Photo: Fernando Alonso at the 2017 Indianapolis 500

Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren, confirmed today that McLaren will not have a full time entry in Indycar in 2019. He left open the possibility of McLaren still entering the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 in May.

“As far as the Indy 500 is concerned, it’s something that remains of interest to us,” Brown said. “That’ll be a decision that ultimately we take in the off-season, and it’s something Fernando would like to do. Right now, we’re still focused on Formula 1, and until we get a little bit of fresh air, we’ll remain focused on that.”

In 2017, McLaren ran the 500 in partnership with Andretti Autosport. COO Rob edwards of Andretti confirmed that the team will run one or two extra cars for the 500. McLaren might run with them if they can iron out their differences with Honda.

Fernando Alonso has yet to indicate what races he wants to run next year. He is committed to the full WEC season with Toyota. Their only conflicting  date with Indycar is labor Day when Indycar is at Portland.

The Formula 1 season ends November 25. A decision may come in December, but January I think is more likely.

This decision should not be a shock to anyone. Talk of McLaren running next season has quieted down since June. There will still still be at least one more car on the grid full time with Harding having two cars. Ten to twelve races should have even larger fields.