The RACER Mailbag, June 21

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.

ED'S NOTE: The Mailbag is taking a two-week summer vacation starting from next week. Feel free to continue sending questions to the usual address, and we'll save them for when the Mailbag returns on July 12.

Q: You are going to have to get us the details on what went wrong for Colton Herta. From the TV broadcast, it looks like the biggest bad strategy call of the year. Like, a "lose your job" kind of bad call. My family was discussing it after the race, and we wonder if there is more to it than the bad call. Did they not get enough fuel in? Release a second too early in the last stop? Did a bad calculation cause them to think they had more fuel than they thought?

John

MARSHALL PRUETT: I think the worst strategy call of the year would go to Ganassi for leaving Marcus Armstrong out while everyone pitted under yellow, which destroyed his chances of earning a career-best result. Made zero sense since he only had a few laps of fuel left in the tank and was running seventh when those in front and behind him pitted under caution. His race went downhill from there…

As I understand things, Herta had enough fuel and tires left to go one more lap, but the team chose to call him in one lap before his rivals. I’ve also heard they had significant radio issues during the race, so that could have been a factor in conveying thoughts and plans in both directions.

So, yes, stopping one lap early was going to require fuel saving at a 4.0-mile track, but I’ve also learned that Herta’s No. 26 Honda did not receive a full tank of fuel on that final stop, which compounded his problems and sent him into extreme fuel saving just to make it to the finish. If it was only a case of saving to make up for that extra lap of fuel, I don’t think Herta falls to fifth. But with a short tank and an extra lap of running to do, he became a sitting duck.

Q: I would like to know how much Colton Herta is biting his tongue this week. Even I was saying pit with 14 to go. Yes, there was a slim risk of being caught out by a yellow, but IndyCar does its best to minimize the impact if that happens, especially on road course. Pitting with 15 to go was more of a strategy to not lose as opposed to being aggressive and trying to win. Feel bad for him, he was controlling the race all day.

Jeff, State College, PA

MP: Just as he’s lost the team some races from mistakes made behind the steering wheel, we’ve seen the maturity of Herta being demonstrated by not throwing the team under the bus in this instance. They win and lose as a team, as the saying goes.

Q: I know everyone believes Alex Palou is headed to McLaren at the end of the year. Is there a chance Ganassi steps up and finds a way to keep him there? Is the any interest at all from Alex to stay? I know it always comes down to money, but how much deeper are McLaren's IndyCar pockets than Ganassi's? It seems it would be in Chip's best interest to try to keep as many of his current drives as he can considering the team is currently functioning and an extremely high level. Is the F1 carrot so great that Palou would overlook the situation he is currently in?

Joey, Florida

MP: You might enjoy this silly season update, Joey. And the short answer is yes, between the two teams, Palou sees a bigger and brighter future with Arrow McLaren.

Which team holds P1 in Palou's heart? Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

Q: I think the ACO/FIA may aid the Le Mans results with BoP. It seems odd to me that the Ford GT won on its historical return to the race, and now the same thing has happened with Ferrari. Am I looking for a conspiracy where there is none, or not?

Bruce Kerr

MP: Same thing when Danica magically earned pole in her first Daytona 500. It’s not a surprise when a big, new (or returning) name does something big to attract more eyeballs or ticket sales ahead of the marquee race. The shocker, which couldn’t be adjusted through a favorable BOP, was that both Ferraris maintained front-running pace and finished, with the No. 51 499P taking the win.

Among all of the pre-race talks of who’d fall out first, I said Ferrari every time and was 100-percent wrong. Can’t pin the Scuderia’s success at Le Mans on the rule makers. It was all on the team.

Q: I was wondering if there was any update to the story you wrote last September about Milwaukee possibly returning to the IndyCar schedule in 2024? Also, what are the odds of a race in Argentina?

Brian, Joliet, Illinois

MP: At the time of writing, no, but I’m hoping to get an update, ASAP. I was told by a few people that Roger Penske was at The Mile on Sunday morning ahead of the ARCA race, so that can’t be a bad thing. I’ve heard the promoters on the Argentina side are only interested in supporting it if it’s a full round of the championship, not a post-season non-points event.

