IndyCar followers have been left so many inquiries to ponder after final weekend’s Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. In no explicit order, we surprise if Andretti Autosport had pitted Romain Grosjean a lap earlier in his first stint – earlier than his inexperienced alternate Firestones gave up and misplaced him time – whether or not Group Penske’s Scott McLaughlin would have been unable to get in entrance of the Frenchman for the center stint and subsequently unable to wrestle for the lead at first of his last stint, ergo Grosjean wins.
We ponder whether Colton Herta, had he hung again from his Andretti Autosport team-mate in cleaner air within the opening stint, may have made his greens last more, misplaced much less time earlier than pitting, after which been in a position to sort out Grosjean or choose up the win within the occasion of the Grosjean/McLaughlin conflict.
Equally, had he not been nudged into the wall (inadvertently) by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon on the opening lap, would Felix Rosenqvist have been in second to take over the lead from Arrow McLaren team-mate Pato O’Ward when the latter’s Chevy-powered machine had a fast burp 4 laps from the top? And, after all, it’s anybody’s guess whether or not O’Ward, with out his “plenum occasion”, may have held off eventual winner Marcus Ericsson all the best way to the chequered flag.
The hypothesis above is irrelevant when you see the outcomes sheet: McLaughlin and Grosjean did conflict, Herta and Rosenqvist weren’t round to select up the items, O’Ward’s engine did hesitate, Ericsson did win.
So now the largest query is, have been the St. Pete performances a real gauge of the relative deserves of Ganassi, Andretti, McLaren and Penske on all avenue programs within the season forward? Relies upon who you ask…
Chris Simmons, Chip Ganassi Racing’s director of efficiency
Ganassi’s Simmons feels the workforce has taken a step ahead within the tight IndyCar pack
Photograph by: IndyCar Collection
Simmons noticed Ericsson switch to the Quick Six, Alex Palou and Dixon line up seventh and ninth, and rookie Marcus Armstrong seize 13th. May they’ve achieved higher?
“Scott began two positions additional again than final 12 months at St. Pete, however this 12 months we have been three tenths nearer to transferring out of Q2,” observes Simmons. “It’s super-tight for that cut-off place. We solely missed the highest six by zero.04s and zero.07s would have put us P3. Sadly, we didn’t put one of the best lap collectively – though clearly many of the drivers may say one thing like that.”
Final 12 months at this observe, Ganassi regarded mediocre in observe however bought higher and higher with each session, in order that Palou completed a really shut second on race day. This 12 months, the workforce was in control from the very first session, however Simmons insists this was not as a result of the squad targeted on avenue course efficiency within the low season.
“Our avenue course performances final 12 months have been robust [Dixon won Toronto and Nashville, Palou was on the podium at St. Pete and Long Beach, and Dixon was also third in Detroit],” he says. “It’s qualifying that was our high precedence within the low season, for avenue and highway programs. We did a protracted examination of the place we have been dropping out, made some modifications to our set-ups to make them much less knife-edge and coached the drivers on how they may additionally assist themselves as effectively.
“We nonetheless have work to do. However, on race tempo, I believe we regarded robust in contrast with the opposition all weekend” Chris Simmons
“And I believe that was mirrored in St. Pete. Our race tempo was nonetheless there however qualifying tempo was a bit higher. Clearly we’d have favored to have had all 4 vehicles within the Quick Six however the guys have been all fairly pleased with their vehicles, and the outcomes have been extra a mirrored image on struggling to seek out the final word lap. And getting all 4 within the high six is about as a lot right down to luck as talent, nowadays, given the site visitors state of affairs.”
That stated, Simmons is sincere sufficient to confess that he doubts the Ganassi vehicles may have ruined the Andretti Autosport front-row lockout.
“If we’d put our greatest laps collectively for all vehicles, I believe we’d have been within the hunt,” he says, “however I’m undecided we might have matched the lap that Grosjean threw down there in qualifying. We nonetheless have work to do. However, on race tempo, I believe we regarded robust in contrast with the opposition all weekend.”
Whereas Simmons thinks the Ganassi vehicles have been quicker than the McLaren machines in race trim, he’s not going to emphatically say that Ericsson would have made the cross on O’Ward.
“I suppose we have been quicker, yeah,” he says. “Pato didn’t look notably fast within the first stint of the race, and was holding everybody up from fourth on again. However whether or not Marcus may have made a transfer on him with all of the marbles that have been on the within, I don’t know. When Scott tried to cross Marcus on that final restart, he had wheelspin in fourth gear from all of the marbles offline. I’d have favored to see IndyCar use one or two of the longer yellows to wash the observe; that will have helped the racing, as a result of with that many vehicles on the market, the marble drawback is just going to worsen.”
