Alonso stunned by U.S. reaction to Indy switch
Fernando Alonso admits he has been shocked by the American reaction to his Indy 500 switch after visiting the United States this week.
Following the announcement that he will race a McLaren-Andretti Honda in the 500, Alonso traveled to Barber Motorsports Park for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama before a run in the Honda simulator at Indianapolis. While the Spaniard is none the wiser in terms of how difficult the car will be to drive competitively at the Brickyard, he says the impact of his switch hit home during his visit.
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] I don't know exactly how tough the challenge will be on the track with those cars," Alonso said. "But what is for sure is the impression of how big this Indy 500 [announcement] has increased in my opinion after these days."How the people get super excited about the race there, how important the race is there for everyone and these last three or four days, I walk in the airport in Indianapolis or in Chicago and everyone's stopping me, shaking hands, wishing me good luck so it was like being in Spain for a moment!
"So definitely a big change in America for this race, I saw also the audience on television was 50 percent more on that race, so definitely a bigger impact than what I thought at the beginning, but in terms of the challenge of the race itself, I don't know.
"I remain very open of how difficult it will be to drive those cars and to drive at those speeds in traffic etcetera, and also the random factor of the yellow flag and the safety cars so it's extremely difficult task but I'm ready to learn as much as I can and be hopefully competitive."
Alonso had plenty of time to kill in the airport after his initial flight out of New York was canceled due to the weather, and says he noticed a clear difference compared to his previous visits to the States.
"The biggest surprise of this weekend or the last five days was the impact of this news and how many people recognized me in those moments and in the airport. I'm used to walking around in America quite relaxed and I used to spend holidays in the U.S. because no one recognized you and you want some privacy and it was not like that in the airport at least."
The two-time Formula 1 World Champion will return to Indianapolis next week in order to test at the speedway.
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