Kanaan and Dixon on Alonso sacrifices to do IndyCar

Alonso wants to race to win and IndyCar's near-spec series gives him a chance to show his abilities to the world again. Whereas F1 is 99% car and 1% driver, IndyCar is closer to 70%:30%.

Both Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan would welcome Fernando Alonso’s arrival to IndyCar given the boost the two-time F1 world champion would provide the sport, having seen the impact he had at the Indy500 last year, but have warned about the sacrifices he may have to make.

“The financial side of it, unless he doesn’t care anymore because he has plenty of money, it’s a big difference," Kanaan said at Le Mans. “I don’t think he can come in and say he’s going to make $20-30 million a year there, because that’s a budget for the entire series!

“I think in Fernando’s position, a driver of his caliber, you want to be able to have a chance to win. And that’s not his reality right now [in F1]. In IndyCar, at his level of capabilities, and depending what kind of team he’s going to join, he’s going to have a chance to win every weekend.

“We remember Nigel Mansell when he came. But I don’t know if he’s going to make that call. I’d find it quite hard for him to make that switch.

“A racecar driver, no matter what you do, if you’re go-kart racing, if you’re winning it’s fun. And if you’re not, it’s not fun. I see his point. That I see waiting on him making a decision towards whatever is besides Formula 1. I still think he’s extremely capable of winning in F1."

Dixon, a four-time IndyCar champion and current series leader, also warns if Alonso makes the switch in 2019 it is likely to signal the end of his F1 career but is confident he’ll have a strong package if the McLaren-Andretti deal comes off.

“I think for him it’s probably going to be a fairly tough decision to make, because once you do it, I’m not sure it’s going to be that easy to go back," Dixon said. “I think he’ll be going down a path which will be a totally different direction.

“For IndyCar, I think it would be amazing. It would be huge for them. It would be interesting to see how they lay the platform for McLaren. It sounds like a McLaren-Andretti program. That too is good for IndyCar."