The RACER Mailbag, April 6

Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. Due to the high volume of questions received, we can’t guarantee that every letter will be published, but we’ll answer as many as we can. Published questions may be edited for length and clarity. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will appear the following week.

Q: IndyCar is by far my favorite form of racing and has been for over 40 years, but I’m really worried now. All we really have is IMS and maybe Gateway and Long Beach, while F1 is starting to make a move on us in places we couldn’t make work. If they are successful in Miami and Vegas, I think the end is near for IndyCar.

I know F1 is extremely expensive, but people also go to see the races, and it has value to many potential stakeholders. What does IndyCar have to offer? The Indy 500 of course, but it goes downhill from there. Yes, cheaper sponsorships, but also fewer eyeballs on the product.

R.P. is an extremely smart man, but he may have made an emotional decision on his purchase rather than a business one – that is his prerogative. I was hoping he’d be able to improve the marketing and advertising of the series, but frankly I haven’t seen much difference. They haven’t learned from the past mistakes in this area, and I haven’t seen a strategic plan for the future. Does Penske Entertainment need a change? What is Mark Miles doing?

We’ve had the luxury of F1 being everywhere but in the U.S. in the past, but they are coming, and from different fronts – TV ("Drive to Survive") and now physically. This isn’t looking good. What says you?

Randy Mizelle

MARSHALL PRUETT: I see no reason to fear for IndyCar’s health as a result of F1 expanding to three U.S. races. It’s not like IndyCar fans are going to stop watching or stop attending because there’s more F1 product to offer. Could it mean some IndyCar fans sample an F1 race for the first time? And could some folks skip an IndyCar race in favor of an F1 race? Sure, but it also means there’s 17 IndyCar races for domestic F1 fans to try, and for what we have to offer with access and affordable tickets, there’s no comparison.

But I do wonder why IndyCar is constantly being caught by surprise by F1’s aggressive approach to winning the hearts and minds with new American fans, or if the lack of reaction from IndyCar means it's satisfied with what it’s doing and feels no threat from F1. I know Penske Entertainment is running IndyCar with a very tight budget, which is certainly a factor in why we haven’t seen big/new/ambitious plans to grow the series. From the outside looking in, it does come across as though F1 is loaded with creativity and vitality and IndyCar is short on ideas and action. Nashville is certainly a great addition to the schedule, but if we’re talking forward motion, I’m not sure it falls in the same category with all the new inroads F1 is making here.

I love that IndyCar’s trying something different by moving Detroit back to a downtown venue next year, and that it – along with Hy-Vee – is making a significant effort to reanimate Iowa and make it a success, but those don’t land with me as big, new, or ambitious. That’s popping leftovers from last night’s dinner into the microwave.

When we’re reporting from the launch of IndyCar’s Atlanta GP, Louisville GP, San Francisco GP or New York GP, I’ll be suitably impressed.

Q: Seeing the MSR/Helio "Drive for Five" theme run for Indy had me thinking. How many years during The Split, and what teams, was Helio driving for when he didn't even enter the Indy 500? If my memory serves me correctly, a few of those years he was with The Captain? If so, had he raced Indy, he might already be a five-time winner or more if not for The Split. (Let’s keep 2002 out of this for the sake of discussion).

Craig

MP: Helio joined Penske in CART in 2000 as a replacement for the late Greg Moore and R.P. entered his first IRL race at Phoenix in 2001 to get a feel for how things worked ahead of a two-car effort for Castroneves, who won on debut, and Gil de Ferran, who raced at Indy in 1995 before the split with Jim Hall.

Castroneves made his CART debut in 1998 with Bettenhausen Racing, which was a midfield team, and then switched to Hogan Racing in 1999 (where I worked as well) which was a top 10 contender about half the time, but no threat for consistent victories. The bottom line is Helio would not have added to his Baby Borg collection if he’d been entered at Indy with his pre-Penske CART teams.

Bettenhausen-spec Castroneves. Obviously this was before he discovered the advantages of a low-downforce haircut. Motorsport Images

Q: There was a great article in the March 27 Sunday New York Times about Jay Penske's takeover of the film/celebrity industry publications such as Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, etc.  My question is regarding the meteoric rise in F1 popularity because of Netflix's "Drive To Survive." How has IndyCar been caught so flatfooted? The Captain owns IMS Productions, and his son is the ownership of TV and film reporting publications, I'd think an immediate rollout of an IndyCar show would be a no-brainer (especially with the ROI F1 is receiving on a global scale from its reality show.) Throw it up on Amazon Prime, which also has global distribution, and join the revolution. F1 has just announced a third U.S. race and Liberty Media has F1 on the verge of supplanting IndyCar as the number two most-watched racing series in the country.

