Brown: ‘Dangerous’ for McLaren to think Indy will be easy

Zak Brown

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has stressed that the organisation must approach its venture at the Indianapolis 500 with humility, rather than rest on its Formula 1 laurels.

The operation announced last November that it will be tackling this year’s Indianapolis 500 with Fernando Alonso, as the Spaniard goes in search of the final piece of motorsport’s unofficial Triple Crown.

Alonso and McLaren most recently competed at the event in 2017, running competitively, though this was undertaken in conjunction with Andretti and Honda.

This time McLaren is creating its own operation which will be headed by ex-Force India chief Bob Fernley, while Gil de Ferran – having joined the Formula 1 squad in 2018 – is likely to be involved.

Brown, though, has emphasized that McLaren must adopt a humble approach to its new challenge, given the competition it will face.

"Those teams there in IndyCar are tough, they know exactly what they're doing," said Brown at the Autosport International Show.

"I think you can't come in thinking we're the Formula 1 team that knows all, that would be a dangerous way to approach the speedway.

"People like Roger Penske and Michael Andretti have won this race a lot and Fernando is very prepared, I'm talking to him quite often.

"Indianapolis is a difficult place that bites if you get it wrong.