Q: It is encouraging to see the improvements at Laguna Seca – the repaving, new pedestrian bridge, sponsor agreements, county funding, etc.  I remember all the negative comments when Monterey County was negotiating with John Narigi to replace SCRAMP. I attended my third Rolex Reunion last year and was impressed with track management; I will be there this year for the Rennsport Reunion. I'm curious about your perspective on the management and operation of Laguna Seca since 2020? It seems John Narigi and his team have done as well as anyone else could have and have surpassed expectations.

Rick, Florida

MP: I was never a fan of the sham selection process where the head of the board of supervisors and the county’s chief administrator allegedly hand-picked Narigi as a "candidate" who then, magically, won the vote to take over and run Laguna Seca. That process aside, I’ve only been impressed by what he and his team have achieved, and yet, I continue to hear about background efforts to replace him… We’ll see if sanity or dysfunction reigns.

Q: After watching Road America Practice 2 I understand Will Power’s anger at losing a car and the team effort and cost to rebuild, not to mention the chance of injury, but come on. Power’s aggression toward Scott Dixon was over the top. Does he think Dixon did it on purpose? I can see Power going off at a rookie, but not Dixon or any other veteran driver. I thought Will was supposed to be much calmer this year?

Jeff, Colorado

MP: I mean, we all evolve with age, but at our core, we’re still who we are…and that certainly applies to Power. He was also enraged at Road America last year and tore Devlin DeFrancesco a new hole for something that wasn’t as bad. Going after Dixon multiple times was definitely over the top, but I can see why Power was so incensed. It was a huge surprise, an unexpectedly violent crash, and totally unnecessary.

The part that made me sad came from the experts who ripped Power for his reaction and Dixon for being too old and a shadow of his former self, etc. I’d welcome folks to try racing out of Canada Corner in an IndyCar at 100-plus mph and getting blindsided by a slower car, smashing into a concrete barrier, having your car all but wrecked, and then tell us how they’d respond. Power is a calmer version of himself, but it was a tough weekend, starting off with his refueler Eric Crabtree losing his wife and missing the event to handle her funeral. Take Romain Grosjean’s move on Power and the crash with Dixon, and he was as raw and as human as it gets.

And as for Dixon, he had a really bad day, made a boneheaded mistake, owned it, and followed it up by racing from 23rd to fourth the next day.

Q: Now since Ryan Hunter-Reay is back full-time in IndyCar, do you know if Conor Daly will be taking RHR's seat in the SRX series?

Norman, Somers, NY

MP: Not sure that’s how such things work, but per RHR, he’s figuring out how he might dovetail IndyCar and SRX plans to make both work. Still TBD.

Q: Since we often hear lamentations about the lack of IndyCar race venues in or near the northeastern states, is there a particular or plausible reason that IndyCar can't (or won't) run in Montreal? I attended the Champ Car race there in 2002 (won by Dario Franchitti) and other than the usual invalid and meaningless comparisons to F1, it was a very decent race. No need to disrupt an entire downtown area, and a beautiful city with great infrastructure in place.

Wiscowerner

MP: Having been to Quebec for many races, from Trois-Rivieres to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, I can say that I love visiting "Practice France" and the passion for racing has long been a perfect match for whatever we’ve sent north, be it junior open wheel or CART/Champ Car.

All that being said, I know CGV was mentioned as an idea for IndyCar to consider, but when I asked last weekend, it didn’t sound like something that progressed beyond that first general idea.

It was cool then, and it would be cool now. (And if you're wondering about the sparse crowd, the photo is from practice). Motorsport Images

Q: Why does it appear Romain Grosjean is trying to get fired from Andretti? He is driving like a maniac NASCAR rookie trying so hard to make statement, but we all know he is talented and quick, so why this apparent self-destruction?

Dan, AZ

MP: This is among the saddest stories of the opening half of the year. Coming off a terrible debut season with Andretti, Grosjean returned in fine form, was fast, consistent, and exuding positivity through Long Beach. Since then, it’s all gone wrong, and despite being at fault for most of the bad things that have happened, his treatment of the team -- from what we’ve heard from radio transmissions and on the broadcasts -- has been somewhere between abusive and tyrannical.

We went from team owner Michael Andretti telling me after Long Beach that he expected to get together with Romain and get a contract extension done in May to no news of that happening, and on their current arc, things will need to improve and improve quickly to get things back on track.

