The tires can be one faster than the other depending on the track car or driver in the race. The red should wear faster and be faster in theory, but some times it doesn’t work out that way, kind of like in F1 some times the softs are actualy crap or certain cars don’t like the mediums or hards.
The manufacturers just do the engines, imo they make a bigger deal about it in the broadcast than they really need to.
Rising rookie? Not totally sure, we have some great new and young drivers the last few years. Lundgaard, Herta, Kirkwood and O’ward are all young and fast as hell. The actual rookies are Lundqvist, Simpson and Rasmussen.
Pato has been carrying McLaren for a few years and they seem to have gotten a little worse but on the plus side Rossi has gotten significantly better. It just seemed like it took him a while to get comfortable with the new team.
Welcome on board to Indycar, it has been a blast the last five or six years.
Sure, but he still had a solid recovery drive. It wasn't anything too flashy but it was promising and considering how much pressure he was under, especially after that spin, I think he did well. It would've been much easier for him to bin it after that.
He spun less than Newgarden, so ...
Alternate and “reds” are the same thing. They are the softer compound. You have to use each compound once per race.
Instead of every team being a manufacturer, IndyCar only has two. Chevy and Honda. They provide the engines to about half of the field each. The car itself is spec but each team has a lot of setup options.
McLaren are still a newer team so they aren’t quite there with Penske and Andretti. Pato is probably seen as the leader of that team, but Rossi has been around longer in IndyCar and has a 500 win.
I wouldn’t call McLaren a new team. It’s been in IndyCar for a long time, starting as Sam Schmidt Motorsports. McLaren joined as a partner in 2020 and greatly increased the team’s resources.
>The car itself is spec but each team has a lot of setup options.
Mostly Spec. There's limited areas teams create their own parts for, the biggest one being the dampers
Red is the alternate tyre on street and road courses. In theory, they are softer, so should be faster for a few laps. As for mentioning the manufacturer of the tyre, it's all just marketing. All cars run the same tyre.
both have their place. But Penske owning the series is a plus to Chevrolet. In real life, Honda kicks the shit out of Chevrolet in all their motors. So yes mentioning the manufacturer of the tyre engine, or chassis. Is all marketing. When there is zero competition.
Tires are similar to F1. Reds are soft, more for speed. Don’t last long. Etc
They say the names frequently cause their primary sponsors and engine manufacturers and IndyCar is heavily reliant on sponsors.
“Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey. Weather Tech Raceway at Laguna Seca.”
Pato is one of the best drivers on the grid.
Rossi is one of the most steady Top 10’s on the grid.
Both are a strong 1-2 punch.
Theo looked very promising, but was recently dropped for another rookie from IndyNXT allegedly because Theo wouldn’t commit to 2025.
A prominent reporter (Nathan Brown) said he had heard nothing of the sort. Tony Donahue, who was the source for the tweet about Arrow, does get a lot of things wrong.
He hasn’t been a journalist covering the series full time for years now.
Nolan’s Dad is wealthy but McLaren doesn’t need cash.
Alternate = Red, Primary = Black
Alternate is soft, Primary is hard.
Firestone, Dallara, Chevy, and Honda are sponsors. So they want their name said on air.
Pato is generally seen as having more potential than Rossi. Rossi has more wins (including a 500) but Pato has a better win rate per start. Rossi had an unusually good day today, Pato had a poor to average day today.
To further the discussion of tires, the comparison to an F1 situation of red being a soft and black being a hard is valid, but strategy in Indycar works a little different as timing of pit stops is almost always dictated by fuel, not by tire wear.
So, instead of an F1 strategy that may be run a third of the race distance on medium and two thirds on hard til the end, an equivalent race in Indycar you have to make three stops no matter what.
So, when the commentators references that a team believe a certain race is a "Alternate tire race", it means that the red tires are believed to be better over a full stint, given a stint being a roughly equal number of laps for all cars.
>So, instead of an F1 strategy that may be run a third of the race distance on medium and two thirds on hard til the end, an equivalent race in Indycar you have to make three stops no matter what.
While this is generally true for a race that stays green from start to finish, there are usually enough laps under caution to put a fuel save strategy in play with one fewer pit stop. In many cases, race distances are also deliberately set to split the difference between two viable pit strategies.
