Indy 500: Bourdais tops Fast Friday, Alonso fourth

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Fernando Alonso put in the fourth fastest time on Friday, the final day of practice for the Indianapolis 500 prior to qualifying.

The two-time Formula 1 world champion clocked a best lap of 38.8220s on the two and a half mile superspeedway. That was just 0.2146s off the fastest time set by former Toro Rosso driver and four-time Champ Car champion Sebastian Bourdais. Last year's Indy 500 winner, former Manor F1 driver Alexander Rossi, was tenth fastest.

"There's never a bad day when you're at the front," said Bourdais, who is driving for Dale Coyne Racing this season.

After four full days of practice, Friday was the first time drivers got a horsepower boost as the focus turned to qualifying simulations. Alonso's lap speed of 231.827mph was six miles per hour faster than his previous best during the week so far.

"I think at the end of the day when you're driving the car you don't realize if you are six or seven miles [per hour] faster," he said, when asked if he could feel the difference on track.

"You always want an extra mile to be able to go faster," he added. "We're quite happy. It was another day of learning those extra speeds."

Practice on Friday was halted for over two hours because of rain sweeping across the area. Spectators were advised to seek shelter because of possible storms. There were also two accidents during the day, with Spencer Pigot hitting the SAFER barrier in turn 2 in the #11 Juncos Racing Chevrolet. Rookie driver Zach Veach subsequently hit the wall in turn 1 in the #40 AJ Foyt Chevy.

Alonso preps for 'most horrible laps ever'

"Today was obviously a little bit stressful with the rain coming," Alonso said, admitting that the disruption had affected the day's programme.

"We tried to fit as many laps as possible in the [early afternoon]," he continued. "We managed to fit another two runs late in the day."

Alonso's best time on Friday was set with the help of an aerodynamic 'pull' from a car ahead of him on track. Qualifying runs see cars head out individually. But even in times set without a 'tow', Alonso was fifth fastest on Friday.

All drivers are guaranteed at least one qualifying run on Saturday. Each driver makes four laps at speed, with the total time setting their grid position. The order that they go out is determined by a random draw.

McLaren executive director Zak Brown was on hand to make the draw on Alonso's behalf. The #29 McLaren-Honda-Andretti car got the 33rd slot, about midway through the order.

Once the first runs are complete, drivers can make further qualifying attempts to improve their position.

Saturday's qualifying only determines who will compete for a starting position on the front three rows of the grid. It doesn't set any actual grid positions, which has to wait until Sunday.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.