Tag: Josef Newgarden

Is Alex Palou Inevitable?

Mar 6th, 2025

IndyCar is back! The most competitive motorsport in the world, with some of the greatest drivers, hit the streets of St Petersburg, Florida, over the weekend. Multiple drivers showed their worth: Scott McLaughlin; Colton Herta; Scott Dixon; and Josef Newgarden all put in some fantastic performances. Yet, I’m sure a lot of people felt disappointed when Alex Palou won. Whilst he is a fantastic driver, fans do get fed up when they see the same driver constantly winning. And Palou has won three of the last four championships, so to see him win the opening race of the season does feel stale. Yet, I don’t believe that a fourth Palou championship is as forgone as it looks and Alex’s victory on Sunday was far from inevitable.

A major factor affecting the St Petersburg weekend was the presence of the new softer tyres. These tyres degraded to the point that they could not last an entire fuel stint. The rules of an IndyCar race stipulate that both sets of tyres need to be used for at least a lap. Pole sitter Scott McLaughlin, who showed fantastic pace throughout the whole weekend, had elected to start on the harder tyres. In contrast: Herta; Dixon; Newgarden; and Palou had all started on the softs. Thus, when a full course yellow occurred after a first lap crash, every driver who had started on the softer compound instantly pitted for the hards. Therefore, these drivers would not have to do a full stint on the softer compound, which would save them a lot of race time. So, despite McLaughlin being the best driver at St Pete, he could not capitalise on his pace and had to settle for fourth place.

After the initial pit stops, Colton Herta appeared to be the favourite to win. He had qualified in second, just behind McLaughlin, and had started on the softer tyres. Furthermore, following the race restart, he jumped past Callum Ilott, who was in the train of cars that had started on the hard tyres. This allowed Colton to build a gap between himself and the other cars that had already pitted. Unfortunately, Colton’s hard work did not pay off, as his pit stop was woefully slow. This put him in a position where it would be tough to fight for victory, but Colton’s day turned from bad to dreadful when his next pit stop came early due to a fuel problem. Thus, Colton Herta, the early favourite, finished the race in sixteenth place.

After the second phase of pit stops, Scott Dixon seemed in prime position to win the race ahead of Palou, Scott’s teammate. Scott had efficiently overcut the other drivers on the winning strategy at the second phase of pit stops and was running in a net first place. However, he had no radio. Thus, the team could not tell him when to pit, so Scott had to make the call himself. If the team had radioed Scott, they would have likely pit him on the same lap as Palou, as Scott encountered traffic on the subsequent lap. This allowed Alex Palou to undercut Scott, with Josef Newgarden then overtaking him, as Scott was on colder tyres. And whilst Josef hassled Alex until the end, the St Petersburg track was too hard to overtake on, plus Newgarden overheated his tyres in the process. This allowed for Scott to retake second place on the final lap, reestablishing a Chip Ganassi 1-2, but with Palou at the head of the field instead of Dixon.

In conclusion, I think we should all wait to see how the season plays out before jumping to a conclusion about who the champion will be. It certainly could be Alex Palou, as he’s a fantastic driver and can always be counted on to deliver. But anything can happen in IndyCar. Which the St Petersburg race itself proved, as we were constantly guessing who would win. It’s a good omen for the season and I can’t wait for the next race.

And also, one more thing. Congratulations to Will Buxton for proving himself to be a fantastic lead commentator for IndyCar. Will has constantly been the subject of memes due to being typecast in the Netflix show Drive to Survive as a person who states the obvious. The Netflix show makes him look stupid, but Will is a talented journalist and it’s great that he’s got such a wonderful job being able to narrate some of the greatest races in the world.
IndyCar- Mid-Ohio Grand Prix Review

Jul 15th, 2024

IndyCar’s Mid-Ohio race saw the debut of the hybrid system. Introducing a new technology mid-season is quite the risk for IndyCar to take. On one hand, I do admire the confidence it shows in the technology. On the other, it may derail the season if things go wrong. Mid-Ohio was not a complete disaster for the hybrids but was also not the unmitigated success that the commentary team tried to spin it as either. Whilst there were not a flurry of hybrid related retirements, one happened on the warm up lap. And it was Scott Dixon who was the victim of this bad luck, who to this point has been one of the contenders for the championship. His chances were already fading before this race and his luck may have put the nail into the coffin. This is the primary concern people have with the hybrids, that they’ll mess up the championship fight. To see that fear realized before the race even started was concerning.

