Insider: McLaren seems destined to be part of IndyCar's future — one way or another

Jim Ayello | IndyStar

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DETROIT – McLaren’s arrival in the Verizon IndyCar Series is beginning to feel assured. That was the sense of many in the IndyCar community after McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, team consultant Gil de Ferran and other officials from the prestigious Formula One racing program visited the series while it was in Detroit for last weekend’s doubleheader.

IndyStar confirmed previous reports Brown and company visited the Motor City to speak with multiple teams about exploring options for entering the series. The assumption is that McLaren is eyeing a partnership with an already established program, but Brown declined to comment on the nature of his talks or to even confirm that McLaren is definitely expanding its racing operations to include a spot in IndyCar.

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However, there is a growing sense within the IndyCar paddock about what a McLaren entry might look like and some potential questions it will have to answer before entering the series.

Here are a few observations following McLaren’s two-day exploratory mission in Detroit.

Zak Brown’s change of heart

Following McLaren's shocking 2017 Indianapolis 500 entry with superstar Fernando Alonso, Brown was asked about the likelihood of McLaren expanding into IndyCar — or any other series — and he repeatedly declared restoring the lost luster to its Formula One program was his top priority.

Fast-forward a year, and Brown was in Detroit with a contingent of McLaren representatives exploring the possibility of entering IndyCar.

So what changed?

Certainly not McLaren’s F1 trajectory. After seven races, the team is only slightly better than it's been the past few years but remain nowhere near contention for race wins or podiums. Neither Alonso nor teammate Stoffel Vandoorne have tallied either, and their 40 points combined would only put them sixth in the championship, well behind leader Lewis Hamilton (110 points).

Alonso is reportedly growing increasingly frustrated with his team’s inability to provide him a car competitive enough to contend for meaningful results, leading to speculation the 36-year-old Spaniard wants to continue his racing career elsewhere.

"I spoke with Alonso in Monaco and got the impression that he will not continue (in F1)," former F1 driver Martin Brundle told Autoweek recently.

Other reports out of Europe suggest Alonso is fed up and open to trying another form of motor sport. Is that what led to Brown’s visit to Detroit?

Of course, only Brown can reveal his true motivations for the exploratory visit, but some in the IndyCar paddock believe Alonso’s frustration is among the primary instigators. They believe Brown might be trying to appease his superstar and given the joy he expressed while competing in the 500 last year, this could be the perfect avenue to keep him content.

Also, given the F1's teams struggles, IndyCar could be the place McLaren tries to re-establish a culture of success.

Of course, Brown could have myriad other reasons for bringing McLaren to America. For one, not only does McLaren have American roots -- having won three Indianapolis 500s -- but so does Brown. The California native and former Indy Lights driver founded the highly successful motorsports marketing agency, Just Marketing International, whose first headquarters was in Indianapolis.

A move to IndyCar also would give McLaren a bigger presence in the United States for which to market its luxury road cars.

Ryan Hunter-Reay wins in Detroit Andretti Autosport driver Ryan Hunter-Reay describes the pivotal laps of Sunday's Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, in which he was chasing down teammate Alexander Rossi.

If there’s a deal, it will be with Andretti Autosport

This is a sentiment many within the paddock seem to share. While Brown has stated McLaren attended the doubleheader in Detroit to explore its options, there didn’t appear to be a whole lot of exploring going on. Team representatives spoke with a handful of IndyCar teams, but a majority of their weekend was spent in the company of Andretti Autosport officials.

So if McLaren is coming to IndyCar — and is intent on teaming up with an established team — that leads to a pair of interesting questions: 1) Is Andretti preparing to expand to at least a six-car fleet? and 2) Will McLaren be OK with sharing the spotlight with another prestigious team?

Let’s explore that first question a bit. Andretti Autosport already boasts the largest squad in the series, and it’s difficult to imagine the team squeezing any of them out to fit in a McLaren entry.

Alexander Rossi is Andretti’s top championship contender — as of Monday — and is an up-and-coming superstar with significant ties to Honda and NAPA.

Detroit Dual 2 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay remains a title contender and his primary sponsor, DHL, has deep roots within the Andretti organization and is the longest standing full-time sponsor in the series.

