full tonight, apologies all around), the steering wheel cock-up gets worse. McLaren originally wanted to build their own wheel, realized at the 11th hour that they didn't have time, and rushed to buy one from Cosworth before the Texas test. It arrived AT THE TEST with no shifting paddles; when confronted, Cosworth told McLaren that they had to order the shifters separately. Oodles of time down the drain right there.
You know when I heard Alonzo was coming in and I started talking about people getting bumped I thought back to that one wasted year when Michael went over to McLaren and it's like something was just wrong with the program and I said wouldn't it be ironic if that Andretti curse came back and flew back and bit McLaren because they turned down the hand of somebody who is experienced like him and not only did they have to end up getting help anyways but I think Penske was also consulted.
"You know, when I heard Alonzo was coming in, I started talking about people getting bumped and I thought back to that one wasted year when Michael went over to McLaren. It's like something was just wrong with the program. I said: " wouldn't it be ironic if that Andretti curse came back and flew back (sic) and bit McLaren?". Because they turned down the hand of somebody who is experienced like him. Not only did they end up getting help anyways but I think Penske was also consulted." Fixed for you.
I think the saying is ...those that haven't hit the wall & those that are gonna hit the wall... juncos kept at it & got it done, is amazing to think of in those terms...very small race team with lots of ❤...IMS likes that, history proves it
I'm so disappointed Alonso will not be racing, I grew up a McLaren fan and watching senna vs prost and it's sad what is happening to this company. Bring back Ron
Another interesting point is that McLaren wanted to purchase a seat, and Fernando refused once he learned that he would be replacing a driver that earned the qualification.
Say what you will about McLaren and them not taking this event seriously enough, but Alonso shows a genuine appreciation and care for the 500
He wants to do this the right way, while his team didn't take trying to qualify for the biggest race on Earth seriously enough. It sucks for him, but I respect him for not taking a seat away from someone who earned it.
Same thing with Hinchcliffe. SPM kinda wanted buy a seat for Hinchcliffe with one of there cars, but Hinchcliffe refused and wanted to do it the right way. And look what happened this year, Hinchcliffe did the right move. But Alonso did the best he could do with McLaren to make the field, but they will be hungry next season to make the field. But who knows if Alonso will race for McLaren or not.
@@BH28Racing I'd be surprised if he doesn't have second thoughts about it next year. This is going to eat at him until he picks a team next year, if McLaren decides not to go full time in the series
If he bought his way into the field, the fans would be outraged beyond belief. Good for Fernando for having some integrity
out of all the things that go into a racecar, the paint was the most troubling for McLaren.
that's pretty sad.
I mean thats the only thing thats cool when it comes to McLaren the livery, rest is just sad and pathetic its a shadow of a brand it used to be at least in motorsport, guess theyre to much focused on rereleasing the same McLaren road car with slight visual changes to sell the same car again.
Not just sad. Smug arrogance .F1 thinks their s#$# doesn't stink
@@John-lc1uq No John, it's just how big business works. Yes, Indy 500 was an afterthought to McLaren because their almost total focus was F1 - their sponsors would eviscerate them if they neglected their struggling F1 team then. You should see how strict Malboro was if their Penske livery was off.
I thought Bourdais' comment was interesting. He said to MP that nobody is happier to be going home than Alonso because he's there to win, not putter around at the back of the grid with a clusterf#ck of a team.
Also, very good journalism from the AP. That gal wrote a great piece.
Good point.
She goes for the guts and doesn't sugar coat anything, caught some heat from Nascar fans earlier this year but its blown over. She's a respectable journalist for sure.
F1 WDC's who have been bumped:
Juan Manuel Fangio
Giuseppe Farina
Graham Hill
Denny Hulme
Nelson Piquet
Emerson Fittipaldi
Fernando Alonso
And, as of yet, none have returned to win. It's up to Alonso to break this trend.
@@nicolesgaming8917 what year was hill bumped? he won the 500 in 1966.
@@nicolesgaming8917 Pretty sure Emerson Fittipaldi won at Indy (As did Graham Hill in 66)
What I was getting at, and I can't find the article, is that no F1 driver has ever been bumped then won in a later year. All F1 drivers who have won Indy have done so before getting bumped, if they did get bumped.