The race itself was a relatively dull affair with not many on track battles. Alex Palou once again started on pole and took an early lead, that reached around six seconds over Pato O’Ward by the first stops. The star of the weekend was David Malukas. Having been dropped by McLaren earlier in the year after breaking his wrists during the pre-season, Malukas was bought back into the sport by Meyer Shank Racing. Despite still suffering the effects of his broken wrists, Malukas was able to qualify in third place in only his second race back. A podium was on the cards, and he ran in third during the first stint. However, another persistent problem with the hybrids affected Malukas, his car stalling after his pit stop. This lost Malukas a lot of time that he was not able to recover, finishing the race in twelfth. At this point I was evidently quite angry, as two of my favorite drivers had their races ruined by the new technology. Whilst it will obviously affect different drivers in future races, if the hybrids’ aim was to instantly alienate me, they succeeded.

Due to the lack of action across the field, most of the coverage was focused on the battle for the win between Palou and O’Ward, which in fairness, did remain tense for the race’s distance. Whilst Palou had built up a healthy lead by the first stops, on the softer red tyres O’Ward proved the better driver. Throughout the second stint he slowly closed up to Palou, to be within a second by the time they made their second stops. O’Ward stopped first and successfully undercut Palou, who himself lost around a second with a mini stall leaving the pits. Whilst Palou was quicker on the harder black tyres, he was unable to find a way past O’Ward, even when they were in traffic. Therefore, O’Ward took his second win of the season and his first on-track victory in nearly two years, as his St. Petersburg win was awarded due to Josef Newgarden’s disqualification. It was a deserved win and reminded fans that O’Ward has what it takes to win races and fight for championships if his consistency improves.

Other than the battle at the front, there was little excitement in the field. The only other thing worth saying about the hybrid system is that the on-screen graphics need to be changed. Red and green lights were appearing on the timing screen beside every driver’s name when they were using or recharging their highlights. This was distracting enough for me; it would be a nightmare for fans with sensory issues. The graphics team needs to fix that immediately, as the sport should be accessible for all fans. Thankfully, this problem was not evident in the double header at Iowa, though it proved the least of that weekend’s problems.
IndyCar- Road America Grand Prix Review

Jun 17th, 2024

After a disastrous Detroit it was a relief to see IndyCar put on a decent race. Whilst overshadowed on the day by the brilliant Canadian Grand Prix, Road America was still a fun to watch and was bolstered by a two-year win drought coming to an end.

After qualifying, it appeared that a good race was in store for the Chip Ganassi drivers not called Dixon or Palou. Rookie Linus Lundqvist took his maiden pole, with Marcus Armstong slotting behind in third. Another driver feeling confident was Colton Herta, who needed to bounce back from a couple of self-inflicted errors. With Herta in second, the Chip Ganassi and Andretti teams held unbridled optimism. Unfortunately, with less experience comes less experience, which Linus Lundqvist promptly discovered when his teammate slammed into the back of him, ruining their races. Yet Colton Herta also wasn’t immune from the rear ending, as he was hit by the far more experienced Josef Newgarden. Armstrong received a deserved penalty, yet Newgarden was not, which appeared quite bizarre as both incidents were almost identical. Some would say that a member of the team already found to have cheated this year not being penalized was suspicious. Some would also say that when the owner of that team also owns IndyCar, that makes the situation even more suspicious. I would not say that, for I am incredibly neutral. Still… some would say.

With most of the opposition out of the way, it became easier for Team Penske to show their pace. Penske had opted for a low drag set up, making it incredibly easy for them to make overtakes on the straights. Scott McLaughlin proved this after the first caution, when he swept past Kyle Kirkwood to take the lead. An additional caution brought out by Kyffin Simpson’s crash made Penske’s job even easier. McLaughlin thus found himself leading a Penske 1-2-3. Yet, in what is becoming a common theme this season, drivers risked losing their position if they failed to manage the softer red tyres. These tyres degraded quickly, as was proven when Scott Dixon fell down the field to finish in twenty-first, having earlier ran as high as fifth. Josef Newgarden had already completed his red stint at the beginning of the race, so it would be up to Scott McLaughlin and Will Power to manage their red stints, or risk losing everything.

