Insider: Alonso-mania arrives at IMS

INDIANAPOLIS -- They followed him everywhere. They were at his garage minutes after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway gates opened. They surrounded his pit box, and they followed him through Gasoline Alley.  They stopped him as he rode past on his skateboard before the track closed.

Every moment, they were snapping photos, clamoring to get closer and shouting his name.

“Fernando! Fernando!” fans screamed, hoping the Formula One star might sign their programs and autograph sheets.

On Monday, the first day of practice for the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500, it became immediately apparent: Fernando Alonso mania is real.

It actually began this morning at Indianapolis International Airport. No one at IndyCar, McLaren or Andretti Autosport seems to know how, but there were fans waiting for Alonso’s midnight flight to land at a private hangar.

“We tweeted we’re on our way to Indy … but how they found out where we’d be landing, I have no idea,” said McLaren executive director Zak Brown, who hopped on a private plane with Alonso immediately after the two-time world champion finished up at Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. “But it was great to see. We walked out and all of the sudden (about 20) people came running. It was cool. … He stopped to sign every single autograph. And he was happy to. He enjoys it. He’s embraced the (attention) in the very short time he’s been exposed to it. He’s embraced the racing environment in IndyCar, which is much different than Formula One.”

To be fair, even if Alonso didn’t want to embrace it, he would have had little choice Monday.

Alonso’s pit box was a hub of activity most of the day. Fans crowded around it to glimpse the 500 first-timer Alonso jumping on track this morning, along with the other rookies. Though he completed rookie orientation two weeks ago, he used the time to turn in a few dozen warmup laps.

Alonso and his No. 29 Honda finished the day with the 19th quickest lap (223.025 mph) of the 32 cars that ran. After practice, the Spaniard said he felt much more comfortable in the car than he did during his test and was pleased with how his day progressed, noting one exception.

"The last half an hour maybe we had some issues with the rear suspension, and we could not complete the program that we were planning," Alonso said in the post-practice news conference. "(We wanted) to run a little bit in traffic at the end of the day, so we missed that part, but overall it was an amazing day." 

Alonso added that he was most looking forward to getting back to the garage to confer with his five Andretti Autosport teammates to find out what they learned. 

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He'll likely want to hear a lot from Marco Andretti, who was the only driver to record a lap faster than 226 mph. Andretti was among eight Hondas in the top 10, the top five rounding out with Scott Dixon, Chevrolet driver Ed Carpenter, Sebastien Bourdais and another Alonso teammate, Ryan Hunter-Reay. 

“Obviously he is a rookie here at the speedway, but he’s got to be the highest qualified rookie of all time," Brown said after Alonso’s morning run. "He was very fast this morning and was great in the test. I think he’s going to have a very successful month of May.”

Brown, the man behind bringing McLaren and its papaya-orange livery back to the 500 for the first time in nearly 40 years, said the excitement building around Alonso has been a breath of fresh air for McLaren’s struggling Formula One program.

Before nabbing 12th in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, Alonso had yet to finish any of the first four Formula One races of the season.

Despite the bitterly frustrating season for Alonso and McLaren, Brown said, the excitement of the 500 and the love from the fans has acted as a nice antidote to their disappointment.

“I got stopped multiple times today with people saying this is the biggest news for motor sports in the last 20 years,” Brown said. “Someone said it’s the biggest news in the history of the Indianapolis 500. It feels great, and it puts a smile on people’s faces. It’s pretty hard these days, in a world of lots of different opinions, that is considered almost a unanimous win. ... You can tell he’s been looking forward to this. He knows the world is watching.”

Follow IndyStar reporter Jim Ayello on Twitter and Instagram: @jimayello.