After the race the two-time Formula 1 World Champion visited the Andretti Autosport Indycar team headquarters for a seat fitting. Alonso conceded that the transition from Formula 1 to Indycar in a matter of weeks will be difficult.

The Spaniard has no prior experience on oval tracks or in Indy cars. He will look for the assistance of the regular Andretti Autosport team drivers, he said.

"I need to learn all of these things," Alonso said. "To learn them alone would take two years. To learn it with some help would take six months. But I have two weeks. I will need a lot of help.

"I will need the help to be competitive. I'm very open-minded, knowing that the series is completely different, the cars are completely different and superspeedways require a driving technique and a driving feeling that's completely different and that I don't have yet.

"The setup of the car is extremely important, because the difference is in milliseconds. To set up the car for different parts of the race in different wind direction and fuel loads in the car, tire degradation - there are many things that you need to make small adjustments, apparently, that I have no idea about."

For now, Alonso is just taking as much in as he can and relying on his fellow racers in the process.

"There are many, many things – more than people can imagine. There are little things when you're driving at those speeds and you have all those things going on – the radio, etc – but we are professional drivers and we should be able to deal with it."

After the seat fitting it was back to Europe to prepare for this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix at Sochi. The following week Alonso is due at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a solo test in the McLaren-Andretti Honda.

The Indy 500 is on May 28. The date means Alonso will miss the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix in his regular F1 role with McLaren-Honda .