Q: Can you describe the refueling portion of a pit stop? I am curious to know how pit crews know when a good connection with the fuel probe to the car has been established. Is there something on the fuel probe that shows it is connected correctly? There is likely some kind of safety device that would prevent fuel spills. How would the refueler know when the tank is full? Is there an indicator here too? Can you also describe how the fuel is pumped into the car? Is the technology in the refueling rig, fuel probe/hose, or in the car that allows for such a quick flow rate?

Jane, Indianapolis, IN

MP: There's a valve that opens to allow fuel to flow through the hose and refueling probe when a proper connection and seal is made. The butterfly valve has an external lever which is watched by the refueler and when that rotates and points down, the fuel is flowing. On rare occasion, we've seen a connection be made and the valve fail to open, and in that scenario, refuelers have been seen placing their hand on the lever and manually opening the butterfly to get the fuel heading into the tank.

Flow is observed through a sight built into the probe/hose system, and refuelers know when the tank is full because they see fuel starting to return through the fuel vent hose. Fuel is fed by gravity into the tank. At approximately seven pounds per gallon, there's hundreds and hundreds of pounds of fuel fighting to be released.

Q: Bryan Herta knows how to call a race. I think Colton's step back this year is due to Bryan moving over to Kyle Kirkwood’s car. Colton was the class of the show Sunday and I doubt Bryan would have brought him in when they did.

Joe Mullins

MP: Bryan certainly does, but it’s often forgotten that Colton won his first three races without his dad calling race strategy and had his best championship run (to third) in 2020, the year before his dad took over the role. Colton won three races in 2021 with Bryan, and added another victory last year, but the main talking point about Colton’s 2022 season was how he fell to 10th in the standings and wasn’t winning or contending like in previous years.

Colton’s seen highs and lows with his dad on the timing stand, so I’m not keen on painting Sunday’s issues as something that gets resolved by one person because the issues that led to losing the race were created by more than one person.

Q: Just wondering why the American Legion doesn’t do more activation with its IndyCar "Be The One" program? The racing is certainly successful enough. My local Legion hall in Michigan has no mention of this sponsorship at all. In fact, there is a poster of Keven Harvick with a NASCAR schedule on the wall.

Big Possum, Michigan

MP: I’m not sure I’d take one local example and apply a blanket statement to the entire project, to be fair. I saw the "Be The One" activation trailer at Road America and it was busy with fans and veterans engaging with the project, just as I’ve seen it at other rounds in a similar state of action. I’ll see what I can find out about a nationwide Legion hall effort, but I also know it isn’t meant to be limited to halls, but rather, a call to all active and veteran military members.

Q: Will Power may not have delivered his feedback constructively, but when you see cars go off outside the Carousel and the kink as well as outside of Turn 1, it sure looks like a significant injury risk. Yes, the drivers are supposed to keep cars on track, but the runoff areas are supposed to do things to prevent injury, not cause it. The number of times I saw cars bouncing violently or airborne after going off this weekend was more than I can ever recall seeing elsewhere.

Ryan, somewhere in the cosmos.  Please don’t deliver a truck to my driveway.

MP: This was the year where no limits were found in terms of track limits at Road America. I had another IndyCar driver who’s suffered back issues from crashes say the same thing; Power’s message, delivered in a full rage, was not as artful as it might have been, but the underlying point of needing the harsher areas just off track to be smoothed was spot-on.

Q: Happy for Ryan Hunter-Reay to be back, and hopefully he can turn the ship around at ECR with some setup expertise. But I honestly thought the stars were pointing at Linus Lundqvist getting the seat with his test and all. I heard rumblings of him being in Ed Carpenter's oval car for road and street courses, though. Is there any truth to this, or will we see his talents in 2024?

Handsome Jo

MP: I sure hope so. Where Linus will face issues is with any team that has an opportunity to offer but wants a turnkey solution. The kid could be pure magic, but with zero IndyCar races of experience to offer, teams who want a proven commodity to make them better in every area could be wary of bringing in a rookie and waiting on them to develop. Nonetheless, I keep hearing Linus could be on the grid for one or two races later in the season, and there’s a few teams expressing interest in him.

Q: I was reading about the concept hydrogen prototype Toyota unveiled at Le Mans recently, and it piqued my interest about how that sort of philosophy could potentially fit into IndyCar racing. My understanding was the power plant was an ICE which burns liquid hydrogen and allows an ICE to still operate with noise, refueling, etc. but without emissions.