McLaughlin and Power managed their red stints perfectly, so McLaughlin still led a Penske 1-2-3 before the last round of pit stops. As McLaughlin was in front, the team elected to pit him a lap before Josef Newgarden in second. However, Newgarden overcut McLaughlin and had a healthy lead after his stop. However, as Will Power was third to come in, this did not last for Newgarden and the top three ended up in the reverse order of where they’d started. Will Power proceeded to drive a perfect final stint to take his first win in two years, along with the lead of the championship. Whilst Power largely had this win fall into his arms, it made me happy to see his drought end. Will Power seems like a very kind and quirky man, who deserves to still be fighting at the front in IndyCar.

Overall, the race was very normal. But normal for IndyCar is still a fun watch. All three Team Penske drivers have now won races and have had great pace this year. As IndyCar is soon to move into its oval races, where Penske have historically been stronger, Scott Dixon and Alex Palou are going to have a fight on their hands to win this championship.
2024 Indy 500 Review

Jun 2nd, 2024

Last week’s Indy 500 was predictably fantastic. 200 laps of the greatest racing you’ll ever see, I can’t do the whole race justice. If you didn’t watch it, you were incredibly unlucky. Nothing beats the 2.5-mile oval in the heart of Indianapolis, it is exhilarating from start to finish.

A week before the race, came the two days of qualifying. Like the race itself, this is an amazing watch. Seeing laps around this speedway, it’s like watching someone drive a rollercoaster. And the narrative qualifying set in place for the race was fascinating. Team Penske delivered an amazing qualifying car, locking out all three spots on the front row, an achievement mirroring 1988. Quite fittingly, the pole sitter, Scott McLaughlin, was driving a tribute livery to the car that had won that year, the Yellow Submarine. He also set a new world record, a four-lap average of 234.22mph. The question on everyone’s mind for the next week was, would Team Penske translate their success into a race win, or would any of the challengers come good on race day?

So, race day came and……… there was a delay. A long delay. This was due to a lightning storm, definitely not the best conditions to race 200mph around an oval. So, I waited, for hours, though thankfully doing things more exciting than rewatching the Monaco Grand Prix.[1] But the race finally came, though the delay appeared to affect the drivers more than me. Because everyone was absolutely sending it, the midfield was chaos and there were more cautions than I could count. The first of these came when the rookie Tom Blomqvist put his wheels into the grass, spun and took out Marcus Erriccson in the process, to cap off a disappointing May for the former winner. These cautions bred cautions, which consequently made fuel saving less necessary than in the last few 500s, leading to the drivers racing each other even harder, breeding yet more cautions. Praise needs to go to the safety team, for how quickly they react to problems on track. They were always at the scene within ten seconds of an accident. Comparing the Indy safety team to F1’s, where it sometimes takes over half a lap for race control to call a safety car, it’s clear which sport values safety the most.

However, not all of the cautions were caused by accidents and collisions. Others were caused by Hondas. Whilst the Chevrolet engines were in danger during qualifying, come race day, it was the Hondas blowing up. Honda’s reliability woes made me worry for Colton Herta, one of the favourites to win the race. I like Colton, he’s funny, talented and attractive. If Dixon isn’t winning the race, I’d like it to be Colton. Yet, I didn’t have to worry about Colton’s engine taking him out of the race, as Colton was willing to do that on his own. Whilst Colton felt like a brand-new person this year, he made the same old mistakes, taking himself out of 2^nd place and a possible win. Whilst a win would have bolstered Herta’s championship challenge, a 23^rd place has done the exact opposite, to the disappointment of many an American racing fan.

Towards the middle of the race, a frantic battle erupted between Alexander Rossi, Scott McLaughlin, Alex Palou, Josef Newgarden and Santino Ferrucci for the effective lead. Every driver knew that it was vital to gain necessary track position at this point, put themselves towards the head of that train, as it would give them the best chance of battling for the win at the end of the race. Rossi and Newgarden were most successful in these struggles, but up the road, Scott Dixon and Pato O’Ward were leading, on alternative pit stop strategies. Whilst they needed to fuel save, they had a really good chance of being in the fight for the lead come the end of the race. And then came the last thirty laps.

The last thirty laps of this year’s Indy 500 was some of the greatest action I’ve seen in any motorsports race. There was a four-way battle, as Rossi, O’Ward, Dixon and Newgarden all took times leading and there were moves on nearly every lap. Initially, Dixon seemed like he might have the driver’s seat. Whilst the most successful driver currently in the series, Dixon has only won the 500 once, in 2008. As he’s the driver I support, to see him win it from his lowest starting position ever, would have been cathartic after witnessing so many near misses. Alas, his starting position did represent one truth, Dixon’s Chip Ganassi car did not have the ultimate race pace of the Penskes and the McLarens, thus he faded as the stint continued. However, a last lap move on Rossi guaranteed a place on the podium, a consultation to wrap up an otherwise difficult month of May.

