Fernando Alonso may yet end up switching from Formula One to the IndyCar Series. But regardless of what its star driver does, McLaren could return to the American open-wheel championship full time.
Speaking with Spanish sporting site Mundo Deportivo, IndyCar Series CEO Mark Miles revealed that ongoing discussions were taking place between his office and McLaren's executive director Zak Brown – a California native who himself drove in the second-tier Indy Lights series (among others) back in 1996 before moving into the business side of racing.
"We know there are options for McLaren to return to the Indianapolis 500 next year with Andretti Autosport, and McLaren remains interested in being a Verizon IndyCar Series team full-time," said Miles. "Probably not for the year 2018, but maybe for 2019. Brown keeps asking questions about our calendar."
An IndyCar program would be far less involved for McLaren than either its current F1 effort or its past forays into Indy racing, which yielded a couple of wins at the Brickyard (among other races) in the 1970s. These days, the chassis (and aero kit) are supplied by Dallara, and the engines by either Honda or Chevy.
Partnering with an established team like Andretti (as it did for this year's Indy 500) would mean that it'd essentially be a plug-and-play proposition, with McLaren as involved (or detached) as it wants.
It wouldn't be entirely unheard of, after all, for an F1 team to support an Indy program – even in the modern era. Despite plans to furnish its own engines and aero packages, Lotus ended up partnering with KV Racing Technology and running under Chevy power in an arrangement that could very well be modeled by the full-scale McLaren/Andretti deal.
The biggest factor may come down to McLaren's future with Honda. If the two stay together, it could be a no-brainer. But if they split in F1 (or Andretti switches to Chevy), Woking's designs on Indy could (though wouldn't necessarily have to) go out the window as well.
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