Brown: “My biggest mistake was Alonso’s failure to qualify for the 500 Miglia”

Two out of three During his long career in motorsport, not yet over, Fernando Alonso won two Formula 1 world titles (2005 and 2006), also managing to climb to the top step of the podium in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2018. Following this success, the Spaniard cultivated the dream of obtaining another, prestigious success: that of the Triple Crown. Achieved only by Graham Hill, this consists of victory at the Monte Carlo GP in F1 (with Alonso ‘Principe’ in 2006 and 2007), the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500. The disaster of 2019 The only trophy missing from Alonso’s cabinet is precisely that of the 500 Miglia, even though the Spaniard took part in this famous American race on three occasions: 2017, 2019 and 2020. In the last two editions, in a period in which the current Aston Martin driver was not present in F1, Alonso took part in the stars and stripes weekend at the wheel of McLaren, but the results were disastrous: in 2019, in fact, he didn’t even manage to qualify. The biggest mistake A hard blow for the driver as well as for McLaren CEO Zak Brown, who still remembers that moment as the biggest mistake of his career: “Especially at the beginning there were big obstacles – explained the American manager, who in the last edition of the 500 Miglia was the protagonist together with his team of an excellent strategy, despite Pato O’Ward’s 4th place finish – I made many mistakes along the way, and I don’t care. I said to the team: ‘Mistakes are okay, just don’t repeat them twice’, because you learn from mistakes. Probably my biggest mistake, which was obvious to everyone – there were many – was the failure to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 with Fernando Alonso, which at the time was the worst experience of my life. It seems strange, but it’s how we dealt with it right, the right people. I didn’t trust my instincts. I disappointed myself with everything I preach. I’m almost glad it happened, because I won’t let that mistake happen again,” he added. “Since then, we’ve finished second twice at the Indianapolis 500 and crashed while we were in the lead. In racing, when you have an accident, you fix the car, you understand why it happened and you get back on the track straight away. That’s what you do in racing. So it was definitely a big blow.”

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-05-26 16:00:00