And that my friends is the end of the Alonso content for the month! lol
Well thank god I don’t have to see a kimoa hat anymore. Lol.
David, I know you are busy with Indy at the moment but How about a word about Niki Lauda.
Any chance of a review or mention of the all star race? Was wondering your thoughts because it seems NASCAR actually did something right for once
Alonso and McLaren have sucked way to much air this month out of Indy.
I hope this isn't the end of Alonso content for the month. It's the thing that makes us Alonso fans a bit excited, after all that's happened. I certainly clicked this video because of Alonso in the title.
Indy car fans mourn the passing of Niki Lauda. RIP.
Oh man Niki died, I had not heard yet. I knew he was in bad health ever since the lung transplant.
@@chrish931 This morning
It was the worst part of the day.
Race in paradise Niki
@@bubblgumgangsta5385 Hope he can comfort Gordan Smiley, if you don't know him look up his wreck on u-tube
That's only just scratching the surface, Zak Brown bought Andretti setup last minute to try rescue something but the mechanics didn't convert imperial to metric properly which is why Sunday morning you saw Alonso tearing chunks out of the speedway.
A professional racing team cracked under the pressure of Indy.
Im spaniard. Just wanted to remain we still have another driver in the field. Sad nobody in spain cares about him
@MRTracing He also was bumped in 2002.
But seriously, heads should have rolled the second they unloaded without a steering wheel at Texas. Imagine if that happened at Penske or Ganassi? You can't, because Roger or Chip would have fired someone if that happened. I don't know why they didn't have a steering wheel, they should have actually had two, one for the car in Woking, and one for the car supplied by Carlin. Zak Brown shouldn't have been knocking on Cosworth's door asking for a steering wheel
th-cam.com/video/5X94EMufap4/w-d-xo.html
Honestly, this is way more humiliating than Penske in '95. And it's not just the paint or the steering wheel. Penske was bumped by a Ganassi car in '95. McLaren was bumped by a part-time effort that lost two sponsors in May.
Fun fact: this is the 6th video in a row to have “Alonso in the title”
Thank you David for your commentary. With no mainstream media coverage you are with out a doubt the best source of information. I think this is your best video yet, keep up the great work.
Thought this was clickbait. It really wasn’t.
Run with a god damn white car and “Go Smile” written in sharpie. Seriously.
Zak Brown and McLaren are the biggest embarrassment to modern motorsports. I'm sorry but the last 6 years have been an absolute trainwreck for McLaren
Agreed. Brown is a proven failure in his inability to hire competent people.
McLaren is now run by the board and they tell the team what to do because they know best in my opinion. Guss what if you cant even manage to get a steering wheel til the last minute what else was last minute.
So sad for what was once a great tean
@@mechsgtpuma938 thats the problem. Ron Dennis was a management genius. Partnered with the right people and had the best people at the job. He sure as shit didn't care what color the fucking car was and rather would focus making the race first before changing the color
I'm not a hater at all as I have so much respect for Alonso BUT now that he won't be in the race, the coverage will be so much more balanced, unbiased, objective and hence better.
The coverage was still pretty bad
FRED NANDO LONSO needs to quit Mclaren and go to Penske!
I wouldn't be surprised to see this happen
Roger would not hire him he would take Rossi before Alonso
@@Kyle86910 I doubt he would want Rossi, he races for a direct competitor.
Do it with Juncos.
Fernando makes more in 1 year under MacLaren than the entire Penske IndyCar budget.
Just shows how incompetent McLaren has become
I've been watching the Detroit Lions for 25 years and McLaren is the worst organization I've ever seen right now.
Ditto from a Cleveland Browns fan
@@RadarLuv100 Im jealous, the Browns are exciting now at least haha.
They're always exciting. Until the season starts! Lol
2 days later i'm still in awe of how astronomically bad this train wreck is. If there's any positive to pull from it, we were given the chance to witness one of the biggest fiascoes in Motorsport history, if not the biggest.
