Zak Brown: McLaren's F1 programme remains "absolute priority" over Indy project

McLaren confirmed they will compete in the Indy 500 in May 2020. The team experienced many problems last year which ended up with Fernando Alonso failing to qualify for the actual race. McLaren CEO Zak Brown confirms F1 remains their main priority with the Indy project being a separate adventure.  

"Our F1 programme and its success remains an absolute priority for McLaren and therefore it is an entirely separate programme from the IndyCar partnership. McLaren is a major global racing organisation like others who compete in multiple series," Brown said in an interview with McLaren. 

"A dedicated group of people in McLaren Racing will work on our IndyCar programme and they are not involved in the F1 operation. In time, certain common facilities may be shared between the two programmes, reducing the cost burden to the F1 team. Additionally, the commercial benefits of multi-series partnerships will have a positive impact on the F1 programme."

After last year's disappointment, Fernando Alonso is still searching for the third and final jigsaw piece to motorsport's triple crown. Brown confirms the team are keeping the Spaniard up to date with their progress, but admits Alonso wants time before making a decision on his future. 

"Fernando is well aware of everything that's going on with our IndyCar activities and has been for some time. I don't think his desire to win the Indy 500 has diminished at all. He has not shown an interest, yet, I should say, in a full season of IndyCar. He's coming off the back of 20 years of lots of racing and I think he wanted to take the second half of this year to see what he wants to do in the future," Brown added. 

"So I'll be picking that up with him in about a month's time, but I would not anticipate him having a desire to do a full season in 2020."