As Long Beach is on NBC this year, I'd at least hope for a handful of celebs milling around the pits and broadcast booth.

Zack S., Atlanta, GA

MP: Couple of things here, Zack. Penske Entertainment does most things at an extremely high level, but marketing and promotions is the one area where it’s hard to find folks within the paddock to throw praise in their direction. F1 also has an annual budget that’s a few zillion dollars above what IndyCar and IMS have to work with, so that’s a real limitation to consider. And then we have the uncomfortable part of the answer where, after Netflix and F1 struck their deal and found massive popularity with "DTS," IndyCar was only ever going to be seen as a distant second in terms of value and interest for doing a version of the same thing. I know from conversations I’ve been in that Netflix and the other major streaming services just haven’t been tripping over themselves to sign IndyCar and then get their butts kicked when the latest "DTS" F1 season arrives.

The only thing I’ve heard that offers a glimmer of hope is a rumored "DTS" Indy 500, which would focus solely on the month of May and not the rest of the season, for 2023 or 2024. If that were to happen, I do think it could be a big deal for the series and Netflix. And if it happens, and if it’s a success, maybe that’s the mechanism to see if an expanded relationship were possible. Other than that, I keep hearing IndyCar’s scripted reality series is making more and more progress.

Q: Were you being coy or serious about a future race in Milwaukee? Last week you started the rumor about Milwaukee coming back while you were at the Texas race. Then in the answer to another question you said you were following up on the rumor by asking people in the know. Which is it?

I quoted your first Milwaukee rumor comment from Mailbag two weeks ago in a post on the Facebook page Milwaukee Mile Race Fans. It blew up -- got 58 shares and reached 12,350 people (more people than attended the last IndyCar race at Milwaukee). Fans from central Illinois and Indiana said they would come to a Milwaukee race. Phenomenal response to a rumor.

Menards is still listed among Team Penske sponsors for 2022. Maybe Roger Penske could gently twist his friend John Menard’s arm for the money to make a Milwaukee race a reality. Robin Miller thought this sponsor/partnership would make sense. Could it become reality for Milwaukee?

Bob Hunt, Lodi, WI

MP: I didn’t start the rumor, but I do hope there’s a groundswell of interest that catches IndyCar’s attention. Roping Menard in to support Milwaukee sounds like a perfect Year 2 scenario if and when it’s successful in Year 1. John doesn’t seem like the type to throw money away on an event that has yet to prove its value.

Q: Why is IndyCar stuck on 16-17 races and running doubleheaders to get to those numbers when there are plenty of other permanent road courses available, and now F1 has added races in Miami and Las Vegas? Seems like the powers-that-be are not looking hard enough for new venues. There is no way an F1 race is cheaper to run then a IndyCar race. Why not the Daytona road course? Penske and France pulled off the IndyCar/NASCAR event at Indy last August; why not an IndyCar/NASCAR event at the Daytona road course? NOLA invested a lot of money for a one-off IndyCar event that was a disaster, there’s Mexico City, and I have heard the rumbling about Milwaukee, but they should tread lightly – don’t want to piss off Road America. That was the deal that got IndyCar back. No Milwaukee, and of course, Fontana.

Arnold Edgar, Danville, IN

MP: IndyCar has just one doubleheader on its calendar this year -- at Iowa where it’s trying to revive a lost event -- so that makes sense. NASCAR will not be welcoming IndyCar into its home in Daytona, so that’s a non-starter. The uncomfortable truth is most IndyCar teams would storm 16th & Georgetown if the calendar was expanded beyond its current count while the upcoming costs for more expensive engines and a looming need to buy new cars is on the horizon. They just can’t afford to take on 20 events because too few have sponsors with deep pockets to pay for those races, and then you have the added costs to the annual engine and tire leases since mileages will go up and more rubber will be burned.

I love the idea of expanding the calendar, but it has to happen at the right time, and that time isn’t now.

Q: Politicians in Cleveland are talking about closing Burke Lakefront Airport. I hope Penske or Andretti save the place and bring the race back to Cleveland which saw some of the greatest racing from 1982-2007.