Jared Round ‘Right up there with Fangio in Indy driving several laps twice, then backing out and going home in 1958
As embarrassing this is for Mclaren, who does have quite the admirable resume of achievements they've accomplished. I wouldn't rank this as a ''big fiasco'' , purely for the fact that they ''only'' failed to qualify''. This (in my opinion) fades into comparrison to every Indy 500 , or any event for that matter, that has seen and got a fatal crash marked on its record.
Mclaren has the funds and resources to make this work, but they need to be 100% committed to it to make it work. Having a proper team management being part of it.
If i'm allowed to make a tiny bridge to F1. Currently Mercedes GP is dominating by a huge margin. not because they are that much faster than Ferrari or Red Bull, but because their entire organisation, from the highest management down to the mechanic bolting on the tyres, is a flawless machine at the moment. #Commitment
@@lunasilvermoon2283 Fatal tragedies aside, I would respectfully argue the opposite. Their resume and attitude set them up for high expectations and they missed those expectations monumentally. Make no mistake, the cars and experience they had available to them were more than capable of at least making the show. The fact that a global icon that prides themselves on being one of the best Motorsport brands in the world defeated themselves by making amateur mistakes is what makes this such a huge deal. Prior to this week, Mclaren was "too big to fail" and the fact that they have will be a sore spot on the company until their (possible) return.
@@WJr8833 You got a good point there. What I think this does further is that it doesn't only put pressure on their Indy ambitions.. for them to come back next year and prove they CAN do it, but this is going to extend into F1 as well. for the F1 division to get out of that hole and bring the fight (back) to Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull. The latter arguably being the most important for them to beat with them running the Honda engine now.
This is nowhere near what happened to Penske in 1995 and because of the split they weren't back for 6 more years.
If the McLaren indycar effort was run that piss poorly, that pretty much explains how the F1 team is being run. I think the best thing Fernando can do is let his contact expire and never look back!!
F1 fans be like: JuSt TuRn LeFt!!!!
Im an F1 fan, i dont share that statement but some sure do, they are ignorant
I'm a F1 fan (but not an Alonso fan), but I was shocked when he and McLaren missed the cut. That raised my respect for the professionalism of all the Indycar teams (Juncos especially) by a huge margin.
@@crystalracing4794 Off course. But it also shows why McLaren hasn't been a top contender in F1 this decade. There is a distinct lack of organizational skills and professionalism there.
@@MrTomWaffles Call them motorsport snobs. Thats what they are.
Really.....
This sentence from the article was telling.... “I should have been closer to Indy but I could never compromise Formula One, Brown said."
...and the Juncos made the field with a mismatched front wing and the paint around the AFP sanded down to the carbon fiber. Wow. Just by watching McLaren in the garage all week, it was easy to see that there were many issues. Once, the engineers pulled the entire car out of the garage without the engine cover, rear wing, or sidepod covers on the car, just to realize a few minutes later that they might want to put a few of those parts on before they go anywhere with it. I’ll never forget walking by the McLaren garage after Saturday’s qualifying and seeing Zak Brown and Gil De Ferran alone outside of their engineering room, talking sternly like two parents about to punish their child, before walking in to see Fernando and his engineers. I even wore a McLaren shirt for Sunday, still hoping, but no, they didn’t deserve it this year.
The reason why Jimmie Johnson has had two bad seasons, is because the cars were the wrong shade of black.
Though to be fair, the Chevys were all not having a good time.
@@Nemofishman A similar thing happened in the 90s when the Chevy was mostly doing terrible except for Jeff Gordon.
Hopefully he raced in Indycar when he's contract was over.
13:59 just look at penske, they have all the experience in the world and still they raced at homestead in '01 before the 500 as a shakedown, and they've done the gp with helio the last 2 season as a shakedown
Problem is McLaren thought that they would come in and kick America’s ass.Its harder than they think.McLaren engineers didn’t know shit.Not the drivers fault.Its the damn teams fault.McLarens run trying to get into the Indy 500 was pathetic
I'd love to see some of the McLaren sponsors stamped all over Kyle Kaiser's car for the 500
Daniel Guimarães ... and Ben Hanley
Still amazed at the incorrect gear ratio mentioned in the article as well...
So I’m an f1 who discovered this channel from following Alonzo, and I must say you’re doing a great job pal 👍.
