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"The biggest task is definitely the Indy 500 for a Formula
One driver," the Spaniard told reporters on a visit to Barber
Motorsport Park on Sunday.
"I think it's quite different. It's challenging ... the level of
downforce, the feeling with the car, running with a car that is
not symmetric on the straights, on braking. Traffic I think is a
big thing..."
Alonso has set his sights on becoming only the second driver
after the late Briton Graham Hill to win the Formula One
championship, Indy and Le Mans.
The McLaren driver, who will miss the showcase Monaco Grand Prix
to race at the famed Brickyard on May 28 for the first time, has
no experience of Le Mans either but indicated that would have to
wait until after Formula One.
The 35-year-old felt that French race, won by current Renault F1
driver Nico Hulkenberg with Porsche in 2015, would be an easier
leap because the cars were more similar.
"Some of the F1 drivers that jump into the Le Mans car, they
have no difficulties in terms of adapting," said Alonso, whose
current McLaren contract expires at the end of the year.
"The 24 Hours is a little different, it’s a more relaxed race,
you can do it at an older age," added the Spaniard, a friend of
Australian former F1 driver and now-retired Le Mans racer Mark
Webber.
Alonso was in Alabama with McLaren boss Zak Brown, who said he
would like to see a McLaren-Honda competing at Indianapolis
every year, to meet the Andretti Autosport Team who will run his
Indy car.
"I'm with the best team possible for this type of lessons that I
need to learn. I'm also with coach (and 2003 Indy winner) Gil de
Ferran, which I'm sure will be very, very useful for all these
new things that I need to learn," he said.
McLaren won Le Mans in 1995 but Brown told Reuters it was "very
early days" to contemplate a return.
"Our automotive group will make the decision. Mike Flewitt, the
CEO of McLaren Automotive Limited, would make the ultimate
decision ... but nothing has been discussed. I think Le Mans is
a massive race like the Indy 500," he said.
(Editing by Alan Baldwin and Andrew Both)
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