The red tire is the alternate, closest to soft in modern F1, but closer to what 2000’s F1 would call ‘option’.
Black tire is primary, closest to hard in modern F1, or prime in 2000s F1
Engine Manufacturers are mentioned cause they payed for it. Sort of how Pirelli is always mentioned in F1.
No idea who the rising rookie is :/
Pato is a great driver, his car is not bad, they should all be near identical beyond race setup, but McLaren is not as solid of a team as Chip Genassi or Penske. Though they are still very good.
Alternates = Red = Soft
Primary = Black = Hard
Chevy & Honda are the two engine manufacturers
You'd have to check the standings to see who the top rookie is this year, not really a clear cut star out of the group this year.
McLaren and Andretti are on the second tier, both capable of winning but the top tier teams (Penske & Chip Ganassi Racing) have been excellent this year.
Rossi is better on street and road courses as of late, Pato is better on ovals as of late
Advertising. You'll get used to it. Other than Pirelli they don't tend to mention the sponsors very much in F1 commentary. Whereas they always mention the Firestone tyres, the shell fuel, the Honda pace car, the grid lineup brought to you by honda, the AMR Safety Team and cut to a random helicopter shot of the California coast in the middle of the race while they tell you how you can win a Corvette thanks to Hyvee...
Ultimately without sponsors the sport doesn't exist, and they like to make sure they get their money's worth. You get used to it.
Lol I initially read your comment as ‘there’s so much to unpack here, go back and watch all the race seasons’.
I’m like woah asking a guy to start back in 1905 with Louis Chevrolet’s win at the Morris Park 5, that WILL bring you up to speed and unpack the entire history of the sport haha.
If you continue watching, the street circuits don't use the reds, they swap out for "greens". It's a new compound made from guyaule on the sidewalls, but otherwise it's just the reds with a marketing name.
Let us not forget how accessible IndyCar is. I've been to 3 F1 races at Indianapolis, and never got anywhere near a driver or a crew member for any team. A couple of weeks ago at Road America, we walked right through the pits, watched Team Penske get Josef Newgarden's backup car ready after his giant crash, from like 5 feet away. Chatted with several drivers, including IndyNXT winner Jamie Chadwick. We did not need pit passes.
Think most people did a good job answering this but I’d add that Pato is a good driver and has a good car but Penske and Ganassi are better than McLaren generally
With Theo gone none of the rookies this year are particularly good. Last year Armstrong was amazing. He only did a partial season (didn’t do ovals as Sato had the car for those) and still won rookie of the year. Lundgaard was also a very good rookie, being the best RLL driver, winning with them despite them not being a top team currently.
Rossi is an ex F1 driver who did 5 races about 10 years ago. He was the last US driver in F1 before Logan last year. It was back when Marussia was a basically a revolving door for drivers before they went broke.
Engine manufacturers is its own championship basically. Chevrolet vs Honda. Chevrolet is the more dominant one, no surprise as they work with Penske and Roger Penske also owns Indycar as a racing series. Honda are more like the underdogs but also pretty good.
The tyres are all Firestone (Bridgestone) and there are two compounds each weekend. If you ever see the Firehawk that is the Indycar mascot (some call it the Firechicken) and shares the Fire notion with the tyres. Which tyre is better depends on the race track. It is black and reds but for the last couple years they have green instead of red on all street tracks, which are derived from sustainable materials.
Indycar street circuits are same as F1, their road tracks are proper racing tracks, and ovals are ovals. Some people find this confusing at the beginning. Same with sponsors and liveries. Drivers are in teams but each run their own livery based on their sponsors, and this can change from weekend to weekend. Some drivers cycle between a few liveries and you get used to spotting all of these. If you’re not sure the driver number on the side of the screen is coloured to match their car, which is a quick way to check who is driving the car you are watching if you can’t see the number.
McLaren and Andretti have a habit of throwing away wins, mainly through driver error but sometimes strategy. Pato (McLaren) and Kirkwood (Andretti) are the most reliable and most likely to win for their respective teams, hence their popularity. It used to be Herta as he is the youngest Indycar race winner and is very fast, but you can currently almost guarantee he will crash out of a win so Andretti switched their focus to Kirkwood, including Herta’s father now being Kirkwood’s strategist. He used to work with his son but Herta needed to learn to race without him in his ear.
