De Ferran ‘would love’ Alonso back at Indy 500

Gil de Ferran, who coached Fernando Alonso at the Indianapolis 500 this year, “would love” to work with him again should he decide to have another crack at the iconic race.

Alonso missed the Monaco Grand Prix earlier this season to try and claim the next jewel in the Triple Crown. He led for 27 laps but was forced to retire with 21 laps to go because of an all-too-familiar engine failure.

But de Ferran, an Indy 500 winner and a two-time Indy car series champion, is eager to work with Alonso again at McLaren-Andretti Autosport Honda.

“If Fernando came back, I would love to work with him again,” De Ferran told Motorsport.com.

“If he decided to return and asked me to be there to bounce ideas off, or whatever, then absolutely, I’d be there.”

De Ferran feels he still has plenty offer Alonso despite him adapting quickly to oval racing.

“He was fantastic, of course, but like I kept saying at the time, ‘Did we really expect anything less?!’” said de Ferran. “He’s the ultimate professional, very talented and works very hard to be even better, and maximize what he’s got.

“That said, I believe you never stop learning. I was learning right up until my last day in a racecar. So yes, I think I could still help.

“It would be only his second race in IndyCar, second race on an oval… There’s a lot of experience to catch up on some of the best oval drivers out there.”