Yet curiously you don't know how to spell Alonso.
@@adampincente209 Well we do seem to have established you are a racist.
As a huge Dirt Car fan, this story is exactly why the Knoxville Nationals and the World 100 are the pinnacle of Dirt Racing. Hundreds of drivers from across the country make the pilgrimage to be a part of this event. There are days worth of practices, heats, and last chance qualifiers, but only 24 get to go to the big show. Scott Bloomquist has failed to qualify in the past, meanwhile other "local" up and comers achieved there dream of getting in.
This is what the Indy 500 and the month of May has meant to me. I grew up watching the Indy 500 with my dad since the early 90s. He was a huge Bobby Rahal fan. I think any tampering with the format or rules would take away from the prestige. The idea that corporate money can't always overcome preparation is what motorsports should be about! These type of heartbreak stories, though disappointing (I'm a Fred fan), are what make this race so great!
Even if they made the field, them lasting 50 laps without some sort of problem, mechanically or electrical, would have been a miracle
Biggest point that DL made - After the accident, they had to get the spare car on the track NOW! I don’t care if it’s Hemelgarn purple at that point. They would have had three days this week to get it repainted. The arrogance and incompetence of that decision astounds me.
McLaren should give Juncos some or all of their sponsors. Then fund Juncos and use them for a future project. Small team Juncos is run better than the multi-billion dollar McLaren conglomerate.
Juncos does look like a classy team; their uniforms, livery, etc. look tip-top and it's all in the details.
To begin with the McLaren Group overall loses money. The F1 team has it's budget topped up by their shareholders, reportedly by $50M -$75M for 2018 and 2019, largely caused by the loss of Honda money. Last year the principal shareholders, Mumtalakat Holding , sold almost 10% of the company to the father of F2 driver Nicholas Latifi to get some new capital in. People think of McLaren from its glory days when it was awash in Marlboro money, that's not the case now. McLaren has no where near the money that Mercedes and Ferrari do. I suspect the McLaren board gave Brown the go ahead this year assuming they would do well. I'd bet now, especially with McLaren's financial situation, the odds of McLaren building a team to do a full season in Indycar are slim. I'll add I wouldn't be surprised to see Brown on a really short leash from now on, and all their focus is on F1.
It was the perfect opportunity for karma to strike back at teflonso for the Singapore GP in 2008... his Renault even had a similar blue and orange
It is a pity that there was a dearth of drivers willing to wreck themselves so Fernando could make the field.
Zac Brown said in a post-qualifying interview that after qualifying they discovered with all the overnight setup changes and borrowed they had made Satruday night they had the wrong gearset in the car. If they had changed the gearing they might have pulled 229 mph.
Duracell colors. Not Miller genuine draft
Who told a guy on Twitter “can’t be the color”... holy shit... it was the color
Thank you David Land for your commentary/videos on FA & McLaren!
It might be a double edged sword in regards to viewers. On one hand, there were a lot of F1 snobs here in Europe that thought it would be easy, because “it’s just turning left”. Some of those won’t bother watching now, but on the other there are some of those F1 snobs that might take it a bit more seriously.
Orange is a heavier paint. There were rumors he had an Indy Lights engine as well.
No way, no way you get an Indy lights engine to do a 227.224
Chris P. I was joking. Mclaren did him dirty like they have been since 2015
Chris P. I was joking. Mclaren did him dirty like they have been since 2015
@@inkjazz That's a whoosh for you sir
@@potato-ee4qx I got wooshed hard. I'm still triggered lol
They chose to build their own wheel but didn’t finish it and had to order one from McLaren. They actually had a steering wheel, but they failed to order the shift paddles from Cosworth.
Thank you for lowering the volume of the "Indy 500 month"-intro.
It's always significantly louder than everything else, and that bass always wakes the whole house. Not having to frantically turn it down was a welcome surprise.
Even if Alonso made the field, no way he would even be considered a contender.
Crisgomalty3d Unless this year’s race become a demolition derby... ‘too many cars flying around in turn three this year.