Seeing as IndyCar has been trying to keep up in the power supply curve and is objectively behind in "cleaner" and more innovative power for the cars, is this something that IndyCar should (or is?) looking at? An electric motor has its drawbacks for the series, such as the difficulty in regenerating energy at places like Indianapolis, is it worth Roger Penske and company taking a look at hydrogen combustion power for practicality, drawing new manufacturer interest, reviving the innovative spirit of IndyCar racing, as well as potentially leapfrogging some other series in terms of technology?

Ian

MP: Definitely worth looking at. Other than the aeroscreen, though, doing things that lead the industry hasn’t been part of the series’ approach for a good while. I’d guess the series would keep an eye on what happens with hydrogen-ICE developments and poll its manufacturers to see if it’s something they want in IndyCar. The ACO/WEC have a bunch of big manufacturers plugged into their Hypercar formula, and with that in mind, there’s less risk in announcing a big technology change; they might lose one or two brands, but would still have three or four that stay and add a few more. When you have two manufacturers like we do in IndyCar, there’s no room to make bold changes without getting complete buy-in up front.

Toyota aims to take hydrogen power to Le Mans. Might we see similar technology at Indy in the future? Image via Toyota

Q: Thanks to RACER for providing updates on Le Mans, both before the race and as it progressed. The information was welcome, considering the dreadful TV coverage on MotorTrend network. Hate to complain, but unlike previous years where whatever network was covering it had people on the ground, hourly updates and highlights and covered the American teams competing, it seemed that the announcers had no insights into what was happening, they were commenting on what they saw on TV like the rest of us. No idea who the announcers were, we never saw their faces. For all we knew, they were in a bunker somewhere in Idaho.

I really wanted to see how the Garage 56 car was doing, but my only resource for that was Facebook, where my Facebook friend JC France was posting. Seemed like the entire coverage was devoted to the Hypercars and the rest of the field was ignored. They seldom even streamed the race standings, other than class leaders.

Jim Wilson

MP: I’ve heard similar things about the absence of G56 coverage which is weird, considering the project was done in partnership between IMSA, NASCAR, and the ACO -- the people who run the race and do the TV deals. Otherwise, I was on the ground for the race so I saw zero minutes of MotorTrend’s offerings.

Q: Lots of people questioning what can Ryan Hunter-Reay bring to ECR. Well, first off he needs to get the motor out of grandad’s truck, put in a three-quarter cam and an aluminum flywheel -- that solves the power issues. Then put a jack under the rear-end with a socket on it. Jack it up and whichever tire comes off the ground first tells you how much to arch and de-arch the rear springs. Then get some springs from a railroad car for the front. The stiffer the better. Now that the power and handling issues are solved, get some old lawn chair webbing for seatbelts -- much lighter, and you don’t need those big heavy belts, real men don’t even use seatbelts, they race in t-shirts and wing tips. With those changes he’ll break all the track records… or at least, that’s the advice my dad gave me when I started racing modifieds years ago. He built many stock cars in the ’60s and never moved forward. I think Ryan will bring a lot to the team and Ed was smart to hire him.

Ben, California

MP: Your dad is amazing and, if he’s interested, I can think of four IndyCar teams who will pay him $250,000 to engineer one of their cars tomorrow.

Q: I just read DJ's question/response in this week's Mailbag about the stress/frustration with Indy 500 traffic. I found a service called Rally. They book tour buses at various locations in the region and dropped us off in the Indycar HQ parking lot -- super-convenient and stress-free.  Plus, the buses were air-conditioned and had a working bathroom. I was able to get picked up in Columbus, Indiana (about an hour south), and stayed in a hotel overnight there. The hotel was much cheaper than in Indy.

Jeremy Jadczak, New Albany, IN

MP: Thanks for the intel, Jeremy.

Q: I've read some chatter about a new overseas round on the IndyCar schedule next year in Argentina, Brazil, or Mexico. A lot of this talk seems to suggest that the proposed event(s) would be an exhibition race and be non-points paying. What is the rationale behind this? My thinking is, if you're going through the effort of bringing the entire circus halfway across the globe, why not make the race count? Is it to gauge interest before committing to a full-blown event? Am I just missing something?

Joey S

MP: As I’ve been told by series’ officials, the non-championship angle stems from a likely calendar spot that would fall after the season has concluded. And with the strong desire to end the season on home turf, the idea of crowning a champion outside the U.S. isn’t likely.