Gavin Ward, Arrow McLaren racing director
Ward says Arrow McLaren actually focused avenue course enchancment
Photograph by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
Ward says avenue course efficiency was the place McLaren most wanted to up its tempo for 2023, so he was gratified with the progress on present final weekend.
“That was the weakest a part of our recreation in 2022,” says Ward, “and we have been happy with the 12 months on 12 months beneficial properties at St. Pete. Clearly, Andretti has nonetheless bought one thing on the sector, however St. Pete is somewhat little bit of an outlier when it comes to avenue programs due to the observe floor. I’d say it’s too quickly to inform how issues would possibly stack up on the different avenue races. Detroit is a brand new format; Lengthy Seashore, Toronto and Nashville we all know and hopefully plenty of work we’ve achieved will switch to these. Truly, I hope plenty of work we’ve achieved can even be relevant to the highway programs, too.”
O’Ward outqualified all three Group Penske vehicles in St. Petersburg, and Rosenqvist began forward of two. When one considers how superior Roger’s workforce checked out St. Pete final 12 months, that’s fairly the turnaround for the Zak Brown band. However Ward won’t go to date to recommend his workforce is now forward of Penske on avenue programs.
“That’s somewhat difficult to say,” he feedback, “as a result of McLaughlin was competing for the win. On one-lap tempo, yeah, I believe we have been forward: when it comes to the race, I’m rather less assured. Did we see anybody really flat out? It’s IndyCar, it’s so tight; the margin between wanting good and looking out dangerous may be very slim.”
Ward confirms that O’Ward intentionally hung again from Grosjean and Herta within the opening stint to flee their soiled air and subsequently defend his alternate tyres, whereas doing simply sufficient to remain forward of Ericsson, Palou, Kyle Kirkwood, and so on.
“That was our play going into the race,” says Ward. “I used to be super-impressed with Pato’s maturity and self-discipline the whole weekend. We knew making the alternates final was key for pulling off a two-stopper – you lose round 28s in pitlane – and we went into the race fascinated with one of the simplest ways to attain a high three or high 4, as a result of we need to be persistently top-five vehicles each week. Our goal is to succeed in the season finale with all three vehicles nonetheless in competition for the title, and that’s all about consistency.”
Other than O’Ward’s bitter capsule, Rosenqvist was bounced into the wall on the opening lap of the race, taking him out of competition, whereas Alexander Rossi drove a sensible race with a automotive that misplaced downforce from a broken diffuser after being struck on lap one.
“Alex bought probably the most out of what he had,” Ward states, “and Felix was proper there with Pato when it comes to tempo. It may have been him who took over the lead when Pato had his subject…
“However we’ve undoubtedly made an enormous step since final 12 months. Will that switch to Lengthy Seashore? I don’t know. The place are we in relation to the opposite groups? I don’t know. However there’s sufficient distinction between these tracks that St. Pete isn’t essentially a type information for different avenue races, and there’s sufficient tightness within the discipline that you just nonetheless must nail completely every thing otherwise you’re going to overlook out.
“The great factor is that we imagine there’s extra to return.”
Rob Edwards, Andretti Autosport COO
Edwards was impressed by the best way Andretti’s drivers have been working collectively
Photograph by: Gavin Baker / Motorsport Images
There’s a wide range of methods to sum up the miserable ‘what might need been’ story at Andretti however it’s not all dangerous: the vehicles clearly had large tempo. That absolutely received’t be the final time we see Grosjean, Herta and Kirkwood all making it via to the Quick Six in qualifying.
“We’ve all been on this enterprise lengthy sufficient to understand it ebbs and flows,” says Edwards. “And also you’re proper, there are plenty of positives to nonetheless take from final weekend.
“No matter reset buttons have been hit over the low season, Romain has been nice – he’s been every thing we’d like him to be. I stated to somebody on the weekend that it’s like our 4 drivers went to Vegas over the winter and had a bonding train to all get on the identical web page.
“The dysfunction at Mid-Ohio final 12 months was effectively documented, however Romain, Colton, Kyle and Devlin [DeFrancesco] have all bought the message for 2023 – they should work collectively – and Romain has been a extremely massive a part of that over the previous few months. In order a lot as I believe he deserved the St. Pete win as a result of he drove rather well, I believe he additionally deserved a reward for the work he’s been doing within the low season that has contributed to the workforce as a complete.”
“As a lot because the outcomes have been disappointing, one good race or one dangerous race doesn’t outline the season. I hope we will take away some positives from St. Pete” Rob Edwards
It wasn’t solely the drivers hitting the reset button at Andretti, as Edwards explains: “From our perspective, we needed to take a protracted laborious take a look at ourselves, reprioritise some areas, appropriate some issues that we’d found have been not so good as we hoped they’d be in 2022, and go away alone the issues that have been working effectively. After which hope that we have been addressing the precise issues.
