INDYCAR 2016 Driver Review: Luca Filippi

Just when you thought that the Verizon IndyCar Series had run out of ways to surprise, 2016 came along. The championship was won by a guy who looked all at sea 12 months earlier, his closest rival didn't even participate in the first race, and the winner of the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 was a recent F1 refugee who apparently figured out how to make a car work without fuel.

Twenty-four drivers made at least three starts during the 2016 season, and each one is a story. Join RACER each day as we retrace their journeys.

LUCA FILIPPI

NO. 19 DALE COYNE RACING HONDA

2016 Best result: 14th (Toronto)
2016 Championship position: 26th (61 points from five races)

The seasoned Italian has now done four part-seasons with four different teams. This was probably his least impressive. Do we blame Luca? Coyne? The circumstances?

MILLER: Granted, based on his early appearances for Herta and RLL, we've always had high expectations for Filippi, even as a part-timer. But maybe it's a little unrealistic to think you can keep jumping in with a different team (and no testing), and get to the front like he did in his previous seasons. Qualifying in the top 12 for three of his five starts would be pretty satisfactory for most part-timers, but we've come to expect more from Luca. But I'm blaming the circumstances more than the driver.

PRUETT: Meh. He's moved from one good midfield shot to another (barring the strong 2015 opportunity with Ed Carpenter Racing) and then landed at the smallest team in the paddock. He also took on his first oval with Dale Coyne Racing during an abbreviated five-race season, which was never going to help his overall score. He's a skilled road racer and would be an excellent semi-veteran to ring in a pinch, but the ship has sailed on Luca's time as a serious candidate for a full-season opportunity.

Filippi's place on the grid is always going to be determined largely by budget, but how much of an asset can he be to a team from a purely driving standpoint?

MILLER: His former teams and teammates speak highly of Filippi's chassis savvy, openness and helpfulness. Veteran engineer Michael Cannon raved about his performance on red tires. "Luca could tire test for a living, he's that precise," said Cannon. [ED: He actually does - Filippi is a development driver for Pirelli].

PRUETT: Filippi reminds me of a promising quarterback who's gone through head coaching changes each season and has had to learn all-new offensive schemes each year. We know there's talent to be molded into something greater than we've seen demonstrated on a consistent basis, but it's also hard to vouch for his outright capabilities with the constant change that takes place.

He's finished in the bottom half of the field in 18 of 22 IndyCar races to date, and on the rare occasions where he's been able to shine, one podium is the oddity among a pair of ninths and 10ths. Like most young or inexperienced drivers, Filippi would benefit from two seasons in the same team to hone his craft. Without that in hand, it's hard to say how much value his driving would bring to any organization when the likes of Conor Daly, Spencer Pigot, Matthew Brabham, RC Enerson, and so many others are worth considering.

Coyne looked a little stronger later in the year. Was Filippi at a disadvantage through being in the car at the start of the season?

MILLER: It appeared that Coyne's ever-changing cast improved the cars as season went on, but you have to remember that Luca's engineer was brand-new to current IndyCars this year, so it was obviously a learning experience early on when he was in the car.

PRUETT: Without a doubt. Honda's revised aero kit was a big puzzle to solve, the team had two relatively inexperienced drivers and one of its engineers (assigned to the car Filippi drove) was also making his full-time return to the series. It all points to an awful lot of learning taking place in and out of the car, and it definitely showed. Based on how well Enerson performed in his end-of-season outings, I'm confident Luca would have been thoroughly competitive in the same car. If he can find more money, maybe we'll get a chance to find out.

PREVIOUSLY: