The RACER Mailbag, December 11

Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. We love hearing your comments and opinions, but letters that include a question are more likely to be published. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will be saved for the following week.

Q: Thanks for your recent article update about the safety improvements made at Mid-Ohio. Attached are two aerial shots of the track I took on Nov. 27, while en route from Maryland to Indiana for Thanksgiving, that fellow readers might enjoy:

Chris R, Olney, MD

MARSHALL PRUETT: I want to know how you got the pilot to hand a hard right to give you two unique angles! Thanks for sharing these, Chris; we asked the track for photos, but they declined, citing ongoing and unfinished work with the fencing.

Q: Is IndyCar stagnant, growing, or declining?

Geoff Branagh

MP: I love questions like this, Geoff. It was stagnant for most of the decade but has started to grow with things like the move to hybridization, which many love to moan about, but has signaled the series is no longer a technological dinosaur, and the shift from a safe TV partner to something bigger with FOX, and the efforts to come up with a new car for 2027, a successful return to Milwaukee, and an ambitious new event in Arlington in 2026.

The deserving criticism during Penske’s first four years of ownership was the overarching lack of the word "new" in regards to the series, all while its main rivals at NASCAR, IMSA, and F1 made big strides with new things that drew -- and continue to draw -- a lot of attention.

I have a lot of optimism about where IndyCar is headed, but as expected, there are persisting concerns as well, led by the high costs to compete. This is why the move to FOX holds so much hope for the paddock, with an anticipated rise in ratings and teams’ ability to seek bigger deals from sponsors as a result of the larger audience.

Q: Watching F1 over the weekend and all the attention given to the constructors' championship, and it's something IndyCar could use. My thought would be the teams would select their two drivers to earn points at the beginning of the season. The reward is for the guys and gals back at the shop plus in the pit lane.

David Bowers

MP: We could rename the cntrants’ championship as the teams’ championship, and add some sort of prize fund, but Penske Entertainment is rarely looking for ways to spend more money, and the entrants’ deal is already used to award $1 million contracts to the top 22 entries.

The reward is through the drivers’ and entrants’ for the crew, but as a former crew member, I’m all for anything that provides greater wealth or recognition for the people who make the racing happen.

Q: IndyCar needs to not be off for six months out of the year. There is no shortage of historic tracks that fans want to see return. We know that when Penske Racing tested "The Beast" for Indy, Roger had them carve a track out of the snow so Paul Tracy could test the engine at Nazareth. It appears Roger sold the property, but it’s still undeveloped.

Enter the Nazareth WinterPrix.

Penske Entertainment gets the land back for cheap, restores the track, and then they wait until February. Firestone debuts the Bridgestone Blizzak Winter Guayule, and off 25 IndyCars go for 150 laps.

I look forward to receiving an email from IndyCar’s marketing team to work out the logistics.

Ed, Jersey

MP: Let’s kick it off with making Pikes Peak (the real Pikes Peak, not the crappy ex-IRL oval) a multi-week championship of its own. Fire DW12s up the hill in rain, snow, and dry conditions. Survivors earn the heavenly respect of Bobby Unser and Parnelli Jones.

Q: Your remembrance of Dan Gurney's Pepsi Challenger reminded me that I had an old photo of that car with Mike Mosley racing A.J., probably early in the race as Mike started second between Uncle Bobby and A.J. that year. The picture was taken from "behind the fence" in Stand K (now the North Vista) between Turns 3 and 4 at the 1981 500. I suppose this was just one Sunday before Mike took the car to victory at Milwaukee but I didn't look to confirm that. I was 13 years old and the shot was taken with a Kodak 110 camera.

Andy R., Detroit area

MP: The fact that you took this with a 110 is remarkable.

Q: If you could pick an IndyCar driver that you think would make IndyCar fans care about Cadillac F1, which driver would you pick? Does not have to be an American -- or does it?