“Automotive-wise, there have been particular steps, and that has a constructive impact on different areas. When you have the velocity, it opens up two or three methods and make you appear like a hero. There have been one or two barely late calls, there have been some elements of tyre administration that would have been dealt with higher. However we have now improved communication paths so I believe you’ll see our methods and ways enhance and we’ll get sharper at decision-making ‘within the second’.”
Had he not wanted two units of alternates to get via to the Quick Six, after which crashed, Kirkwood might need made it an Andretti 1-2-Three on the grid. So has Michael Andretti’s squad regained no matter it misplaced in 2022 and develop into the road course masters as soon as extra?
“It’s too early to say,” says Edwards. “Typically you’re not fairly pretty much as good because it seems, and generally you’re higher than you seem. Definitely the one information level we have now, St. Petersburg, makes us really feel we’ve remedied a few of the issues that weren’t working final 12 months, and gone again the best way they have been. However it’s going to in all probability take the subsequent three or 4 races to determine the place we stack up general. There are such a lot of robust groups and variables on any given day.
“As a lot because the outcomes have been disappointing, one good race or one dangerous race doesn’t outline the season. I hope we will take away some positives from St. Pete, be good about what we do and purpose to have a number of vehicles in competition for the championship. These are the expectations from Michael and the workforce’s companions.”
Will Energy, Group Penske driver and defending IndyCar champion
Energy reckons a podium was potential with out the penalty for clashing with Herta
Photograph by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images
How good was Group Penske? That’s probably the toughest query to reply. What we will say is that the squad didn’t appear like the workforce that at St. Pete final 12 months began 1-2 and completed 1-Three.
McLaughlin in all probability solely led the center stint on account of a tactical misstep from Andretti Autosport, which is what gave him an opportunity to additionally emerge in entrance for the beginning of the ultimate stint, resulting in the notorious conflict. It was notable that even at first of the center stint when working on recent alternates, he couldn’t shake off Grosjean on the more durable primaries.
However McLaughlin was swift in qualifying and with out his wall-brush that bent a toelink, and brought on a spin, he might need outpaced O’Ward for third on the grid. Underwhelming qualifying for Energy (10th, an excessive amount of understeer) and Josef Newgarden (14th, an excessive amount of site visitors) outlined their races.
Energy spent the primary stint in ninth, proper behind fellow major customers McLaughlin and Dixon and was a legit sixth within the second stint however he was adjudged to be extra at fault within the conflict that despatched Herta into the tyre wall, and so was made to restart behind the pack, in 15th. After the ultimate yellow attributable to the McLaughlin/Grosjean conflict, he was as much as 12th, and elected to seize a second set of alternates. He minimize via the pack to say seventh on the flag.
“I discovered the greens fairly good even within the center stint,” he says. “With the observe totally rubbered in, it was simple to make them final, and so we ended up fast within the third stint. Our automotive was quick in race trim.”
Which suggests…
“Yeah, qualifying was a little bit of a unique story,” Energy continues. “The automotive’s dealing with was simply pretty much as good this 12 months as final 12 months, however the lap occasions weren’t there in comparison with our rivals. We had a fairly good stability, so it was laborious to pin down what we have been lacking. We had a bit an excessive amount of understeer – that was one factor I may have helped with, by fixing my line right down to the final nook. It’s these little particulars that price you when the sector’s very, very aggressive like this.”
With out the penalty for the conflict with Herta, Energy stated he was destined for “third or fourth – simply forward or simply behind Dixon”, however added, “Given the state of affairs with the penalty, dropping to the again, I used to be fairly pleased with seventh. That wasn’t dangerous.”
However the place does he reckon Penske is in contrast with the others? “For those who take a look at the weekend general, Andretti was the strongest – they have been fast and their vehicles seemed to be dealing with rather well,” says Energy. “I believe we have been actually good within the race, however it’s laborious to inform how we stacked up in contrast with McLaren and Ganassi as a result of, to make a two-stopper work, there weren’t many occasions once we have been flat out and on the identical technique as folks round us.
“However at a push, I’d say solely the Andretti vehicles have been higher than Penske over the weekend; I believe our vehicles have been no less than a match for McLaren and Ganassi. And who is aware of if will probably be the identical in Lengthy Seashore? Andretti’s been robust there the previous few years, however I believe we’re shut sufficient to place them beneath stress.”
Energy says it is nonetheless laborious to know the true IndyCar pecking order
Photograph by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images
