Fernando Alonso is unable to escape his Honda engine woes no matter where he races at the moment. After swapping the Monaco GP, where he would have had to start from last place on the grid just as the man who took his place, Jenson Button had to, Alonso tried his hand at the Indy 500 in America but was once again let down by a Honda engine failure.
Button was forced to start last in Monaco because the engine in Fernando's car had to be replaced, causing a 15 place grid drop, so despite qualifying the car in a brilliant ninth place, Button's race was doomed from the start.
Alonso on the other, qualified fifth for the Indy 500 and showed considerable pace while his car was running, even leading the race for a few laps early on, however the Honda engine gave up the fight with just 21 laps remaining.
“I felt the noise, the engine friction and I backed off and saw the smoke. I think we deserved to at least finish the race. Who knows what position we could have been?" Alonso told ESPN. "The whole day has been a very nice experience - the racing was fun, we were leading the race for a couple of laps... it was a nice surprise to come here and be able to be competitive."
Another former F1 driver, Takuma Sato, was victorious instead, becoming the first Japanese driver to ever win the legendary event.