Ryan, West Michigan

MP: I could be wrong, but isn’t there a natural connection for IndyCar fans through Andretti Global? If not, IndyCar’s two most popular drivers in Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden would be the go-to drivers to pursue.

I’m also half convinced the entire ordeal with Michael Andretti is a ruse; he’s the American driver being referenced and will return to F1 in 2026 to complete the season with McLaren that was cut short in 1993.

Q: Does anyone have any update on Alex Zanardi? The most recent I can find is from 2002. I wonder if Jimmy Vasser is in touch with the family?

He is so little talked about these days, yet is one of the most likable and admirable characters ever to grace the IndyCar grid. Not just his infectious personality and his championship drives, but the tenacity and attitude that got him Olympic medals in handcycling, or looking elegant for a GQ shoot, or providing encouragement to Billy Monger, or driving in IMSA and even in DTM (for which BMW must be recognized) and so much more.

A very special man who one hopes has progressed since the terrible cycling accident

CH, Virginia

MP: There are no updates because Alex’s family, like Michael Schumacher’s family, is controlling the information regarding their loved one. I know a few people who are in the loop on how he’s doing, but those folks won’t break ranks with the family, nor are they asked to do so out of respect for Alex.

Q: My verbose complaint this time is how so much of the WEC/IMSA grid were sleeping on Theo Pourchaire. The kid has demonstrated real pace in a whole bunch of different top-level cars, and it’s clear the F1 dream is over for him, and the IndyCar one was yanked out from underneath him.

But the only paying gig he lands for 2025 is a reserve driver role at perennial disappointments Peugeot? To me, that’s insanity. In stick and ball sports the big teams would have been all over him because his youth makes him such a smart investment. He’s only 21. If you signed him as a factory driver now, you’d have a decade and a half with him at his peak pace (judging by the average driver’s performance curve). At which point, he’d be only 36 and still potentially have many years left in his career.

No matter what you’d pay to get him, over those 15 years, you’d have had a cost savings compared to trying to find an equivalent peak-year driver on the open market. I can’t believe that Porsche, Honda, GM, or Ferrari didn’t try to sign him. If I were Porsche, I’d have placed him at Proton for next year in the 963, on the same kind of program that Andlauer had.

It just makes so much sense to me to treat driving talent the same way you would engineering talent and think of starting them young and reaping the benefits of very long-term contributions.

Anyway, maybe I’m nuts for trying to apply Moneyball logic to motorsport, but I think that factory programs with genuine long-term approaches (so, manufacturers who are going to be racing, and know they will be, regardless of what happens to individual series) should start thinking of their driving talent the same way major sports teams think of their key players.

Duncan, Ottawa

MP: The handling of Pourchaire by Arrow McLaren was one of the lowlights of the year. The team providing a glaringly false "we’re-feeding-you-bull****" answer on dropping the reigning F2 champ for a lesser-developed driver like Siegel didn’t help its reputation, nor did it place Siegel in the best light.

The issue with the timing of Pourchaire being dumped when he hit the market is that it was at a point when the available places for 2025 were either taken or needing millions of dollars from the driver. An example: One team owner told me about their interest in signing Pourchaire, and I believe they were genuine, but that team lost a significant sponsor and went from being in the market to hire Theo to searching for the best driver they could find -- definitely not as good as an F2 champ, though -- who also had millions to spend.

It's a timing thing. I hope he continues to call and connect with IndyCar owners, because he is worthy of a quality drive.

Pourchaire will not race anywhere next year, which sucks. But hopefully his new gig as a test and development driver for Peugeot's Hypercar program will open some doors. Joao Filipe/DPPI

Q: Reading last week’s Mailbag and specifically Tim Davis's question about a mystery man watching the Montreal F1 GP from pit exit, I thought, "This sounds like a job for ChatGPT," which took me on a little journey.