As the final stint continued, the race became a two-car battle between O’Ward and Newgarden. They swapped the lead, again and again, but at the beginning of the final lap, Pato made a decisive move on the main straight. It looked like, after many heartbreaking near misses, Pato might finally achieve his dream. He put in so much work into getting to this moment and earlier in the race, had managed to save himself from two snaps of understeer, that would have, and did, put many other drivers into the wall. This was about to be his moment; Mexico was about to celebrate its first Indy 500 win. But last year’s winner had something to say about that. Josef Newgarden, the two-time champion, having waited twelve years to win his first Indy 500, made an amazing move around the outside of O’Ward on turn three, at the last possible opportunity, to win two in a row. It was heartbreaking for O’Ward, who was visibly distraught after the race, but elation for Team Penske and Newgarden, who once again celebrated in the crowd. The emotions in this race are part of what makes it the greatest, as throughout the entire month, everyone tries so hard to win. And everyone takes the emotions seriously, no failed stand-up comedy like you get from F1’s commentators, instead you get pure hype and emotion. Even viewing from home, I can feel the gravitas of this event, so I can’t imagine what it’s like in that crowd, knowing that you’re viewing the greatest spectacle in racing and then celebrating with the winner.

Thus, the Indy 500. Whilst I’ve been able to talk about my favourite moments, there’s still so much I missed. From Sting Ray Robb (yes, that is his name) leading the 3^rd most laps, to Dixon’s controversial contact with Ryan Hunter Ray, to Will Power’s disappointing afternoon, going from a pre-race favourite to the wall, this race had everything. I reiterate, if you didn’t watch it, you missed out. So, remember to put May 25^th in your calendar next year, avoid missing out again.

[1] I was reading a book.
IndyCar- Sonsio Grand Prix of Indianapolis Review

May 14th, 2024

IndyCar provided me with some needed entertainment to bolster my weekend. Whilst not an all-time classic, Saturday’s running at the Indy Road Course mixed fun battles with an interesting game of strategy being played for the win. Like so many races last year, Alex Palou proved that, when in front, he becomes unstoppable. Palou laid down a gauntlet, reminding fans that his consistency and resilience makes him one of the favourites for the title.

At the race start, things did not go Palou’s way. He had a bad start, allowing himself to be overtaken by the impeccably talented Christian Lundgaard. Palou’s car may have had better pace, but he was stuck behind Lundgaard during the first stint, with Will Power rounding out the top three a few seconds behind. Behind the leading pack, chaos ensued as every driver struggled relentlessly to gain early track position. As this track can be challenging to overtake on, the best time to be aggressive is immediately. Some drivers took it too far however, most notably Santino Ferrucci. His move on Romain Grosjean, purposefully pushing him off of the track, was disgraceful. So much so that Marcus Ericsson, himself not a fan of Grosjean, appeared to push Ferrucci himself in response. Romain Grosjean’s race was deliberately ruined by Ferrucci, in a move that race control embarrassingly failed to punish. However, the racing gods don’t look well on dirty drivers, so when fate hit Ferrucci and he retired from the race with a technical issue, I can’t say it didn’t feel like karma.

An early undercut from Will Power forced Lundgaard and Palou to go into pit lane. Lundgaard retained the lead, but as Palou was on harder, colder tyres, Power took an opportunistic dive to take second place. At this point, it appeared that the race may swing against Alex. Power slowly reeled Lundgaard in, only to do so very quickly when Christian reached lapped traffic. Power took another opportunistic undercut to try to gain the lead of the race, but finding himself trapped behind Ericsson, this failed, with Lundgaard retaining track position after pitting on the next lap. However, whilst both Power and Lundgaard thought they were fighting for the win in this moment, they failed to account for Alex Palou, who in chess terms, was about to play a checkmate.

During the second stint, Palou was on the slower, harder, black tyres. They last longer and are faster towards the end of the stint, but most drivers found themselves limited during their required stint on these tyres. Palou, in contrast, was faster than anyone else on them, for example lapping 0.8-1.2 seconds a lap faster than Josef Newgarden, who was on those tyres at the same time. Thus, when both Power and Lundgaard attempted to undercut, Palou used his superior pace at the end of the stint to overcut both of them and come out in the lead. Palou proceeded to pull away until the end of the race and managed the race restart perfectly, to ensure that he would not lose his astutely gained track position.