I will be shocked if we don't see some sponsors on the Juncos car on Sunday
I didn't think the color would have anything to do with how they performed.
could have been colored pink like Harvick's All-Star race car and still been fast!
it cost them 2 days of running that could have been spent setting up the car properly
Chasefan#9 Maybe morale???
I d k
@@Nemofishman True.
Chasefan#9 It’s not about performance, it’s about brand recognition. You can bet your ass that Ferrari would not allow a car on the track that wasn’t the right shade of red.
Initially I disagreed with your take on doing away with the Indy GP not after some observations I agree it needs to change. Maybe move it back a week. Cramming 500 practice and qualifying into a mere 9 days isn't working out especially with the unpredictable Spring weather.
McLaren more or less tried to have a go at the 500 alone this year. The previous time Alonso ran in the 500 the team was managed by Andretti Motorsport. This time McLaren wanted to run the show themselves and they seem to have grossly underestimated the challenge they were facing. Bob Fernley (Former team boss at Force India F1) was tapped to run the project, and possibly to run future projects like their Lemans ambitions but this was such a gong show that he got axed. I would love to know the whole story but if I had to guess Fernley was in way over his head and Zak Brown stepped in far too late to fix the problems.
I hope the sponsorship money wasn't paid unless the car made the race! Those companies could still get on a couple of cars that were prepared for the race and actually made the field!
Juncos reportedly has signed over 30 new sponsors since they bumped Alonso.
I'm just amazed, David, that you're able to get the die-cast models of this year's Indy 500 so soon! Here in India, it really is hard to get hold of IndyCar models and even IndyCar race coverage! Hard for fans here.
the Indy 500 to Indycar is what the Knoxville Nationals are to sprint car racing. The field is dense, the chances of making the race are so slim that even the best drivers could miss the race. it's all about the grueling fight to be the winner and it starts just by making it.
I see David Land in Kimoa hat....I click like. You have got me so hooked on Indy this year after watching your build up over the last few months. Thank you.
gotta be honest Jenna isn't exactly my go to journo, but she absolutely knock it out of the park with this one
The saying is "There are 2 kinds of drivers at the Speedway. Those that have hit the wall and those that are going to."
Had Alonso not had the falling out with Honda they wouldn't have had to go low tier with Carlin. The paint is a minor detail Mclaren had a superiority complex with coming from F1 but they underestimated the task at hand. McLaren needs to decide do they want to split their resources between F1 and Indy to be competitive in one series or the other.
Low tier? It's a spec series with 2 engines that it every car will be able to perform with the proper team behind the car. McLaren has money the honda wouldn't have helped when clearly it was McLaren being unprepared.
McLaren you had one job and you still screwed it up
Was it just me, who thought you were on the brink of bursting out laughing, throughout this video? lol
Great commentary! Spot on with your remarks. I cannot overstate what a train wreck McLaren’s preparation and overall management execution was with this event. Alonzo excused, there are not enough swords for them to all fall on for this disgraceful performance. Hopefully they learned some valuable lessons that will help next year and possibly even help with their F1 teams.
I would be shocked if Alonso ever drives a Mclaren race car again
People been thinking that for years now. I'm for one am also stumped why in the fuck he is still bothering to try with those idiots. The grand Mclaren ship has been at drift for years now. No idea how they manage to float from one shitshow to another. And seeing the state their F1 team has been in for quite some time now i don't know wtf they are doing taking on Indy aswell. They have problems enough to sort out on the F1 side without going around making an ass of themselfs in other racingclasses to boot.
Alonso is not just the racing driver , he is also a mayor shareholder in McLaren racing
the question is who lost the steering wheel from the time the car was loaded onto the truck (cant see em doing that without a steering wheel) and when they pulled into the track at Texas
It's funny how every competitive car Alonso drives he is able to win in!...Except McLaren and I actually like McLaren...We'll see what happens in the future...Now Alonso will get ready for Le Man!
Its weird right? every other non-mclaren car that Alonso drive, he will be beast
also they had an issue on Sunday because one of their engineers didn't convert their setup from inches to metric correctly....
I honestly still can’t believe that Carlos Munoz didn’t get an offer or a drive from any teams
That is a very sad thing indeed.