Alistair, Branson, MO

MP: The commission better be damn good if I can convince Michael or Roger to buy prime lakefront property in Cleveland.

All this could be yours! Except the buildings. And Dan Clarke. Motorsport Images

Q: A couple questions all relating to the new engines, hybridizations and a new chassis. Can you explain how the hybrid aspect of IndyCar will play out on ovals? Is it going to be used similar to the push to pass, or will it be full time available extra horsepower? When the batteries run empty will they have to touch the brakes to recharge the batteries?

It was great to hear Jay Frye say that the new 2.4s are literally ready to race after this week's test. Why wait until 2024 assuming Honda and Chevy can get adequate inventory of the 2.4's by late this year? Why not run them in 2023 without the electric package? Along those lines, it is clear the drivers are ready for a new chassis with the test results and comments about the DW12 and the simulated weight of the battery unit (combined with the weight added last year with the windscreens). Multiple drivers have indicated they find the added weight a detriment to handling and braking. Why not commission Dallara to get going on a DW24 to be ready for 2024 and the 2.4-liter engines get a year under their belt in 2023 before the electric aspect is put in? There will always be problems and bugs to work out so why not spread the implementation out rather than an all new car and engine and electric package at the same time?

Forrester

MP: We broke the story on IndyCar’s ERS unit and plans in the January issue of RACER Magazine and on RACER.com; I’d recommend reading it and learning about oval energy harvesting, etc. I’ve also recently written about IndyCar having an extra year now to get a new chassis moving in time for the 2024 engine launch, so that’s also on the site for your perusal.

They won’t run them until 2024 because Chevy and Honda agreed to postpone them to 2024, with Chevy being a steady proponent of the delay to 2024, which Honda eventually agreed to, which led IndyCar to formalize the one-year push. They won’t run the 2.4s in 2023 because they don’t want to.

Q: Rumor has it that Beth Paretta is still working to put together a crew and technical support. Any idea what Gerald Tyler is up to these days? He was Simona’s engineer in 2012 and ’13 and they got along great. He knows how to set up a car the way she likes it. Considering all the positive publicity Paretta Autosport generated last year, you would think Penske Entertainment would want them included. What’s going on?

Patrick, Brownsburg, IN

MP: Not sure on Gerald; he fell out of IndyCar towards the end of 2018 and hasn’t been in demand since. You would think having the team that brought more attention to the event than any other as a must-have for the next Indy 500 would be a priority for the series, but I can’t say I’ve heard anything to suggest that’s been the case. I filed an entry list update on Monday that stopped just short of saying Beth and Simona won’t be participating in the 106th Indy 500, but that’s what I expect to hear when they are ready to speak publicly. IndyCar has been doing a lot of good and smart things since RP took over; I can’t say the situation with Paretta and De Silvestro falls into that category in 2022.

Q: I was surprised to hear rumors about a possible Milwaukee Mile race. As someone who wishes there were more ovals on the schedule, I have a question, assuming a race is run: How can IndyCar make it a good race? I attended the last three at the MM and they were little more than parades except for the jockeying during pit stops. This is not just a Milwaukee problem, either. It happens at all the relatively flat short ovals (e.g. Phoenix, WWTR, etc).  It was not always like this.

Travis W., Sussex, WI

MP: WWTR has put on some good shows so I wouldn’t necessarily lump them into the conversation, but if we get Milwaukee back, I’d expect IndyCar to hold a test with a sizable amount of cars to do like they’ve done at Texas, for example, and try to get a feel for different aero specifications and pick the one the drivers felt gave them the best chances to pass into, at, and out of the corners.

Q: I’m writing after seeing your story last week talking about the new 2024 engines and the subsequent Twitter conversation with JR Hildebrand about running the new engine in the existing chassis. The cost outlays for both options aren't exactly great, but as a fan I'd rather they go the "do it all at once" route. Speaking of the chassis, that seems to be the unicorn right now. No one seems to know when it will be ready or what it will look like. I know that you, me, and several IndyCar drivers have waxed poetic about the Panoz DP01 that only ran for the 2007 Champ Car season and the Long Beach race in 2008. What is stopping Jay Frye, Dallara, and others from reaching out to Elan Motorsports Technology (Panoz-owned) and working out an agreement to give them "the bag" for the designs?

