McLaren Sporting Director Gil de Ferran described the team’s failure to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 as the “most painful” experiences of his career.
De Ferran acted as an advisor to Alonso for his previous Indy 500 attempt in 2017 and last year joined McLaren in an official capacity.
De Ferran, a two-time CART champion who claimed victory at Indianapolis in 2003, has been focusing on McLaren’s Indy 500 project, and reeled at the failure.
“So you know, this is in my 35 years of racing, actually a few more, but this is the most painful experience I've ever had," said the Brazilian on Sunday.
"You know, there's a mixture of emotions going on inside of me, but you know, we are racers. We respect this place, you know. This is one of the toughest challenges in racing.
“I want to come back tomorrow, you know. I want to fight. I want to come back tomorrow and fight. This is incredibly painful."
De Ferran was quick to apologise to Alonso on behalf of McLaren for its failure at securing the two-time F1 champion a spot on the grid.
"I want to thank this man here on my left,” said de Ferran, while sat next to Alonso.
“I want to apologise to you, as well, because we didn't give you a car that was fast enough.
"You know, you drove like the champion that we know you are. It's been incredibly tense and very difficult, and we couldn't have asked anything more from you, Fernando.
"So I'm sorry, man. You're an amazing driver."
Discussion about this post