On a related note, I’ve heard Argentina’s interest in holding a race is centered on it being a full counts-towards-the-championship round, not an exhibition run, so that could complicate things.

Q: Sprint car racing on dirt tracks is great. Many of the better NASCAR racers still sprint car race. It should have better TV coverage. Why doesn’t it?

Pete Pfankuch, Wisconsin

MP: It’s the same question we ask about IndyCar, Pete. Great product, crazy talent, but it’s lucky to draw a third of the TV audience NASCAR puts up each weekend. I’d have to guess it’s the same deal with sprint car racing; its fans are more passionate than most, but there aren’t enough of those fans to make a major network treat it as a high priority. IndyCar is more fortunate, thanks to NBC placing more than half of its races on the big network, but it lives in the shadow of more popular sports signed to NBC.

I’d bet, though, if NBC gave American short oval racing a try, it would draw strong ratings.

Q: While I generally like the look of the current Dallara DW12 chassis, I still don’t like the teeny rear wings the cars run at Indianapolis. I know these small wings help limit the top speed of the cars for safety’s sake, but I was wondering how fast the current Indy cars would go at Indianapolis if they had the benefit of the full rear wing used at road courses?

Brad, Powder Springs

MP: If we’re talking about the full road racing rear wing, not very fast, thanks to the multiple elements. We’d then need the full road racing front wing arrays to balance the rear wing assembly, and we’d probably struggle to break 200mph.

At IMS, teeny wings = big speeds. Brett Farmer/Motorsort Images

Q: I read your dismissive response to Big Possum, Michigan about an alternative engine that IndyCar fans would welcome. Agree, "The Beast" is a no. However, you clearly don't give sprint car racing and its fans one minute of your valuable time. Sprint fans are Indy fans and the dirt wing and non-wing racing is booming. The stands are full and the car count is amazing because fans love big V8 power. So since you always get the last word, feel free to belittle me on an idea. Indy cars with 410 sprint motors converted to run gasoline to improve mileage using the dozens of engine builders that already exist nationwide instead of praying for some European or Asian savior to bring more battery-powered flawed technology. Mock away, almighty genius.

Crabkiller

MP: I loved the sprint-inspired stock blocks that still ran in the CART IndyCar series on occasion into the mid-1980s. My hero Dan Gurney stuck sprint car engines in the back of his 1980/1981 Eagle Indy cars and they were rockets. And as I’ve said for years, I’d also love to see IndyCar open its rules to allow a wide variety of engines that don’t conform to the same capacity limit, induction style, V-angle, and cylinder count.

The only problem with welcoming new motors into the series is the longstanding financial structure where those suppliers are required to be associated with auto manufacturers, which kills the idea of independent engine builders like I used to work with in the IRL days such as NAC, Brayton, and Comptech, who sold and tuned naturally-aspirated Oldsmobile V8s.

Unrelated, when I was a kid, my dad worked with a local sprint car racer to develop some engine components that he was quite proud of; he spoke about that project and the lap-time gains for the rest of his life.

Q: What is Jon Beekhuis up to these days? NBC needs to bring him back. He was one of the best pit reporters out there. His knowledge and expertise was second to none.

Paul, Lake In The Hills, IL

MP: Saw him at Laguna Seca last year and he looked great, said he was retired, but seemed open to lending his talents to whatever broadcasts if the offer was made. I’ve always liked Jon; good guy and good at what he does.

Q: After your time being on the ground at Le Mans, did you hear any rumors about whether any of the WEC Hypercars may be coming over to the States to take part in any of the IMSA enduros? Also, any word on whether IMSA would allow Glickenhaus to race in any of their events? I remember reading that to compete in IMSA you need to sell so many vehicles in America, but with them being such a small company they wouldn’t be able to reach that number. Seeing that awesome car battling with all the GTP cars at Road America or Road Atlanta would be fantastic!

P.S. I read John Oreovicz’s book "Indy Split." Fantastic read for anyone who wants to know the history and reasoning behind the split.

Cory Quenzer, Pennsylvania

MP: Oreo’s book is indeed awesome. IMSA needs any eligible Hypercar to go through its benchmarking process -- engine dyno, wind tunnel, etc. -- before participating in the GTP class, and so far, I’ve yet to hear of a Hypercar manufacturer signing up to do so. Glickenhaus has been at odds with IMSA/IMSA has been at odds with Glickenhaus for a while now and I don’t see a resolution on the horizon.