Though he has struggled the past few years, Marco Andretti will have a seat driving for his father’s team (along with Bryan Herta) for as long as he wants one.

That leaves rookie Zach Veach, who is in the first year of a three-year deal with Andretti and who brought a rather significant sponsor to the table in Group One Thousand One.

That's four, and it doesn’t even include the pending union with successful Indy Lights program, Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing. The pilot of that one-car operation is teenage phenom Colton Herta, Bryan Herta’s son. It seems highly unlikely Andretti or Bryan Herta would allow a talent like Colton Herta to drive for a competitor.

So if McLaren does partner with Andretti, that could mean expanding to a six-car program. That’s a monster challenge for Andretti during May, let alone an entire season.

Now, to address the second question, about sharing the spotlight with another marquee team. While it makes some sense for McLaren to align itself with an already established program — both financially and competitively — it seems odd that a team with its lineage would be OK sharing the spotlight with Andretti for an entire season.

McLaren is already a worldwide brand with a spot in the most prestigious open-wheel series in the world (F1), along with three 500 victories. Considering the immense resources it has its disposal — the controlling owner of the McLaren Group is the mega wealthy Bahraini royal family — does it really need an IndyCar partner? What’s more, does Andretti really want to share its hard-earned trade secrets with a program like McLaren, which has the resources to become a major competitor in a short amount of time?

Maybe. Perhaps there is a temporary deal that can be struck that benefits both programs, but the details of that partnership would be fascinating.

McLaren/Alonso’s public flogging of Honda could be a roadblock

If McLaren joins IndyCar as a partner of Andretti for 2019, that likely means a renewed partnership with Honda, a company McLaren went out of its way to insult after ending its F1 relationship with the engine maker. To be clear, their F1 relationship was a disaster. Three years together resulted in zero wins, zero podiums and a lot of noncompetitive, unreliable Honda engines.

However, these two seemed to get off on the wrong foot and never recovered. The public airing of grievances — especially from a frustrated Alonso — started early.

In the first year of their relationship, 2015, Alonso criticized Honda’s power unit, comparing it to a “GP2 engine.” (GP2 is now Formula 2, a stepladder series to F1.) That was the earliest public slap in Honda’s face, but the jabs kept coming throughout the years until Alonso reportedly became so frustrated last year that he issued an ultimatum to McLaren: Either Honda goes or I go.

Alonso denied doing so, but ahead of the 2018 F1 season, McLaren backed out of its mega contract with Honda and signed with Renault.

Then, not long after forging the partnership with Renault, McLaren released a video announcing Alonso’s return to the team. In the video, the team takes a jab at its former engine partner with team COO Jonathan Neale happily learning how to say “My engine is good” in Spanish.

Grudges aren’t easily forgiven and forgotten in the insular world of motor sports, and you can be sure Honda isn’t pleased with the manner in which McLaren elected to walk out the door.

However, there are a few reasons to believe this might not be a problem. They begin with de Ferran, the former IndyCar star who recently signed on as a McLaren consulstant. De Ferran is said to be beloved by Honda, with whom he won many races as a driver and whom he aligned with on many occasions after his racing career ended (most recently as a technical consultant for Honda Performance Development).

Might he have been brought in by Brown, in part, to help ease tensions with Honda?

Another reason to believe ill will between McLaren and Honda might not be an issue is that McLaren’s jabs were directed at Honda Japan, not Honda North America, which oversees HPD. While both operate under the same roof, a slight of one might not necessarily be problematic for the other. If a partnership looms, Honda Japan will likely make its feelings clear, but Honda North America could opt to look beyond past problems if a deal made sense.

Finally, Andretti Autosport’s latest deal with HPD was only for two years. Perhaps a McLaren-Andretti partnership could wait until 2020, or perhaps Andretti could back out of its partnership after this season. That is not to say either is likely, only that it’s possible.

In fact, many things are possible in these early stages. However, if there is one thing that is clear, it's that McLaren seems destined to be a part of IndyCar's future, in one way or another.

Follow IndyStar Motor Sports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter and Facebook: @jimayello.