The chassis would obviously need to get a superspeedway trim package along with integrating the aeroscreen into it, but why not approach them about the car? The obvious reason would be Elan wouldn't agree to it, but is there any reason not to approach Elan about the DP01?

Chris Damato

MP: There’s one major reason, and it’s that IndyCar has already announced it will continue working with Dallara as its sole chassis supplier. We’re left to watch old Champ Car races on YouTube to get our fix of that delightful DP01 in action.

Q: In how many different series has Austin Cindric raced? I asked his father that question three years ago and he did not know.

David, Waxhaw, NC

MP: Like the question ‘How long is a piece of string?’… this is one that cannot be answered because there’s no way to know if he’s added five more series to the total since you sent this in.

Kidding aside, having covered Austin up to his switch to NASCAR, I came up with about half of the series on my own but needed to call him to get the rest, so thanks to the newest Daytona 500 winner for the assist. These aren’t in order, and in some cases, he’s raced in the unique sub-series run by an overarching sanctioning body, but those do count:

1. Skip Barber Winter Series
2. USF2000
3. Bandoleros
4. Legends
5. Pirelli World Challenge GTS
6. Pirelli World Challenge GT
7. Intercontinental GT Challenge
8. Global Rallycross Lites
9. Global Rallycross Supercar
10. Historic Racing Series
11. IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge
12. IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
13. ARCA
14. NASCAR K&N
15. NASCAR Trucks
16. NASCAR Xfinity
17. NASCAR Cup

We also discussed his need to embark on a "30 Before 30" to get to 30 series before his 30th birthday, which seems more than doable. He said he has the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indy 500, and Baja 1000 on the list.

Might be a while before we see Cindric in an open-wheeler again. Image by Road to Indy

Q: Can someone please let Roger know that it is OK to have the Freedom 100? I’ll be back at Indy for the first time in two years and am bummed about no Freedom 100.

Jake

MP: R.P., you’ve been notified.

Q: I’m a big idea problem solver. Regarding IndyCar’s poor attendance at ovals, make the Indy 500 ticket a season pass for all ovals. There, problem solved. Now I leave it to you and your funky readers to fill in the details to make this happen. Please, none of that "we can’t do it because of this and that." Make it "what a great idea! Let’s make it work!"

You’re welcome.

Janis, somewhere in central Florida

MP: How about making a ticket for Texas the oval season pass… that can only be purchased trackside at Texas after the buyer shows proof of visiting Indy and eating the A.J. Foyt five-pound breakfast steak at Charlie Brown’s.

Q: Does an increase in lap time equal a faster lap or a slower lap?  Thanks, I’ll hang up now and read the comments below.

Ryan in West Michigan

MP: Oh Lord, there’s always at least one of these in each Mailbag…

Q: Last week you mentioned the sanctioning fee to hold a race was in the $1.5m neighborhood. All in, what would it cost to rent a track, pay the sanctioning fee and hire staff? Minus the TV money (assuming NBC would pay to play) how much more would be needed in crowdsourcing to put on a fan-sponsored oval race at, let's say, Milwaukee? How many cases of dark beer would you charge to be the head promoter, race organizer, and all-over big honcho?

Shawn in MD

MP: That’s what Monterey County approved for the Laguna Seca event; it varies from track to track to it’s hard to say what the sanction fees are and what each track would charge IndyCar if the series wanted to do a rental. I’d aim for raising at least $3M to get Milwaukee up and going, and hey, I’m a cheap date, so a six-pack of Guinness will suffice.

Q: I’d like to give a shout out to Dalton Kellett for his series on how IndyCars work. I’m honestly surprised that IndyCar hasn’t done this already, especially with the talents of so many former drivers available (I’m thinking of Hinchtown and Charlie Kimball).

Janis, hiding out in gator country.

MP: Thanks, Janis. I haven’t seen them, but he’s a smart kid so good on him. If you like tech videos on how IndyCars and sports cars work, I’ve been churning them out for 15 years, including the new #MPShowMe videos I’ve been doing with my phone this season, and I keep adding more from stuff I did back in the day when I have time.

RACER also has a deep selection of tech videos, in-car videos, and more.

Q: The Texas race used to draw a decent/good crowd. I was there when the NASCAR Trucks ran the night before. I crewed for a small Truck team and it was our first race. The next night we went back and had dinner there and watched the IndyCar race. Texas at night is amazing! Or, it used to be.