Q: What happened to the dedicated bus service to Indy? Does it still exist? My father and I used to hop on a designated bus line at the airport and they would drop us off at 16th and Georgetown. It took 20 minutes to get to the track. After the race, the busses were waiting, we hopped on, and got back to the airport parking lot in less than 30 minutes. Does this service still exist, and if not, someone needs to get into Roger’s ear.

Joe

MP: This just in from IMS:

We did offer shuttles this year. One from the airport and one from downtown.

Tickets were sold through the IMS Ticket Office.

We also plan on offering them again for the 2024 Indy 500.

Q: As I write this we are now just four weeks away from the start of the 2023 Honda Indy Toronto weekend. The 2023 race serves as the final running of the event under the current contract between IndyCar and the city of Toronto. A lot of discussion has occurred in recent years regarding the long-term future of the race. For one, Exhibition Place is becoming significantly overcrowded, presenting many challenges for race organizers. The current pit lane is filled to the brim, with some questioning whether more cars could be accommodated if the grid continues to expand. The site also has more and more events every year, meaning future races will have to compete with other happenings, such as the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Do you believe the race will continue beyond 2023? If not, do you think IndyCar will look for alternative venues in the area (CTMP or maybe a new street course), or will the race move elsewhere? Some people believe CTMP is not suitable for IndyCar and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve looks like it will be reserving a potential second weekend for NASCAR, so I really don't see IndyCar having a presence in Canada if Toronto is dropped from the schedule.

Dylan, Kingston, ON, Canada

MP: Anybody who knows motor racing is confident that IndyCar and Mosport (CTMP) are not meant to be combined without a ton of safety upgrades to the circuit, and to be fair, I’d hate to see the track change just for IndyCar. I’m confident IndyCar will continue racing at Exhibition Place and better pit lane solutions are forthcoming.

Q: Assuming Alex Palou’s management is hunting for a 2024 F1 seat, which teams would have the most interest? I can’t imagine McLaren cutting loose either Norris or Piastri, so it would have to be someone other than who he is contracted to currently, correct?

Would AlphaTauri pick Palou over Liam Lawson? Would Sauber replace Bottas or Zhou with Palou? Would Haas replace either Hulkenberg or Magnussen?

Is there a 2024 F1 seat for Palou?

Ed Joras, Kansas City

CHRIS MEDLAND: To answer this, I think you’ve got to look at what each team wants from more than just a driving point of view. Of the three options you suggest, I think one of them has real potential and that’s at AlphaTauri. Red Bull clearly wanted to bring an American driver into F1 with Colton Herta (through AlphaTauri last year) but he wouldn’t get a Super License, and then Williams beat them to the punch with Logan Sargeant’s promotion.

The fact it is attractive to Red Bull to have a driver who is popular in the States driving for its other team is based on the number of American sponsors it has -- namely title partner Oracle -- while AlphaTauri similarly launched in New York this year. Helmut Marko would gladly snatch a strong talent from Zak Brown from an F1 point of view (as he was trying to do with Herta) so I think Palou would be of interest.

The sticking point there is Liam Lawson, who is doing a good job in Super Formula and whom Marko rates. If he can win the title this year I can see him getting a seat, but if not then it could well be that he wants to take a look at Palou.

Sauber could potentially be an option if Zhou was replaced, but I think that’s a team generally happy with its lineup. The same can be said of Haas, which is more interested in doing the opposite of the other teams and prioritizing getting the Haas Automation brand grown in other markets than North America.

Palou probably needs Liam Lawson to do a bit less winning in Super Formula if he wants a shot at an AlphaTauri seat. Yasushi Ishihara/Motorsport Images

Q: When is F1 going to make a change to the qualifying format? I still watch qualifying since it is the only exciting part of a typical F1 weekend, and usually the jockeying for each driver to have adequate track space is slightly comical as some drivers angle for a mile of clear track ahead to set a time that gets them knocked out of Q1. But this past weekend was scandalous, and peaked when Carlos Sainz did his best impression of Eddie Cheever at the start of the 1992 Indy 500 and parked his car in the braking zone into the chicane prior to the start finish straight. Is F1 really going to wait until someone rear-ends a slower car during qualifying to make a change?

A format splitting the field into two groups based on practice times, similar to what IndyCar has had in place since 2008, would ensure that no more than 10 cars would be on track during any qualifying session and would greatly ease the track congestion issues during the first two groups.

