INDIANAPOLIS – Fernando Alonso is committed to competing at the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500.

Beyond that, who knows?

Following his return to an Indy car cockpit Tuesday for a test at Texas Motor Speedway, the two-time Formula One world champion admitted that he considered racing full-time in the NTT IndyCar Series this season. Ultimately, though, he decided the IndyCar slate was "too intense" given he was already running the full FIA World Endurance Championship schedule, along with other commitments.

"It was not this year, but I think it is not out of the question for the future," the Spanish superstar said. "Right now I’m not thinking about it.”

Alonso's feeling about future 500 entries is similar. If he doesn't secure the final jewel in his triple crown this year, he could see himself coming back to take another crack at it in the years to follow.

"That’s a possibility, definitely a possibility," said Alonso, who already owns the first two jewels with his victories at 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix. "Hopefully we can be competitive at least this year and feel that adrenaline, that magic that only the Indy 500 has."

The mission toward building that perfect Memorial Day weekend started with Tuesday's test at TMS, which saw him ripping around the oval in his papaya orange No. 66 McLaren Indy Chevrolet.

The car, Alonso confessed, felt somewhat foreign to him — not a huge surprise given that at his debut Indianapolis 500 in 2017, he was piloting an Indy car in the final year of the competitive aero kit era.

While he did have a brief encounter with the new universal aero kit last year during his Andretti Autosport road course test at Barber Motorsports Park, Alonso had never driven it on an oval.

Of course, he'd also never driven at TMS before Tuesday.

"This car that turns left self-steering a little bit," Alonso said. "So, again, some weird feeling for me to try to get used to with the speedway, especially with a lot of banking on the corner, especially Turns 3 and 4. It’s different than Indianapolis, but hopefully a good preparation for us."

As for the aero kit, "It’s too early to say because I am not up to speed. I guess listening to everyone in the last year, I think there will be less downforce. They can be more trickier to drive, especially following. Today’s not a problem because I am alone. But I guess it’s going to be challenging, especially this year I am not with the Andretti, let’s say, environment. It’s all by ourselves this year.”

To Alonso's point about not having Andretti to lean on this year, Tuesday was not only about getting Alonso re-acclimated with an Indy car but getting his team comfortable, as well.

While McLaren ally Carlin Motorsports will assist with some of the technical and logistical aspects of the entry, there's a lot for Alonso and his team to learn ahead of the April 24 test at IMS and May.

"I think it is quite important to set up everything as a team," Alonso said. "Who does what in the team, also the pit wall, the facility is completely new for everyone (and) to try to solve as many problems here and at the open test."

Johnny Rutherford, the three-time Indy 500 winner — twice for McLaren — was on hand for Tuesday's test. Alonso complimented Rutherford for providing some insight into tackling the TMS oval and making sure he and the team stayed safe and didn't make any critical mistakes.

Alonso said Tuesday's test was only the beginning of what will be an intense preparation period. Though he owns first-hand knowledge of the 500 — and the pomp and circumstance that surrounds it — he plans to "start from zero." He plans to review as many 500s as he can get his hands on while spending as much — if not more — time in the simulator as possible.

His approach is to over-prepare, "take nothing for granted" and hope for the best come race day.

"In terms of winning, we know how difficult it is," said Alonso, who led laps in the 2017 Indy 500 before his engine quit. "We respect all of the race; we respect our competitors, and you need a little bit of luck. It has to be your day and probably the race has to choose you, in a way, to win. We are aware of that. Some things are out of our hands, so we just concentrate on everything we can do as a team and make a perfect race. and the outcome of the race, we’ll see at the end."

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