Zak Brown has never been shy about playing the long game with Fernando Alonso — and he’s still keeping the door ajar for one last tilt at the Indianapolis 500 in McLaren colours.
In conversations that sound less like formal negotiations and more like a standing paddock joke that won’t die, McLaren’s CEO says he continues to nudge the two-time F1 world champion about returning to the Brickyard. The message is simple: if Alonso wants another crack at the one major prize missing from his collection, he already knows where Brown’s office is.
McLaren’s IndyCar operation has made a habit of stretching to a fourth entry for the 500, and that flexibility is what keeps this idea alive. The “extra car” policy has previously opened the gate not just for Alonso, but also for names like Juan Pablo Montoya, Tony Kanaan and Kyle Larson. This year it’s Ryan Hunter-Reay taking the slot, returning to Indianapolis with Arrow McLaren alongside the team’s regulars Pato O’Ward, Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel.
Hunter-Reay, the 2014 winner, framed it as a serious shot rather than a nostalgia run when the deal was announced. He spoke openly about the appeal of representing a team with McLaren’s weight and resources — and, crucially, about coming “agonisingly close” to a win last year and wanting to finish the job. That’s the subtext here: McLaren believes it can win the 500, and it wants proven big-event performers in the cockpit when the moment presents itself.
Brown is adamant Alonso still fits that brief.
“I talk to him about it like every time I see him,” Brown said, explaining that McLaren has a car capable of winning the Indy 500 and that Alonso is “very capable” of doing the same. Brown also made it clear he hasn’t forgotten what the partnership felt like the first time around — the sense of occasion, the attention, and the sporting logic of dropping a top-tier circuit racer into one of the most specialist events on the planet.
Alonso’s Indy story remains a mix of genuine pace and sharp-edged disappointment. In 2017, he skipped the Monaco Grand Prix during a difficult season for McLaren in Formula 1 and arrived in Indianapolis looking anything but a novelty act. He qualified fifth, led 27 laps, and looked like a real factor before an engine failure ended the run.
The second attempt, in 2019, was the one that really stung: Alonso failed to qualify for the 33-car field. In 2020, he made the grid in 26th but a clutch issue pushed him out of the fight for a top-10 result. Three tries, no 500 win — and for a driver wired the way Alonso is, that sort of unfinished business tends to sit on the shoulder.
And yet, in 2026, it’s not as simple as circling a date on the calendar.
Alonso has been consistent about where his priorities lie. Speaking previously via Aston Martin’s official channels, he described Formula 1 as his focus and said winning the world championship with Aston Martin would be “the highlight” of his career — “probably my life”. He also reiterated that Dakar remains on his wishlist, and while the Indy 500 is obviously part of the broader ambition, he stopped short of committing to another go.
That uncertainty is exactly why Brown’s public courtship matters. It keeps the option warm without forcing a decision, and it puts a McLaren-shaped answer in front of Alonso whenever he starts thinking about life’s remaining competitive boxes to tick.
For McLaren, there’s upside in more than just the romance of a superstar cameo. Alonso at Indianapolis still cuts through the noise in a way few drivers can: sponsors notice, television notices, and the paddock notices. But Brown’s framing is telling — it’s not “come do a fun run”, it’s “come win it”. McLaren doesn’t need the spectacle; it wants the trophy, and it believes Alonso can still deliver the kind of ruthless, high-pressure execution the 500 demands.
Whether that aligns with Alonso’s own calculus is the real question. Every additional programme is a trade: preparation time, physical load, and mental bandwidth. The Indy 500 isn’t something you slot into an empty week, even for someone with Alonso’s adaptability. And if his stated dream is to land an F1 title with Aston Martin, then any distraction has to be worth it — not just as an experience, but as a final, sharp attempt at completing the set.
Brown, though, is clearly prepared to keep asking. In his words, it’s something he’ll “continue to bug him about”.
In motorsport, doors rarely stay open forever. But when a team boss is the one holding it — and the driver on the other side is Fernando Alonso — you get the sense this conversation still has a few chapters left.