Fantastic video David. From where I sit, this has been the best 500 in quite a while, and we haven't even had the race yet!
I hope McLaren tries again. I hope McLaren does a full time entry, with Conor Daly as a driver, how epic would that be!
This is the stuff legendary events are made of. I think the world racing scene is taking notice that whoa, that stuff is no joke back there in the States.
Ironic to think the last time a big scalp was caught out (Penske 1995) the series suffered the CART-IRL civil war afterwards. The Indy 500's reputation as one of the biggest marquee events of the motorsport calendar has finally been restored worldwide.
Obviously pure coincidence but...you DO have a point. Question is will the Indy 500 sustain this restored credibility going forward that it had before the CART-IRL war. Hopefully yes, or at least until the next big scalp.
@@TC-uy8ng It has to if it wants to become popular again as a series and the Indy 500 event
R.I.P Nicki Lauda. You will never be forgotten
This disappoints me because of the fact Mclaren did not demostrate the due respect on what Indy 500 was, is and represents.
When your a multi-billion dollar organization and you get bumped from the 500 by Clausen racing and Junco,s that is really bad.These small teams only have the fraction of the $ that McLaren have and got it done.Makes it so much more sweet for Pippa Mann and Kyle Kaiser.They have to be so proud.
I agree, I think McLaren feels embarrassed by this situation and will make it their priority to come back with a vengeance next year. I wouldn't be surprised if a few people loose their jobs over this.
I read this article when it first dropped and I seriously thought it was satire. Unbelievable.
I like your perspective regarding McLaren. They NEED to save face. At this level it should NEVER have happened. Someone dropped the ball. Getting a team together and racing at Texas. Smart move. McLaren can't just walk away from this. To say that it was embarrassing to the brand and to the company is an understatement. This can be a great thing in the long run if McLaren follows your advice regarding Texas. To leave a back up car not prepared, or to not use it irregardless of paint that was just plain dumb.
This all boils to a sheer lack of awareness and understanding of the nuances of what it takes to make the Indy 500. Partnering with Carlin was a mistake. They didn't have the experience to give McLaren pointers to get to grips with the car. I understand they tried to partner with ECR and it didn't come to fruition. McLaren should be ashamed, and rightfully getting beat up in the international press. As for their commitment, they have to expand the program to more than one race.
I heard that the car was also geared incorrectly and thats yet another reason they only hit 227. The car was literally set up so it couldn't go any faster. Had they geared it correctly it would have made up at least a little bit for some of their other issues.
What a boondoggle from beginning to end.
The teams, Sporting Director, an IndyCar champion, Indy 500 winner, current close course speed record holder, and a former employee (driver) of Penske, who should know, "The Penske Way", of race operations, Gil De ferran, dropped the ball, IMO.
Donald M. Gawron 100%. deFerren’s the guy with the most recent Indy experience not Fernley, he should have been more on top of this than anyone especially as he knows the level of preparation it takes to be successful there. “Honestly Gil, what is it you do again at McLaren to earn a paycheck?” And his grovelling at the presser was sickening.
This farce is absolutely unacceptable. This is a legendary outfit with decades of experience across many disciplines and an infinite budget; McLaren should have known better.
The paint thing was ridiculous considering how Juncos didn't even finish the wrap for the car that bumped Alonso.
Sad considering Alonso really wasn't at fault in all this; he couldn't have done any better on Sunday.
David i asked that question on Twitter what would it take for Fernando Alonso McLaren and them to go racing at Texas cause that backup car is setup for Texas well tested but man that would be something
Alonso was pure class and I hope he comes back a few more times and gets a top notch ride. He was the adult in the room in this entire drama. He answered the silly questions and made no excuses. He drove the car past the limit every time. My admiration for the guy grew immensely through this and I've always respected his talent and persona.
I believe this proves how the F1 snobs look down their noses at Indy. They all figure it would be a cake-walk to at the very least qualify at or near the top.
Alonso will be presumably be looking at Andretti, Ganassi and Penske for a full time seat next season. If he wants the triple crown, commit to the series.
All of your fans need to tweet at RJ Reynolds for them to sponsor Juncos
If "Fred" truly wants to win the Indy 500, he needs to be full time in the series, and he needs to be with a team who knows how to win. Sadly McLaren Carlin racing DOES NOT know how to do that!
