Fernando Alonso showing he’s no Indianapolis 500 rookie

The notation seems like a typo. Like a mistake that someone initially made, then forgot to amend so it just became an afterthought.

It is there in every official practice report and qualifying recap pertaining to Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 (noon ET, ABC). An unmistakable “R” alongside Fernando Alonso’s name signifying that he is a rookie, despite the Spaniard being a two-time Formula One world champion and universally recognized as one of motor racing’s premier talents.

Technically, though, Alonso is a rookie. Instead of competing in the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday as he normally would as a driver for McLaren-Honda, the 35-year-old elected to skip Formula One’s signature race and attempt the Indianapolis 500.

The idea of racing at Indianapolis was largely conceived by McLaren team principle Zak Brown, an American with an extensive background in motor sports on multiple fronts. Sensing his driver’s growing frustration with an uncompetitive and unreliable Honda engine (Alonso’s only finished one of five races), Brown appealed to Alonso’s desire to become just the second driver to win Monaco, the Indianapolis 500, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans — racing’s Triple Crown. Only Graham Hill is a member of that exclusive club, and a win Sunday would put Alonso two-thirds of the way there. (He’s a two-time Monaco winner.)

“Let’s say that four or five years ago, I start thinking about how to grow up as a driver and become a little bit more complete driver,” Alonso said. “To do so, I think you need to win the best races in the world and the most prestigious races in the world. And how to achieve that is Formula One, Indy 500, and 24 Hour Le Mans.

“But I didn’t think that it was possible to attempt another race apart from Formula One until I was retired from Formula One. So to make it happen now in this year is something that is making me very, very proud from my team and makes me very happy, as well.”

Brown initially pitched Alonso on the idea jokingly, as an aside to a regular conversation the two were having before the start of the Formula One season. Alonso didn’t dismiss what his boss was saying, however. He actually reacted favorably, saying it was a race he wanted to run in the future. But after the topic got brought up during a dinner they were attending with Honda executives prior to the Australian Grand Prix in early April, Brown told Alonso to think seriously about running Indianapolis this year.

Alonso then took some time to consider the proposal. As he did, Brown began putting the pieces together behind the scenes to make the seemingly far-fetched notion a reality. Then came another dinner the two shared.

“Fernando and I had dinner the Friday of the Chinese Grand Prix, and I laid it out there and told him I thought this was something we could pull off if he wanted,” Brown told SB Nation. “The conversation got very serious, he said he was going to sleep on it. He woke the next morning and said, ‘Let’s do it.’”

Alonso’s decision sent shock waves across the motor sports landscape. His Indianapolis foray has become an international story with more than 2 million watching the stream of his initial laps around the 2.5-mile oval on May 3.

“The fans, they welcomed the idea. It was unexpected,” Alonso said. “This is quite a unique thing. I’m aware of it. I’m aware of the difficulty. All the fans I think are aware of it this, but I think if you love motorsports, this is a good news.”

Before this month he had never driven an Indy car, nor turned a competitive lap on an oval. There are no such tracks in Formula One. And while the cars may look similar at first glance, an Indy car and a Formula One car have little in common. It would be like comparing a Yugo to, well, a Ferrari.

Because of the considerable differences between the two series, McLaren partnered with Andretti Autosport, one of IndyCar’s topflight organizations and also backed by Honda, to lead the venture. That union has placed Alonso in an ideal position with a team well suited to helping drivers with limited seat time in an Indy car get up to speed quickly.

In 2014, full-time NASCAR driver Kurt Busch decided to become the fourth driver to attempt “The Double” — running both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day. On the Indy car side, the 2004 Cup Series champion joined Andretti Autosport, owned by former IndyCar Series champion Michael Andretti, son of Mario Andretti. Although he had never raced open-wheel cars previously, Busch finished sixth.

“Michael Andretti is prepared as well as you possibly can be,” Busch told SB Nation. “He’s brings five cars to Indianapolis and he uses that fifth seat to bring in drivers like myself, (Alexander) Rossi, and Alonso a chance to have a world-class ride at the Indy 500. It really works well in so many different ways.”

Last year, Rossi, who tired of struggling to land a competitive Formula One ride, signed with Andretti Autosport to run the entire IndyCar schedule. Like Alonso, Rossi’s had never raced an open-wheel car on an oval before the transition. Unlike Alonso, Rossi did gain some experience when he raced on the one-mile Phoenix International Raceway a month prior to Indianapolis.

But largely Rossi had a lot to learn when he showed up at the historic track constructed in 1909. Yet just as it did with Busch, the Andretti group worked with the American to get him acclimated. On race day, Rossi exercised patience and smarts while his team devised a strategy that climaxed with a surprising victory, Andretti’s fourth Indianapolis 500 win overall.

“I think this is the one race you go into where you actually don’t have a plan, you kind of just roll with it,” Rossi said. “It’s just about taking it one lap at a time and executing each of those laps. And then your plan kind of comes into play in the last 20, 25 laps if you’re in the front, and then you start to have a process that you go through.”

By any measure, Alonso’s abilities supersede those of Busch and Rossi.

Not surprising considering his skill level, nothing about Alonso’s performance thus far suggests that of a rookie. There have been no bobbles on the track where he appeared out of his element. Not a single instance to cause one to think maybe jumping into the deep end of the Indy car pool may have been impetuous.

The only blemish, if you even want to call it that, came during the final laps of his Rookie Orientation Program where Alonso struck not one, but two birds while at speed. Otherwise, he’s exceeded all expectations.

Throughout practice, Alonso’s been a fixture near the top of the leaderboard. In qualifying his four-lap average speed of 231.300 mph places him fifth on the grid Sunday. Ahead of such stalwarts like Tony Kanaan (qualified seventh), Juan Pablo Montoya (18th), and Helio Castroneves (19th), all of whom are former race winners.

“At the end of the day, the big thing is just the race itself and the competition remains very similar,” Alonso said. “We are all here to race hard and to compete and try to be faster than any other guy out there.”

Now, a whole new set of challenges awaits. Whereas Busch had familiarity on the Indianapolis oval — albeit in a stock car — and Rossi had raced at Phoenix, Alonso’s first oval test in race conditions will be Sunday.

From his own experience, Busch says there will be various moments during the 500-miler where Alonso will feel quite comfortable — especially in the early stages when the field tends to sort out with drivers more apt to race conservatively.

“I got to halfway in that race, Lap 100, and I said to myself, ‘This is all the experience I’m going to be able to gain. I’m going to have to cash it in now. Let’s go,’” Busch said. “I continued to keep learning and feeling out the draft. I was making a few passes at that point. Then it just seemed to click when I was in a long green-flag run.”

There is also the matter of traffic and how Alonso handles maneuvering around others cars. Indianapolis is a narrow track, which accompanied with the high speeds, doesn’t leave a lot of room for forgiveness.

“Learning how the car reacts in the draft and in dirty air is tough, and that will be a tough spot for Fernando to learn as well,” Busch said. “How stable and unstable [the cars] are in certain situations.”

Every indication is Alonso will adapt similarly like Busch and Rossi — if not even better.

“Obviously, he’s very accomplished,” said pole-sitter Scott Dixon, himself a former race winner. “We’ve seen many rookies win here in the first go and he’s with one hell of a team. I think he’s got a fantastic shot.”