My first response was, "The bearded man you're referring to is likely Normand Legault, a prominent figure in Canadian motorsport. Legault was the organizer of the Canadian Grand Prix for many years and a close associate of Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

"Legault was often seen at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, standing near the pit exit or other key areas during race weekends. His involvement in the race organization and his distinct appearance made him a recognizable figure at the Canadian Grand Prix."

A quick look at pictures made me suspicious so I challenged our AI friend to tell me what was distinctive about his appearance. We went on a new tangent.

"The man you're referring to might actually be Gilles Villeneuve's brother, Jacques Villeneuve Sr., rather than Normand Legault. Jacques Villeneuve Sr. was known for his distinctive bushy beard, making him a recognizable figure at the Canadian Grand Prix.

"He was often seen standing at significant vantage points, such as near the pit exit, during races. His rugged look, complete with a thick beard and casual demeanor, stood out against the more polished appearance of many in the Formula 1 paddock. Jacques Villeneuve Sr. has been closely associated with motorsport in Canada and is part of the famous Villeneuve racing family.

"He was often seen standing at significant vantage points, such as near the pit exit, during races. His rugged look, complete with a thick beard and casual demeanor, stood out against the more polished appearance of many in the Formula 1 paddock."

Hope that provides an answer, but was certainly an interesting little journey I briefly went on today.

Dave, from original Jersey as opposed to NJ

MP: Thank you, SkyNet.

Q: Now that Michael Andretti has joined his old buddy Mike Harding in the category of former team owner, what would be the chance these two reunite down the road? Maybe do a one-off at the 500? Both these guys love the Indy 500 and would be interesting to see what kind of entry they could put together.

Bob Gray, Canoga Park, CA

MP: Burning a bunch of cash to try and win yet another Indy 500 as a team owner is the kind of thing a financial advisor would recommend against, but hey, if Michael and Mike want to come play at the Speedway, I bet they’d be among the most popular entries. Maybe give Fernando Alonso another shot at victory?

Q: I'm writing about a topic you’re likely very familiar with: Michael Andretti and Andretti Global. I have mixed views on Michael, but one thing for sure, he doesn’t say die easily. I first became aware of him during his time in Formula Mondial, thru the CART, F1 and his ambitious team ownership days. He has always been known for his tenacity and aggressive, never-give-up style, which makes his recent decision to step away from the organization he built seem somewhat out of character -- it just doesn't feel like him. Of course, this is ultimately his decision, and I wish him all the best in whatever he chooses to do.

While I feel I have a general sense of who Michael is, the same cannot be said for Dan Towriss and Mr. Walter (don’t even know his first name). Could you provide some insight into who they are and their previous involvement in racing or are they just money people?

Bruce

MP: Torwiss had no involvement in racing that I know of prior to sponsoring Zach Veach through Group 1001/Gainbridge in 2017. Never seen or met Walter, who is the main person behind the acquisition of Andretti, and who owns other major sports teams, and I’ve had limited interactions with Towriss.

Q: What will happen to Peacock's IndyCar content? Does it remain available after FOX takes over the future schedule?

Brian, Ohio

MP: I sent your question to IndyCar, and here’s what we got:

Peacock will adjust its available INDYCAR programming at its own pace, but the INDYCAR YouTube account boasts much of the same content. Earlier this month, the series began releasing all of the 2024 races on YouTube adding races on each Tuesday and Friday. The whole season will be live by Jan. 31.

Q: Is Dave Sims still with Risi Competizione? What a motorsports career he's had.

Joe

MP: Sadly, no, "Beaky" retired a few years ago. His recounting of being Jim Clark’s F2 mechanic on that sorrow-filled day at Hockenheim, and all that followed immediately after Clark’s death, is heartbreaking. But then, his tales of life afterwards as an F1 and IndyCar mechanic are heartwarming and loaded with humor. What a gift of a person to any paddock.

