Rain delay, electrical issue hit Alonso's return to Indy

Fernando Alonso's return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday was hit by a weather delay and an electrical issue, but the Spaniard still declared himself happy to be back at the Brickyard.

Alonso and McLaren have entered the thick of their preparations for the 103rd running of the Indy 500 that will take place on May 26, but it was a rough start for team and driver.

Unlike the two-time world champion's previous visit to the IMS, when the running of Alonso's car was entrusted to Andretti Autosport, McLaren is tackling this year's race on its own, with some operational help from Carlin.

As part of Wednesday's mandatory evaluation and refresher programmes for rookies and veterans, Alonso completed 29 laps, clocking in last of nine drivers with an average speed of 218.690mph.

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But the progress of the No 66 McLaren Chevrolet was hampered by an electrical issue at the start of Alonso's first practice run and a bout of bad weather that washed out part of the afternoon, restricting running and preventing the Spaniard from completing his refresher test.

"It's good to be back, to feel again the magic of the place," enthused Alonso despite the set-backs.

"Unfortunately, the weather was not stable enough to follow the times that we had in terms of practice.

"Yeah, at the end, it was not enough laps and not enough time on the car to get the proper feeling."

Alonso added that his car's electrical issue wasn't a total surprise as it was the first time the team's new Dallara chassis had seen the light of day.

"For us, obviously, we lost a little bit of time at the beginning," he said.

"This was more or less expected because, as I said, it was a brand new chassis, brand new car.

"Everything fit in the last week. We expect to run slowly, step by step, short runs at the beginning. It's what we did.

"So, yeah, if we could probably have the (initial) laps at midday, maybe you discover these issues, then you have hours to work on the car, be ready for the afternoon.

"The weather delays everything. You do the lap at 5:30 p.m., and there is no room to get back on track on time."

Alonso admitted that McLaren running its own show this year at Indy was a tall order, but one he hopes will lead to big benefits.

"I think we have to do everything by ourselves, not only in terms of setup-wise, on the technical side," said the 37-year-old.

"It's also on the operational side, also on the strategy, tyre management, the comfort side in terms of precision, steering wheel grip, basic things that they were ready with Andretti.

"Yeah, basically it's a bigger challenge. But it could be a bigger reward as well.

"I think some of the philosophy or directions that McLaren may go in the next month, maybe now is a little bit different.

"With Andretti, we just followed what we knew what was working. In a way, it was easier. But maybe now we can discover new things. That's our hopes."

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