Final question: Why didn't Ocon get the meatball flag for a rear wing that looked like it had all the stability of the last bookshelf I tried to build?

Eric Lawrence

CM: I don’t think there needs to be a change to the format, there just needs to be a firmer ruling over the speeds drivers can drop to on any lap. As you say, it was ridiculous to have so much backing up in an area of the track where drivers are at top speed approaching the final chicane. I think the Q1-Q2-Q3 format works really well on the whole, though, so I wouldn’t want to see that change (I remember elimination qualifying, and 12 laps maximum in an hour, and one flying lap per driver, none of it was anywhere near as entertaining and effective as this solution).

That said, I don’t think the IndyCar format is bad by any stretch, I just don’t think the F1 format needs to change -- only the approach to starting a lap does.

On Ocon, we’d actually noticed the wing being loose in the media center long before Lando Norris said anything, but I think race control only picked up on it due to Norris’ messages. They came late in the race and the stewards did note that his wing was loose, but since late last year the approach has been to contact the team and ask for data that proves something isn’t about to became a serious safety issue. It seems that information was forthcoming from Alpine because there was no message to pit the car and also no protest from a rival team over its state (as there was with Haas and Fernando Alonso in Austin last year, you may remember).

Q: Here’s my plan for getting more F1 teams on the grid(s):

Enter 16-20 teams.  Divide them into two divisions by geography. Two Grands Prix each Grand Prix weekend: one in each division. Say a 20-race season. Then, take the top half of each division and have those teams race in a playoff series of four-six races, with the bottom two teams (or whatever) dropping out at the end of each race.  The championship could be a six-eight car race.

Sure, maybe it’s a fever dream. Sure, we’d have to jiggle the points system a bit. But wouldn’t it be glorious to have two GP on a Sunday? As MTV used to put it, too much is never enough.

Brian, Los Angeles

CM: I’m all for more teams, but I’m not totally sure this is the solution! I just think a 22/24/26-car grid will always be better than 20, simply because there’s an increased chance of good racing between different cars. Not that I think we’d see such a performance divide under the cost cap, but some of the battles between the likes of Manor and Caterham were exciting given what was at stake between those teams. F1 has got itself into a place where ever more fans are invested in teams and drivers that are not fighting for wins, so it seems the perfect time to expand the grid in my book.

Q: There is no doubt Max Verstappen is the greatest race car driver in the world: 41 F1 Grand Prix victories, two world championships and he is only 25 years old. We all know that he has a contract with Red Bull until 2028, but he says he wants to try other forms of racing. Will we ever see Max in the Rolex 24 At Daytona or the 12 Hours of Sebring or the 24 Hours of Le Mans? Will we ever see Max in an IndyCar? or in the greatest race in the world, the Indianapolis 500? Or the NASCAR Cup Series?

Kurt Perleberg

CM: He’s certainly up there, but I think we’re also seeing another example of just how powerful the combination of a great driver and the quickest car can be. We saw it with Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes for a number of years, after Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull (an even more interesting example of the right partnership, given how his Ferrari spell ended up going) and obviously Michael Schumacher and Ferrari.

So firstly, I’d love to see Mercedes and Aston Martin just close that gap over the coming races so we can see Verstappen vs Alonso vs Hamilton on a few occasions, even if the title is long gone.

To directly answer your question though, I absolutely think we’ll see Max do Le Mans and potentially with his father Jos -- I believe they were set to do the Gulf 12 Hours together at one point last year, just like Kevin and Jan Magnussen -- and other endurance races, too. Daytona has definite potential, and so does Sebring, but if I had to put money on it I’m not so sure about NASCAR or the Indy 500. To get him to Indianapolis I think he’d need enticing with an IndyCar road course first.

Right now I can’t make up my mind if his dominance will mean he wins for a while and then moves onto a new challenge earlier, or if he won’t want to leave F1 because of the amount of success he’s been able to achieve.

Q: As a longtime NASCAR fan (but who has pretty much dropped interest over the past 20 years as the race cars have become more and more identical and spec), I have an idea for how the NASCAR teams can save a bunch of money.

Since the cars are all the same -- all chassis, cockpit, and bodies are outsourced, and the engines are regulated to be practically identical -- why do teams need to build the cars at all? Why not have NASCAR take over the building of the cars, ensuring they’re as identical as can be? Sort of like the IROC series.