But I don't blame the folks that stayed away. Tickets are not cheap. Do you want to spend your limited funds on a race that has been really poor the last several years due to the PJ1 on the track? I'm not a Texan, but have been there enough to know that a March race can be a roll of the dice for weather. Combine that with the PJ1 history, the NCAA Tournament going on, the early start time, and I'm not shocked at the turnout. Even If I lived walking distance from the track, I would not have attended.

The Texas race can come back, but it will take time. It will take several more years of no PJ1 and cars working that second groove to get the racing fully back. Have a good product, and people will show up. Have a bad product for several years, change things up for start time, and people will naturally stay away. It's not rocket science. Texas was once one of the best races on the schedule. The PJ1 ruined it. But now that NASCAR has gone away from its terrible aero package, the PJ1 is unnecessary, and with time, the Texas IndyCar race can be an excellent race once again.

John

MP: You know how some businesses really make you feel like they want your business and others make you feel like all they care about is extracting every dollar you have? It definitely seems like if IndyCar and TMS come to a new agreement and the series returns, some sort of make-good-on-past-bad-deeds ticket pricing should happen.

Q: All the oval talk in the Mailbag lately has me wondering what really went down with the Richmond deal. Originally, I believe IndyCar had a two-year deal to race there. I seem to remember that both races got canceled as we went into the COVID-shortened season. What ultimately led to both of the races getting canceled? Presumably, race two could have/should have been on the schedule last year, but wasn't even given the chance after the first year was canceled. Who initiated the deal to bring IndyCar to Richmond ,and what led to things souring so quickly that both races were hastily canceled?

Appreciate all the hard work that goes into Mailbag – always start my Wednesday here.

Alan

MP: Thanks for the kind words, Alan. Here’s what I got from the series:

After a great Firestone test involving Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden, IndyCar was excited about a return to Richmond. Dennis Bickmeier, who recently announced his departure, was a huge proponent. Ultimately, COVID took plans in a different direction. The series remains open to future discussions and opportunities to return.

Q: With all the recent talk of Milwaukee returning to the schedule, I thought I'd put in my two pennies. The last time I went to The Mile was 2012 and 2013. On the official site it lists attendance at 22k for 2012 and n/a for 2013.  Believe me, in 2013 my wife, me and about 40 other people watched the race. I had been there eight other times, and it was obvious it was over. Like any other venue, you've got to have paying customers to put on a show. Why would anyone want to try and promote The Mile again?

Indy number 42 coming up in May.

Jackson Pell, South Bend, IN

MP: I’m never sure how to read situations like this, because we always have a group of passionate "Bring back the ________ race" folks, and it’s human nature to want that to be an indication of a big interest for that race to be brought back to life. But it usually ends up being a small number of people instead of thousands upon thousands of motivated attendees. Robin Miller always said it was somewhere between five and 10 super-active forum members talking up the need for Kevin Kalkhoven to buy CART that led the late Australian to do so -- a case of mistaking a handful of consistently loud voices as being a sample size of a greater audience that didn’t actually exist.

It's been almost a decade since IndyCar raced at Milwaukee. I loved the place, but that’s a lot of years that have passed where fandom has waned and locals have become accustomed to life without the event, and that’s never a good thing.

We're not running photos of Cleveland and Milwaukee in the same Mailbag, so how's this instead: Roger Penske giving his Chaparral 2A some gas in the 1964's 7th Annual Times Grand Prix at Riverside. Motorsport Images

Q: In last week’s Mailbag, Tommy Boy was complaining about announcers drowning out the sweet sound of the engines. I have the same issue with announcers that feel they have to fill every second of any sporting event with nonstop babble, especially one whose name rhymes with "No Luck." I have a center channel sound system at home and installed an on off switch for the center channel. When turned off the center channel is eliminated cutting off the announcers leaving only the sounds of the event. I call it my "Joe/no Joe" switch. Oops! I gave him away!

Bill Phypers, Brewster, NY

MP: A great home stereo hack, Bill.

Q: I’m one of the biggest IndyCar oval fans you’ll meet, and the IRL oval days made me a fan. I’ve read a lot of conjecture about the attendance at Texas in the Mailbag over the past two weeks, and I’ve been to the race five or so times since 2011, but here’s the deal: It’s, frankly, not that fun. The track is a hike to get to, like most ovals. There’s nothing going on around the track. There are no support events. Probably more damning that anything is the feeling of  “nothing special going on here.” It’s also a self-fulfilling prophecy… as attendance dwindles, that feeling of “nothing special” gets worse and people don’t go back. My last couple of years living in Texas, I didn’t go back as it simply wasn’t fun. Although, the sights and sounds of being at the track can’t be beat.