I think it was actually because he was sponsored by a vapor brand.
The moment the Texas test debacle happened Brown should have made changes. Tbh he should have know before that, things weren't going well. Brown tries to pin blame on a lot of factors, but at the end if the day this all starts with him
4:25 Thats why Mclaren needs Raikkonen
He'll never return to Woking.
So they were too worried about how the car looked instead of making sure it was prepared for the track? Good going McLaren!
I called it 2 years ago. People didn't believe me but here we are.
It was a joke at first.. but now I think it went too far.
McLaren why.
David, first, get some aloe on that sunburn... Second, breathe deeply, again... hold it... again. Now, the world will continue without interruption. FWIIW, I think this is good for Indy car racing as a whole. F1 may scoff a bit, but the rules are the rules and Indy car didn't been them just to keep one guy or one team in the race, even if he was a great fan draw and a class act Two time World Champion. To the specifics, in any organization, its leader can delegate authority but can never, delegate responsibility. It seems to me McLaren thought it could just blow into town and because of who they are, they would be a big deal. You hit it right toward the end, the Indy 500 is heightened by this. Good on Indy Car for the way it has handled the whole thing. And if someone is thinking to sell out their spot to Alonso and McLaren, I hope they realize in selling they'll never find another sponsor if they take the money and run. Good job, as always.
F1 fans are by no means mad at anyone at IndyCar. They are mad at McLaren themselves.
3:49 Assetto Corsa RSS Formula Hybrid 2017 screen lol!
I was about to bring up the Penske cars in 95 when they had Rahal liveries. I think the 2017 McLaren Formula 1 cars had a different shade of orange compared to what they have now. At least they could have focused on qualifying for the 500 and then getting the color right for the race.
don't supposed Andretti Racing is the face of Mclaren for the event ( indy 500 )??
This is mind boggling, however, it shows where McLaren's priorities were.
I dont understand how Fernley, the man who took SFI to 2 4th place seasons in F1with a shoe string budget, could be so INCREDIBLY incompetent with a 1 race program.
Great that you mentioned Munoz and Hildebrand. They're the two best drivers out there who don't have rides because they don't have the money to buy one.
According to the BBC's F1 writers (who might have been getting their information from the same source you did; it's very late my time and I'm not reading the article in full tonight, apologies all around), the steering wheel cock-up gets worse. McLaren originally wanted to build their own wheel, realized at the 11th hour that they didn't have time, and rushed to buy one from Cosworth before the Texas test. It arrived AT THE TEST with no shifting paddles; when confronted, Cosworth told McLaren that they had to order the shifters separately. Oodles of time down the drain right there.
This is actually good for the small teams. They will get lots of coverage for their qualifying.
You know when I heard Alonzo was coming in and I started talking about people getting bumped I thought back to that one wasted year when Michael went over to McLaren and it's like something was just wrong with the program and I said wouldn't it be ironic if that Andretti curse came back and flew back and bit McLaren because they turned down the hand of somebody who is experienced like him and not only did they have to end up getting help anyways but I think Penske was also consulted.
"You know, when I heard Alonzo was coming in, I started talking about people getting bumped and I thought back to that one wasted year when Michael went over to McLaren. It's like something was just wrong with the program. I said: " wouldn't it be ironic if that Andretti curse came back and flew back (sic) and bit McLaren?". Because they turned down the hand of somebody who is experienced like him. Not only did they end up getting help anyways but I think Penske was also consulted."
Fixed for you.
So, McLaren is basically the IndyCar Team equivalent of Fyre Festival.
I think the saying is
...those that haven't hit the wall & those that are gonna hit the wall... juncos kept at it & got it done, is amazing to think of in those terms...very small race team with lots of ❤...IMS likes that, history proves it
I'm so disappointed Alonso will not be racing, I grew up a McLaren fan and watching senna vs prost and it's sad what is happening to this company. Bring back Ron
Agreed.
Besides Penske in '95, I remember Eddie Cheever in '93 slapping a Quorum sticker on a back-up Menards car to make the field.