INDIANAPOLIS – The second go around for McLaren Racing and Fernando Alonso has been a much different experience than the first one. See, the first trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for them in 2017 went without a hitch. But, they came with a partnership with Andretti Autosport.

Everything they did in 2017, was strictly planned out by Andretti. The car, the team, the engineering, everything, it was all Andretti dictated. That made it a seamless transition for Alonso who qualified fifth that year.

Now, they’re on their own. McLaren made it clear that this is strictly them this May. They have their own car, their own staff, their own planning, etc. Unfortunately, they’re finding out the hard way just how difficult this series really is.

During the test, they had a mechanical issue from the get go. On Tuesday morning, another problem. On Wednesday, it was an electrical issue. Then, after they got their issues rectified, Alonso crashed in Turn 3.

They lost all day on Thursday to get on track it took the team over 24 hours to get the car capable of being on the track. That alone had Alonso very frustrated.

“It was,” Alonso said on Fast Friday about if Thursday was frustrating for him. “Yeah, definitely. I cannot lie to you. I was changed at 11:00. I was with the right suit, and I was supposed to be out at that time, and it was supposed to be at 1:00, then 2:30, then 4:00, and then it rained. Yeah, it was frustrating.

“But yeah, nothing we could do at that point, just, yeah, getting ready for today, and yeah, having that extra time to check everything and to be ready. It was frustrating, but at the same time, as I said before, we saved a lot of tires that we were able to set up the car today maybe in a more — in a better way. And also the track kept changing. Every day the temperature is completely different. Today, tomorrow, than Tuesday, Wednesday, things like that. Maybe things that you learn on Tuesday, Wednesday, they are not necessarily good for the race week. So I think in a way, it was not too compromised, the performance of the car or how we felt. But yeah, more laps you do, better it is, so hopefully in the next couple of days we can run more.”

Heading into Friday, he had only circled the famed 2.5-mile track just 96 times. Over 20 cars had circled the track over 200 times alone. The new team without any experience was facing this Month the May the hard way. They said coming in that they needed on track time and they just haven’t got it yet.

On Friday, Alonso only completed 77 laps with a top speed of 229.328 mph. That was good enough for 24th. But, his no tow lap had him only 30th. All this wrapped up into one has Alonso fearing he may not even make this race in qualifying this weekend.

“I am, yes. I do,” said Alonso on if he’s worried if he can make this year’s race. “I think it’s the same for everyone. Tomorrow, as Conor said now, I think the pick-up order and when you will do the run is going to be a big factor if it’s a hot day. So yeah, if we are in the wrong moment of the day, which it seems that the luck will put us in that moment this week.”

Another factor to what’s different this year compared to 2017 is the lack of downforce. This car is a completely new one than he last year. This car has much less grip which means he has to drive the car more.

In race traffic, it’s difficult which is why even if Alonso makes the show, race day itself is a big concern for him next Sunday.

“Well, I didn’t have enough laps probably to really comment on this, especially in traffic,” said Alonso on comparing the two cars. “I think today didn’t feel too bad compared to 2017 Fast Friday, let’s say. Qualifying, I think the cars are light in general, and the downforce you feel always low, with whatever package you put on the car. I think in traffic, what I heard is that it’s much more challenging now than 2017, so yeah, as long as it’s the same for everyone, it makes a good show, and if the direction is this one, what INDYCAR is taking for the future and more horsepower or whatever, yeah, maybe you’ll see a better show. As long as you can follow somehow, which I think is quite important at the end of the day because you can remove the downforce but you cannot follow closely, you miss the action and you miss the overtaking in the race. So you need to be able to follow to a certain point to have a good show. So hopefully they take into account that.”

McLaren said that this wasn’t going to be easy which would make it much more rewarding this year if they can duplicate their success in 2017. Now, we can see why.