At road and street courses, on the other hand, you can get closer to the action. You can walk around to different vantage points. There are typically other races going on. The paddock is closer, so fans can meander around closer to the cars. Even if it has a small crowd, the close quarters still make it feel special and exciting.

Essentially, you end up with ovals feeling like just a race in the middle of nowhere, and a road or street event is a party. And let's be honest, nobody wants to drive out to a field in the middle of nowhere expecting a party and nobody be there, race or no race.

Ross Bynum

MP: I lost track of how many times I felt this exact thing during the early days of the Indy Racing League, Ross. There were a few events that had solid crowds, but way too often, we’d be on pit lane at Random Oval X and I’d look up and say to a teammate, "It looks like they forgot to tell people there’s a race going on this weekend," or, "Looks like all the fans dressed up like aluminum seats" because that about the only thing staring back at us from the grandstands. I’ll keep chanting my same old mantra: While it’s rebuilding and slowly growing in popularity, IndyCar cannot afford to go to tracks -- of any kind -- where it looks small and unimportant.

Q: I had one question about the test with the new motors at IMS. I know that both Honda and Chevy engines were tested without the hybrid system. Rumor is that the regular engine still makes about 800 horsepower, which is 100-150 more then today's 2.2-liter engines without push-to-pass. In the past, some drivers like Josef Newgarden had worries that the increased horsepower would make driving the car tougher since IndyCars lack power steering. Do you know if IndyCar was also testing something to combat the increase horsepower and make the car drivable despite the increase in power? Thanks!

Ukyo Tachibana

MP: Power levels are over 700hp without P2P from what I’ve been told for a while, Ukyo. I haven’t heard much about the upcoming increase in power making the cars harder to drive and turn; it’s the upcoming hike in weight that will exacerbate the problem. No changes by adding power steering that I know of.

Q: Beginning in 1964, Phoenix International Raceway was traditionally the first oval race on USAC's Champ Car schedule for many years. Several years ago, IndyCar made its last appearance in Avondale; as I understand it was a flop in terms of attendance.

I'm originally from Portland, Oregon and attended (and reported on) the-then CART races beginning at Portland International Raceway in 1984. Today I live full-time in Arizona and attend the two seasonal NASCAR races at Phoenix. What I don't understand is how this facility, after undergoing millions of dollars of renovations in the past few years, can economically survive on just those two events on a yearly basis?

With a supposedly new-found interest in IndyCar by racing fans, plus the ever-growing population in my adopted state, I would think that the powers-that-be could get together and bring IndyCar back to Phoenix. Plus, the icing on the cake would be the return of the Copper State Classic!

Bob Kehoe, Eloy, AZ

MP: I’d love to go back and rooted for its success during our brief return, but alas, it was a ghost town. Most tracks keep revenue coming in with circuit rentals, local club racing and amateur events, etc. My first time at PIR was around 1987 or 1988 for the CART IndyCar race; I was there as a gofer/junior mechanic on an SCCA Pro Racing Super Vee open-wheel team and it was packed. Drove there many times after for more CART, and it was packed. Was there for the IRL events, and it wasn’t as packed, and so on. Like the previous note about Milwaukee, I wonder if IndyCar at PIR is a topic that is best left to history.

Let's remember Phoenix as the track where Adrian Fernandez had his own parking space in 2004. Motorsport Images

Q: Wouldn’t Formula E be a perfect fit for the Indy road course? Is that possible with racing politics? Seems like the perfect track and place. Also, Andretti’s involvement seems like a link. Are there any American manufacturers interested in Formula E?

Gene Markiewicz

MP: Not sure where politics would have any play here, Gene, but FE’s whole deal has been to bring its series to cities and downtown areas to put on shows where the manufacturers bathe themselves in righteous publicity for sustainability and eco friendliness, so taking that message out of city centers and bringing it to a permanent road course at IMS where almost nobody would show up would defeat the series’ entire purpose. I haven’t heard of an American OEM looking to get into FE.

Q: Marshall, I listened intently to Bob Varsha during last week’s #RacingFamily Show as he talked about Formula 1 and its 20th-century proclivity to race in countries with poor human rights records. He included the United States in that list.

