Fernando Alonso says he will "definitely" be returning to the Indy 500 to have another shot at winning the event after he came so close on Sunday, only for a Honda engine failure to deny the Spaniard seeing the chequered flag.
The McLaren-Andretti racer had led the event for 25 laps before falling back to tenth during a restart. However with 20 laps of the event remaining he had worked his way back to seventh, was closing on sixth place and was in with a shot of victory until reliability problems struck.
Smoke poured from the rear of Alonso's Honda-powered McLaren-Andretti car and he slowed before coming to a halt on the infield.
When asked if he was hungry to return in the future for another shot, Alonso replied: "Definitely, yes."
The two-time F1 champion is confident his experience will now mean his victory ambitions will be boosted the next time.
"Obviously, if I come back here, at least I know how everything is. It will not be the first time I do restarts, pitstops, all these kinds of things.
"So it will be an easier, let’s say, adaptation. Let’s see what happens in the following years. I need to keep pursuing this challenge, because winning the Indy 500 is not completed."
One goal Alonso set out to achieve and that he can now tick off is knowing he is as fast as anyone else in an IndyCar, saying it was "nice to have this competitive feeling" and know he can be "as quick as anyone" in the series.
