Brown weighing options on Alonso's Indy future

A game of intercontinental chess is playing out between Verizon IndyCar Series and Formula 1 teams that could determine when – or if – Fernando Alonso appears in an IndyCar again.

If Andretti and the Zak Brown-led McLaren team both stick with the Japanese brand, a second attempt to win the Indy 500 as co-entrants could be little more than a formality. Should either side move forward with a new manufacturer, the odds become less favorable.

"[It's] 50-50; it could make a difference or not make a difference," Brown told RACER. "It really depends where our Honda relationship goes as to whether it's important there would be a Honda engine in the car."

Outside of the engine supplier questions, Alonso's Indy 500 involvement – or a possible transition to full-time IndyCar participation – will be driven by where his signature lands on a new contract. One thing that won't happen, according to Brown, is a second IndyCar appearance by Alonso in 2017.

The McLaren executive was happy to quash speculation regarding Alonso returning to Andretti Autosport in a fifth entry for the Sonoma championship finale that have made the rounds in North America.

"It's completely crazy," he said. "He would have to first make that request through us, which he has not, and that [Sonoma] event conflicts with F1 in Singapore. It's fake news."

England's Jack Harvey, who made his IndyCar debut alongside Alonso in a Michael Shank Racing-Andretti Indy 500 effort, is tipped to fill the fifth Sonoma seat.