That made me think about IndyCar and how they race in states which have written laws intended to suppress minority voting and to discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community. That includes Florida, Alabama, Ohio, and the worst offender on the list, Indiana. If IndyCar doesn't address these issues in words or actions, isn't the Race for Equality and Change little more than a marketing gimmick?

Don Davis, Chardon, OH

MP: Lots to unpack here, Don. I’d say the RE&C program is a forward-looking thing, so I’m not sure how or why we’d attach a racing initiative RP had created in the middle of 2020 to promote Black drivers and crew and women racers with needing to atone for the discriminatory practices of individual states or the country as a whole since our experiment was founded a few hundred years ago.

Rather than seek hollow statements that won’t change a thing, I’m more concerned about the RE&C living up to its mission statement. After the welcome return of a woman racer to the Indy 500 grid last year, the prospects are slim once again as it looks like all 33 seats will be filled by men. If you care about such things, that would be going backwards, not forwards, after the RE&C was centrally involved in De Silvestro’s presence in 2021.

And we hope Ernie Francis Jr. does great things in Indy Lights with the Force Indy RE&C team, but what’s the long-term plan for Ernie, and for that matter, what’s the long-term plan for the RE&C? I genuinely don’t know.

As for Bob Varsha’s comments, I posed the question to him that you’ve mentioned, and yes, every country has some form of human rights catastrophe in its history. It’s whether F1 or any series should race in places where those catastrophes are taking place in the present where bigger questions need to be answered.

Q: After thoroughly enjoying the race in Saudi Arabia, I have a couple of questions: 1) Please describe F1’s current energy harvesting system. Where on track is energy generally harvested and where is it generally used to boost horsepower? Are both the harvesting and energy use under the driver’s control or automatic, and do the rear lights flash during both harvesting and use? Do you know if IndyCar’s future hybrid system will be similar? 2) In watching Alpine’s in-car cameras and listening to their associated radio transmissions, I can see Entry, Mid and Exit settings on the steering wheel display and can hear engineers giving commands to change settings “Entry 8, Exit 12,” etc.  What is it they are changing on the cars?

Brad Cloud, Missoula, MT

CHRIS MEDLAND: If I make it extremely general, the energy is usually harvested under braking -- or at least deceleration when off-throttle -- and then deployed in the big acceleration zones that lead onto long straights, as that gives the most value for the extra horsepower. However, there are two energy recovery systems -- the MGU-H (which recovers energy from exhaust gases) and the MGU-K (which recovers energy from the wheels) -- so they can harvest at different times.

Energy is stored in the aptly-named Energy Store (ES) and mapping allows deployment to be automatic based on the throttle trace, but drivers can manually choose when to deploy to help them in race battles. Sometimes this leads to the energy in the ES getting depleted and so they’ll have a spell charging it again, which is when they can be vulnerable.

The lights are only used to show when a car is harvesting as that tends to be at the end of straights when they would be accelerating more slowly than if they were deploying the extra energy, and the lights are a warning to avoid the following driver being caught out by the closing speeds.

In terms of IndyCar’s future system, I’m not sure -- you’ll have to ask MP about that one!

And the Alpine question shows just how complex F1 cars are to drive, but those messages tend to relate to the differential settings to aid the car’s handling. As the fuel load burns off, the tires start to wear and track grip changes, the car will handle differently and the diff can be adjusted to help combat changes in handling and traction.

Q: Has Pietro Fittipaldi ruined his career by being a Haas test driver?  Why wasn't he allowed to drive, first for Nikita Mazepin, and then for Mick Schumacher? What is the point of being the backup if you get passed over when the opportunity is there?  

Vincent Martinez, South Pasadena, CA 

CM: I wouldn’t say he’s ruined his career by any stretch, in fact he’s made himself a valuable part of an F1 team. But his lack of experience hurt him when Haas could go for an experienced replacement for Mazepin in the form of Kevin Magnussen. Guenther Steiner said it would have been Pietro if not Kevin, and while he’s highly-rated by the team I’m not certain if that’s true or just paying lip service.

If you mean why wasn’t he able to replace Mazepin in Abu Dhabi and Schumacher in Jeddah, that’s because of F1’s rules. A driver has to have completed at least one practice session (qualifying counts) during the race weekend to be allowed to start the race. It’s not targeted at Fittipaldi, just a general regulation to ensure every driver starting the race have proven themselves competitive enough for that specific event.