The only other change amongst the leaders was when Lundgaard and Power took their final stops simultaneously. Whilst Power was behind Lundgaard, Team Penske has a perfectly oiled pit crew, whilst Rahal Letterman Lanigan has one that is comparatively unlubricated. Power was only ever going to retake second place. With the fight for the lead largely concluded, attention turned further down the field, namely, Coulton Herta’s fantastic recovery. After running out of fuel in qualifying, Coulton had to start the race in 24^th. However, he showed his tenacity and pace throughout the race, picking off car after car and making no mistakes in the process. Channelling determination, Coulton finished the race in 7^th. In a weekend that could have been a detriment to his championship chances, Coulton did the job of any championship contender, minimize your losses on the bad, unlucky weekends. His known pace can do the job on the other weekends.

Overall, I had a good time with this one. An interesting strategy, a reminder of Palou’s talent, determination from Herta and chaos behind. This season is setting itself up to be fantastically competitive. And from my own perspective, I’m happy that Scott Dixon had a clean uneventful race and finished 4^th. It’s what we need to get championship number seven.
IndyCar- Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix Review

May 11th, 2024

IndyCar provided spectators with another entertaining race at Barber Motorsports Park. Scott McLaughlin made it two wins in a row at this track. Whilst having to endure cautions, mannequins and his teammate, McLaughlin ensured that his superior pace was bolstered by solid race craft. After a week in which Team Penske faced controversy, having been disqualified for cheating during the opening race, McLaughlin delivered a much-needed result for the team, catapulting himself up the standings in the process.

Pato O’Ward had a less solid time. Whilst being one of IndyCar’s young talents, Pato seems to have a propensity to make mistakes under pressure. That was true at Long Beach and was repeated at Barber. Pato ruined his race on the second lap, through missing his braking point, locking up and going through a gravel trap. Shortly after this, he took Pietro Fittipaldi out of the race, receiving a drive-through penalty for his efforts. Due to the Penske disqualifications, Pato received a lifeline, with a belated victory in the opening race of the season. To see him throw this lifeline away with mistakes and collisions was incredibly disappointing.

Pato was not the only McLaren disasterclass of the day. The pit crew failed to attach Alexander Rossi’s tyre on properly, leading to it falling off. This led to a caution being called, which became the fulcrum of the event. At this point, McLaughlin and Power, who had been running 1^st and 2^nd, found themselves in the middle of the pack. Will Power briefly overtook Scott McLaughlin in the chaos, which could have provided him with the opportunity to win the race. However, McLaughlin showed his tenacity, overtaking Power with a fantastic move, before proceeding to cut through the pack. Another caution ensured that McLaughlin was in the hot seat to lead again, but before that caution, there was a unique occurrence.

Before Sting Ray Robb crashed, a slightly risqué mannequin fell from a bridge, onto the side of the track, before its hand was run over by an IndyCar. This was one of the most bizarre moments I’ve ever seen on live TV. Thankfully, it didn’t appear that anyone was convinced that they had run over an actual person, but I can imagine it was incredibly frightening for all involved. During the 3^rd caution, Georgina (the mannequin) was removed from the side of the track, no doubt saving her from the fright of her life.

Overall, I had fun with this one. Whilst not being as memorable as the previous race, McLaughlin was a well-deserved winner and the race was complemented by a number of entertaining incidents, battling and mannequins.
IndyCar- Grand Prix of Long Beach Review

Apr 25th, 2024

After a couple of duds, IndyCar returned to Long Beach to deliver a thriller. Strategy determined the day, but only one driver could make the winning strategy work. Six-time champion Scott Dixon reminded us that when fuel saving is required, there’s no other driver to back.

The race opened with some frantic, exciting laps, as the drivers jostled, given the importance of gaining early track position in a race where tyre saving could prove key. Felix Rosenqvist, who took a sensational pole on Saturday, once again did not have the race pace, losing several places to put himself out of the contention for the win. Will Power built a healthy lead over the field in the first stint, at this point looking like a shoo-in for victory lane. Yet fate had other plans, instigated by Christian Rasmussen’s crash causing an early caution period.

In response to the caution, amongst other drivers, Will Power and Scott Dixon jumped into pit lane, whilst Power’s teammate, Josef Newgarden stayed out. Those who pitted had to enter extreme fuel saving mode, making winning the race far harder for Will Power. A few laps later Dixon opportunistically overtook Power, ending Power’s chances and placing himself in the hot seat of leading the alternate strategy. And whilst Power lost out through this strategy, Dixon somehow won. Dixon’s team Chip Ganassi, Power’s Team Penske and even Scott Dixon himself were convinced that it would be impossible to save enough fuel at winning pace, yet not even physics could prevent this sensation.