All the cars for each race would be equally prepared. Drivers would draw lots for which one they would drive each week. Once the car was assigned to the driver, the team would wrap the car in the manufacturer’s and sponsor’s branded car wrap. Teams would still need spotters, a pit crew, and some engineers to analyze the data. Costs should go down and parity ensured (NASCAR’s goals) by eliminating the shop crews (and facilities) that build, test and repair the cars each week. Also, there would be no more fines or controversies for using or modifying unapproved parts.

I realize this is tongue in cheek. But I miss the days when the race cars actually looked like the cars in the dealerships, and the rulebook wasn’t so completely restrictive that teams could innovate in the car design. I realize how expensive racing is today, and with the lack of big-name sponsors owners are very risk averse and welcome the inability to have to fund major R&D and innovations. (Same thing over in IndyCar.)

But I would argue that the highly restrictive rulebooks actually drive the cost of racing up, not down. With less restrictive rules, you saw much more innovation in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s in NASCAR, Can-Am and IndyCar. The smaller teams could develop breakthrough innovations that enabled them to compete with the wealthier teams. Now, with such limits on car configuration, only the richest teams with the cubic dollars to find the almost infinitesimal gap in the rules to exploit are generally competitive, and the rest of entries fill out the field. 

Brad, Powder Springs

KELLY CRANDALL: Eliminating a large chunk of race teams to have NASCAR take on building the cars is an idea, but not one that I’d agree with doing. This isn’t IROC. Yes, it’s a spec car, but there are still ways for teams, manufacturers, and OEMs to be unique. I don’t think NASCAR even has the manpower to do that. Next Gen was an idea to help the industry because, as we’ve heard repeatedly, the business model is broken, but it’s going to take time for that to turn around. It was a large investment going to Next Gen right up front. Unfortunately, being restrictive with the rule book is a part of doing that. The teams need to be saved from themselves, so to speak. That is why there are strict penalties for messing with the car. NASCAR is changing the culture in the garage after decades of innovation. Whether that’s right or wrong is another debate, but it is what the industry came together and decided.

NASCAR's very unlikely to go back to the future and adopt an IROC-style approach. But it would be pretty cool if it did. Motorsport Images

Q: Conor Daly seems to be doing all right for himself since getting let go; he’s landed a new NASCAR gig with Niece to run Trucks at Mid-Ohio. However, generic crypto company No.3675423117 has had its logo photoshopped off of his firesuit. Another reader in the last Mailbag noted that said company isn’t doing too well. Is he expected back with The Money Team at all?

Steve-o in Ontario

KC: TMT Racing tells me they are working on their upcoming NASCAR plans. The No. 50 Chevrolet hasn’t run since Circuit of The Americas in late March with Conor Daly after he also ran the Daytona 500. And as far as Daly is concerned, that is also something they say they are working through and will keep us updated. So, nothing to report as of right now, and I haven’t heard of what their plans might be.

THE FINAL WORD

From Robin Miller's Mailbag, June 18, 2014

Q: It appears that Derrick Walker is in talks to add more races for next year, and some classic IndyCar tracks are in the mix. They seem to talk a bit about bringing IndyCar back to MIS, but that the big holdup is on the NASCAR-centric mindset held by the big racing promoters and track owners. I live in Grand Rapids, Mich., and this year I’ve been to both the 500 followed by the whole Belle Isle weekend. MIS is geographically closer than both Detroit and Indy, yet I’ve never been to MIS because NASCAR doesn’t excite me at all except for 5.5 percent of their races (Sonoma/Glen).

The only thing that would get me to go to MIS is IndyCar, and I can only imagine attending the U.S. 500 over Labor Day weekend at MIS. So I guess my question is two-fold: 1. What do you think the odds are of IndyCar returning to MIS? 2. Do you think the whole NASCAR-centric mindset will ever go away?

And please join Twitter because the internet needs more truth and so that your fans can talk to you from the track! #WinkWink

Jared, Grand Rapids, MI

ROBIN MILLER: People say MIS can’t happen as long as Belle Isle is on the schedule, but the bigger question is, when would you run it? June and August are NASCAR dates, so maybe July or September. The racing at MIS was always good but the crowds kept dwindling so it’s probably going to take a major sponsor like General Motors for MIS to ever take another shot.

Will I be joining Twitter? #HellNo