Andretti, McLaren put 1993 behind them

Mentioning the name "McLaren" to Michael Andretti was once a surefire way to put the IndyCar legend in a defensive stance.

"I could literally write a book about it," he said in 2013 on the 20th anniversary of the painful, partial season of Formula 1 he spent with the team. "But in doing so I'm going to expose a lot of people, in doing so I'm going to sound like sour grapes. And that's the only thing. You know, it was never going to work."

His role as McLaren's second driver alongside three-time F1 champ Ayrton Senna in 1993 was, as many recall, an exercise in futility, and at the heart of Andretti's frustration was former McLaren boss Ron Dennis. Many chapters could be dedicated to all that went wrong when the 1992 CART IndyCar champion crossed the pond to take on F1 with one of its top teams, and as we've seen this month at Indy, a warmer epilogue is being written.

The unexpected turnaround only became possible when Dennis was replaced late last year by Zak Brown (pictured). Decades of disenfranchisement toward the Grand Prix team has been eased in large part by Brown's insertion, and without Dennis' departure, Andretti says there's no way he would have considered partnering with his old nemesis to run Fernando Alonso in a join Andretti Autosport/McLaren entry for the Indy 500.

"Absolutely; I had gone from being not much of a fan of McLaren to being one of their biggest fans," he told RACER. "It is so cool that Zak got in there and what he is doing. I'm so excited about our association with them. I'm hoping there's a future with all of us together."

Although Dennis won't be receiving an invite from the defending Indy 500 winners to attend Alonso's IndyCar debut, the name "McLaren" actually brings a smile to Andretti's face when it's raised.

"It is funny," Andretti continued. "McLaren just replaced one guy with another guy and look at how a whole company can change. It's great to see that in McLaren. You can see it with the people, everybody just feels ... it's a lot happier environment than it used to be."

Brown shared similar thoughts about Andretti from McLaren’s perspective. “He’s a racer, as big a racer as you get; his dad’s great, [and] his team has made us feel so welcome with Fernando,” he said.

Asked if the happy new relationship with McLaren could open the door to invitations to sample some of its vast vintage racecar collection, including the McLaren MP4/8-Ford he drove in 1993, Andretti closed the conversation with a self-deprecating laugh: "I would never fit in it!"

Alonso will start fifth on Sunday in the No. 29 Andretti-McLaren Honda.