An unremarkable start to a dreadful day: Clark and Sims chat on the grid ahead of what would be the Scot's final race at Hockenheim in 1968. Rainer Schlegelmilch/Motorsport Images

Q: While watching the Qatar F1 race with a buddy who’s not the biggest racing fan but sometimes watches some races with me, he noticed the army of crew members who descend upon the cars during pit stops and asked me a question I couldn’t answer: “How much do those guys make?” So I’m wondering, do they make enough money for this to be their full-time job? What is the salary range for crew members across the paddock? How much of the annual team budget is devoted to specifically paying the salaries of the crew members we see on race day?

Rod, Houston, TX

CHRIS MEDLAND: I’m glad you asked this, Rod, because it’s one of the topics I love telling people about. The pit crews are incredible at what they do, and even more so when you consider it is not a full-time job at all. The crew is made up of the mechanics and logistics team members -- garage technicians etc. -- who are all doing that as a second job on top of their usual roles.

So there’s no salary for a pit crew member, it’s just the salary of their main job. For mechanics that can still be a good income, but it’s not massive -- from what I’ve gathered, we’re talking in the region of $60k a year and up (although that is a rough number -- as you can imagine, teams don't want to freely reveal their wage structures).

Q: Why would GM want to enter F1 in 2026 running with Ferrari engines for two seasons? Why not push back entry to 2028 and run with GM/Cadillac engines from the get-go?

Brad/Sussex, WI

CM: Because the sooner GM is in F1, the sooner it can profit from the revenues the sport offers. It will take a number of years to turn a profit after setting the team up, but right now F1’s in a strong place in the U.S. -- and globally -- and so they want to be part of it ASAP.

You can also learn a lot from those first few years in terms of car design and development, to have more experience and data to lean on come 2028.

Q: When a primary F1 team (e.g. Ferrari) leases engines to other teams, are they the exact same with latest updates, or do leasing team get previous generation units?

Jim Cox, Rock Island, IL

CM: Nowadays, it’s the exact same specification with the latest updates. Early in the V6 hybrid era, the hardware had to be the same but a works team could have different modes available to it based on its development. But the FIA outlawed that a number of years ago to ensure a level playing field.

McLaren actually attributes that as part of the reason why you can be so successful as a customer team, because the only disadvantage is a works team gets a bit more visibility on the power unit’s layout when packing its car.

Q: A lot has been written about Gene Haas and his investments and new monies for his F1 team. Do you think behind closed doors he is upset at the attention the Andrettis have been getting about the "American" F1 team? Is this motivation for him to prove his team is successful American F1 team?

David Tucker

CM: I’ll admit I haven’t spoken directly to Gene for a little while, but I never got that impression. He’s a shrewd businessman -- extremely careful with his money, actually -- and so wouldn’t give Haas more funding if he felt it was not being used properly. That’s one of the reasons for the team principal change this year, because he felt the team was underperforming based on what he was putting in.

Ayao Komatsu was promised there would be money made available if he could prove the team was making better use of what it already had, and those signs were there early on in the year, so he’s been willing to back it up further.

Haas did lean into being the American team a little bit more a year ago when the first Andretti Global developments were making headlines, but it was always the international nature of the sport that appealed more to Gene, because he wanted to sell Haas CNC machine tools globally.

Q: So exciting to have GM entering F1. However, I must admit that I’m I bit disappointed to see Graeme Lowdon appointed as team principal. Not exactly a great resume. To be honest I was hoping this team would have more of an American flair, maybe some like Otmar Szafnauer or someone at the top of Team Penske. Please convince me this is a good hire.

And, Andretti Global was in the process of building a state-of-the-art facility in Fisher, Ind. What is the status of this building and how will it be tied into the Cadillac F1 team?

Mark, Buffalo

CM: I don’t mind admitting I get on well with Graeme, and he’s been a source of plenty of insight into the progress of the team that we’ve been able to bring to you on RACER. But I also feel his resume is a very good one.

