Fernando Alonso's dream of completing the unofficial Triple Crown of motorsport hangs in the balance today after the two-time world champion failed to qualify for this year's Indianapolis 500.
“We need to stay calm,” Alonso said as he faced a Bump Day 'showdown' to secure a place in the race. “It’s a different moment for everyone on the team and for me, but there’s not much we can do now."
Saturday saw almost seven hours of qualifying action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in which 36 cars were vying for just 33 grid spots available in next Sunday's race.
Alonso made four runs during the afternoon. His first was compromised by a puncture to the right-rear tyre of the #66 McLaren Racing Chevrolet, while handling issues left him well off the pace in the second before improving in the third.
"In the morning, the conditions weren’t too bad," Alonso commented. "But things were moving quickly. We went out at 1pm and had a puncture at that time. We waited to go out later when the conditions were cooler, and they were, so we took a chance and tried to improve. But it wasn’t enough.”
His final and best run saw him reach 227.224mph over a four-lap average with half an hour remaining. That put him into 29th position - and provisionally in the race - but he was subsequently demoted to 31st by improved late runs from Felix Rosenqvist, JR Hildebrand and Graham Rahal.
Under this year's Indy rules, the bottom six cars on the timesheets now go into a separate one-hour showdown to decide who makes the race and lines up on the back row. Alonso faces strong competition from Max Chilton, Patricio O'Ward, Sage Karam and Kyle Kaiser.
©McLaren
Also trying to fight his way into the race is James Hinchcliffe, who suffered a violent accident during his initial qualifying lap that wrecked his primary race car. Unhurt from the crash, Hinchcliffe spent the rest of the afternoon trying unsuccessfully to get his spare 'T' car up to speed.
The Bump Day session is due to take place on Sunday but inclement weather may force that to be rolled over to Monday or Tuesday. However, Indy officials have promised that all six drivers will get one more chance to make the race.
Even so, Alonso was facing the reality of his situation after yesterday's session.
"The speed we have is not enough to be in the top 30," he admitted. “We didn’t have the speed, so we are where we deserve today
“I hope tomorrow we have another chance to be in the race. If we can’t make it, we can’t make it, and it’s because we don’t deserve it.”
"We will try to do something overnight," he added. "But there is not much we can find from one day to the next. Hopefully it’s enough to get into the top three positions of the six.
©McLaren
Alonso admitted that it had been a tough week, which included a heavy crash during Wednesday's practice that left McLaren on the back foot heading into qualifying.
“It has been difficult for us [all week], but small issues do not help. We did the maximum we could do. Unfortunately it seems we were not super perfect.”
Positions 10 through 30 on the grid are now locked, but a Q3-style pole shoot-out among those in the top nine to decide exactly where they start on the front three rows could still go ahead - if the weather permits.
Currently Spencer Pigot sits on provisional pole by 0.002mph over Will Power, whose Penske team mate Simon Pagenaud is currently set to join them on the three-wide front row.
If today's Fast Nine session is rained off then Saturday's result will set the grid - but Bump Day will still go ahead at the earliest opportunity.
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