Yet before winning the race, Scott Dixon still had to handle a fast-charging and determined Josef Newgarden, who caught Dixon easily. Nothing but perfection would be able to prevent Penske from taking victory at this point, yet Scott took every line correctly, keeping Josef in his dirty air, preventing what should have been an easy pass from even looking possible. Dixon was about to take one of the most unlikely wins in recent IndyCar history. As for his rival at Team Penske, he still had a little more to lose.

A few laps before the end the Dixon-Newgarden battle evolved into a four car battle for the win. Newgarden’s closing speed combined with a slight misjudgment from Colton Herta behind meant that Josef was hit from behind. Unfortunately for Penske, what looked like slight contact put Newgarden’s car into anti-stall, causing them to not only lose the win, but the podium. No penalty was given to Herta, in what on balance seemed a fair decision. In comparison to Pato O’Ward completely out breaking himself and slamming into his teammate at the race’s start, or Lance Stroll’s antics behind the safety car in F1, Herta’s mistake was slight and did not result in major contact. The IndyCar stewards recognized that this resembled the contact that can occur in wheel-to-wheel combat, to Penske’s disappointment. Though whilst disappointing rival teams, for motorsports to remain fun I believe there should be leniency given for some slight contact to encourage aggressive and competitive racing. Herta displayed maturity after the race though, immediately taking responsibility for his slight mistake. In comparison to Lance Stroll’s inability to take any responsibility for his actions, I’m glad that one driver this weekend was able to demonstrate how to maturely respond to one’s errors.

So, we had a bold fuel strategy leading to an unexpected winner and four-car battle for the race lead. These are the races IndyCar is known for, a chess-like strategy that leaves the audience guessing who will take victory until the final laps. It’s taken six weeks longer than it should have to say this, but IndyCar is back.
IndyCar- Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Review

Mar 17th, 2024

A street track providing for limited opportunities for overtaking, Rosenqvist qualifying well then falling like a rock in the race and Romain Grosjean causing chaos. IndyCar must be back.

T’was not the most exciting race unfortunately. Street tracks in IndyCar are either processional or chaotic and this one leaned towards the processional. This was not assisted by the new tyres seeming to not possess much performance variety. Only during the warmup phase, when those on black tyres found themselves overtaken by those on green tyres, featured much in the way of on-track battles. After those tyres warmed up, they seemed to have similar lifespans and similar pace. This prevented differentials from occurring, turning the race into a follow-the-leader show. Firestone should definitely look into the construction of their tyres for future races, or the street tracks this year will continue to lack any action.

It thus fell on Romain Grosjean to entertain fans. Romain is a driver whose career I follow with fascination. He is always one step away from brilliance, with the only thing stopping him from achieving great results being himself. Because he crashes. A lot. The brilliance last weekend came from qualifying, where Romain was able to drag his car into fifth position, despite now driving for Juncos Hollinger, a small team that has never achieved a podium and only recorded three top-10 finishes last year. If Grosjean kept his racing clean, he could have immediately recorded a top-10 and justified the decision to sign him over Callum Ilott. Unfortunately, Romain got involved in another clumsy incident, making a half lunge on Linus Lundqvist that was only going to end in a collision. This ruined Lundqvist’s race, as well as earning Grosjean a drive-through penalty. With all his experience, Romain should have known better than to make that move. Though given his history, it’s exactly what I expected to happen.

At the front, the race was dominated by Josef Newgarden. He only looked threatened at one point, after a slow first pit stop put him in net-3^rd place, behind Colton Herta and Felix Rosenqvist. Both Herta and Rosenqvist were on the black tyres, so if Newgarden was going to retake the lead, he had to overtake them during the warm-up phase, before the tyre differential disappeared. Newgarden did so with no hesitation, making confident lunges on Herta and Rosenqvist to secure his lead and henceforth dominated the event. If Newgarden can dominate more regular tracks in the way he often dominates on ovals, then he will be a major threat for the championship.

In conclusion, these IndyCar street tracks really need improvements. With no tyre differential, they become processional and feel to me more like an experimental form of hypnotherapy than an action-packed car race. And as someone who knows that IndyCar on road courses and ovals is some of the best racing in the world, it seems unwise to continually begin seasons with the weakest flavour IndyCar has to offer.