This is what "paying your dues" looks like. Carl Bingham/Motorsport Images

Q: With F1 announcing a race on the streets of Las Vegas, it reminds me of reasons why they said they could never race at Road America.

Years ago, probably on "Wind Tunnel," I remember Robin saying how the first thing that would have to be done is spend millions to upgrade the Road America's entire paddock to F1's liking. Additionally, there was something about having to move the railroad tracks that run parallel to the track from the area of the kink down to turn 12 because they were too close to the track.

Maybe that's no longer the case, but now the series is just going to build a temporary street circuit on the Las Vegas strip and surrounding streets and the safety standards will be met?

Granted, Elkhart Lake isn't Las Vegas and I'm sure there are hundreds of reasons they'd never race there, but that just seems weird to me.

Dave von Falkenstein, Janesville, WI

CM: The safety standards of anywhere a race takes place are complex, but the track layout in Vegas will have been designed with that in mind. Long straights end at intersections with big run-offs that will be built in, specific barriers are used, angles of corners and barrier placements are all taken into account in the circuit design -- in the same way it is when IndyCar races on street courses and they don’t use have a solid concrete wall waiting at the end of a straight.

There are specific regulations to be met to race Grade 1 (F1-standard) status, and for some older circuits there is infrastructure in place -- like the railroad tracks you mention - that can’t be moved.

The garages and paddock are also a major issue at many existing tracks, plus some of these safety changes would then ruin the character of the circuit for the rest of the time it’s used, and that’s not a price worth paying in my opinion.

Q: I read your story about Zak Brown's comments about Monaco improving its commercial aspects to compete with Miami (Miami Gardens by a stadium, to be correct), and Vegas to stay on the calendar, not the historical aspect of it. Additionally, I have seen other stories and tweets along the same lines talking about how historical significance shouldn't keep you on the schedule. I take it those comments are aimed at Monaco and Spa. Specifically, Monaco is pain because the streets are only so wide (maybe these cars shouldn't be a wide as tanks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), but I'm not sure what Spa's deal would be, especially with all of the reworking that's been going on to the track over the past year. Is this purely a sanctioning fee as their deals are coming up and wanting more from each, or are there other factors that would put these tracks into a 'rotation'? 

Chris Damato

CM: You’ve almost answered your own question. All venues need to be commercially viable, especially at a time when F1’s popularity is growing and there is demand from other venues to host a race. Just like any sport, F1 is a business and needs to make money, and while nobody is saying all of these tracks have to pay the exact same race-hosting fee, they do need to provide value in multiple ways.

As you mentioned with Monaco, the sport has changed so much that the cars have outgrown the venue, and while smaller cars would definitely help, I’m actually OK with that as long as the challenge is unique. What’s wrong with one race a year being all but decided by qualifying, when you have 23 in total? But Monaco doesn’t pay a race-hosting fee, so while it gets incredible exposure as a venue around the world, it doesn’t pay for that privilege when other tracks do. 2020 has shown that while F1 wants to be racing in Monaco, it doesn’t have to at any cost.

Spa needed to make those improvements to make the track safe for F1, but it still also needs to be able to pay a hosting fee that the sport deems valuable enough in the current climate. Don’t forget that iconic old tracks like Zandvoort and Imola have been able to do that, partly due to ticket sales/fan base and partly due to government funding for the exposure to the region and boost to the local economy each race provides. By having races that don’t do the same, you reduce your ability to get the best deal because new tracks point to a Monaco and say they don’t pay a fee, so that’s the tightrope F1 walks from a commercial point of view.

Some of it is definitely posturing from F1 to ensure these races don’t just bank on their history and fail to keep up with the times, but there are also so many places wanting to host a race they can afford to play that game.

THE FINAL WORD

From Robin Miller's Mailbag, April 4, 2018

Q: Was the St. Pete’s race last season? Way too long between races. Hopefully IndyCar fixes this huge gap in the schedule. Need to keep the momentum going. I also think IndyCar could add a few more races. Bring back Cleveland, MIS and Fontana.

Blue Lou

ROBIN MILLER: OK, repeat after me: Fontana only wants a race in October and that’s not likely to happen. Cleveland needs a title sponsor. MIS has zero interest to my knowledge. But you are right, the early and mid-summer gaps need to be filled. Or, start later.