He was a major part of one of the most successful junior teams in racing in Manor Motorsport, and helped it come into F1 in 2010 when there was no cost cap and a huge chasm in funding between the front and back of the grid. The team was known as Virgin, Marussia and then Manor again, and while it disappeared after 2016, just surviving on the grid for the longest of the new entrants was a huge achievement.

Lowdon and team principal John Booth were what you would describe as real racers, and left the team at the end of 2015 to allow new ownership to try and move it forward in the way they wanted, which didn’t align with Lowdon and Booth’s approach at the time.

That tells you he knows exactly how to help a new team establish itself, because he has real-life experience, and it should be a more fruitful task this time around with the resource of GM but also the cost cap and current structure of F1 regulations. He’s also extremely well-connected within the F1 paddock, which will be important for GM’s project.

Regarding the Fisher factory, I believe that is still being constructed as planned and it will be one of four bases that are used by the Cadillac team along with Charlotte -- where a power unit department is being built -- Warren, Michigan, and Silverstone where the cars will be based during the season for logistical reasons.

Then-Manor team boss Lowdon chats with then-Manor driver Alexander Rossi at Suzuka in 2015. Motorsport Images

Q: While it's safe to say that the prospect of Finnish excellence in rallying is in good form with the consistent excellence of Kalle Rovanpera, I am not confident of that on the racetrack. Tero Palmroth's program for future Indy talent is interesting and so is Ferrari Academy's interest in Tuukka Taponen. As I write this on Finnish Independence Day of Dec. 6, which is more likely to bear good fruit?

Otto, Laukaa, Finland

CM: It’s a good question, Otto, because we were discussing the loss of a Finn on the F1 grid after last weekend as Valtteri Bottas exits Sauber. It’s the first time there hasn’t been one since 1989, so really does mark the end of an era in many ways. And as you point out, there’s not one on the horizon in F2 as it stands.

That makes Taponen the closest one on the F1 ladder in F3, and he had a good year in FRECA last year to finish third -- a few too many retirements keeping him out of title contention -- while also winning the Formula Regional Middle East title. He got a bit of F3 experience as well at Spa, so I’d be looking for him to be a top 10 driver in F3 next year.

You also probably don’t need me to say the name Robin Raikkonen to you, and he’s a lot further away from even racing cars, but he has proven to be rapid in karts and obviously has plenty of avenues and support for him to progress to the top level, too.

THE FINAL WORD

From Robin Miller's Mailbag, December 9, 2014

Q: I wanted to say I agree with you about 98% of the time and read almost every article you put out, but saying Jean-Eric Vergne in IndyCar wouldn’t sell a single ticket would be a bit of an exaggeration.

Most U.S. F1 fans that I’ve talked to about it, myself included, would be interested in seeing a fairly talented F1 driver racing in IndyCar and JEV certainly qualifies as fairly talented. He was pretty much the equal of Daniel Ricciardo when they were teammates and look how he made the four-time champ look average this season. I’d also add that neither Alexander Rossi nor Conor Daly are anywhere near the level of driver that JEV is.

I know we need more talented American drivers but Rossi and Daly are certainly not Hunter-Reay or Newgarden no matter how much we wish they were. 

Rob Dixon

ROBIN MILLER: Thanks Rob, but I must warn you that if you agree with me 98 percent of the time then you likely need some kind of medication. Or a CAT scan. But I appreciate your sentiments and while you are the first fan to write about JEV, I’m sure there are several F1/IndyCar fans that would welcome him. I guess my point is that unless he starts winning like Zanardi or Montoya, it won’t mean squat in terms of an impact in media and the box office. I know, before they became CART stars, we didn’t know much about them either, but you have to remember they drove for the best team at the time. And Rossi and Daly might be able to get to Ryan Hunter-Reay’s stature if given the same opportunity. My theory is that we desperately need to try and make some American stars that resonate with the general public before we worry about most guys left behind by F1.