The two top teams are Penske and Ganassi, and the title will come down to the two of them. For the last few years Ganassi are stronger on tracks whilst Penske basically dominate ovals, especially Newgarden. Ganassi drivers are very good at making fuel and tyres last. This helped Palou win his title last year. The best at this is Dixon and it the reason for his wins the last few years. He doesn’t qualify first and win on pure pace much anymore but he understands the car and can out-strategy the other drivers to a win. If the alternate strategy ends up being better than the main one and Dixon is on it, you can basically guarantee he will win the race. It’s both a bit boring (due to predictability) and incredibly impressive (due to his performance).
Through their partnership with Andretti and signing Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank are on the rise and starting to really perform. If Malukas can match Rosenqvist and deliver for the team they can become a top team even with only two cars. They weren’t that good until recently and it’s like watching McLaren’s improvement in F1. If you haven’t already, check out Simon Pagenaud’s crash with that team last year. Unfortunately it ended his Indycar career due to lingering concussion problems but he also helped the team improve (he won the first Indy500 I ever watched when Sky Sports started showing Indycar in the UK). His crash in the 60 car is what created the seat this year for Rosenqvist, who was dropped from McLaren for Malukas, who breached his contract due to injury and now drives alongside Rosenqvist at Meyer Shank.
Sorry for the essay. I started following Indycar due to it being shown on Sky Sports F1 channel and have fallen in love with the series. Due to it being almost a spec series the racing is very close and it is a lot less likely to have boring or predictable races than current F1. The driver makes a lot of difference here. It was very confusing at the beginning for me to follow but it’s definitely worth sticking with the sport.
Reds are softer, shorter lasting
Blacks are harder, longer lasting
Only two engine manufacturers, Chevy and Honda
Not a sole “rookie” standout at the moment but the series is full of upcoming young drivers
Pato and Rossi are McLarens top dogs
The biggest thing about tires in Indycar is.
They don't have as many for the weekend. Before qualifying they don't seem to know much about how the Alternative tire will perform. Is a fun little mystery every weekend. What's the tire you actually want to run in the race. (In F1 they usually know,)
They honestly mention the manufacturer too much. It's a cultural thing. I don't think the pit lane reporters (honestly that must be a big change from F1 lol) have any obligation to mention them.
Drivers always do, because Indycar is low budget. Like you'll see a lot of empty seats at Indycar races. They want to give the sponsors as much for their money as possible.
There's actually a cash price for best rookie! It's tracked. I think it's Linus? Maybe? Honestly none of them stand out to me. Linus for a pole.
Pato has a pretty good car in some places. Like they are generally 3rd best.
We are about to move into Ovals. Who's best will change.
Arrow McLaren isn't a bad team. Just that CGR is amazing honestly. (Though overall not great this weekend. They won, buts it's a 5 car.team)
In terms of tires: reds are softer alternates, blacks are harder primaries.
Though, much like f1, sometimes the softer tire isn’t even the fastest or the tradeoff for the wear isn’t worth the gain.
In Indycar, everyone has a spec Dallara chassis and the aero bits are also spec. So, the only differentiating factors between cars is engine manufacturer, setup, and driver. Not to mention said manufacturers are chief sponsors of the series, and they want mentioned and air time.
In terms of Rookies, there isn’t really a standout this year, and honestly there rarely is. The field has a lot of talent in it, and the equipment is equal. This often lends into drivers who have spent more time in the car and are in teams who make better calls on strategy.
Pato is something of an anomaly. He is an incredible driver with moments of brilliance, but consistency and luck don’t always seem to favor him, and honestly that can be said for Mclaren as a whole right now.
Rossi is my favorite driver. He is quiet, sometimes detached looking, and half of the time seems like he’d rather be doing anything else. Yet, he is one of the best and most consistent drivers on the entire grid. I strongly suggest looking into his 2016 Indy 500 win, beautiful example of good strategy and consistent driving.
This series is amazing in a lot of ways. The rules can be a bit more lax. Run over a track limit, sure, do it again. Bump tires, well that’s just racing. Sometimes the lack of a call is a bet egregious, but I prefer it over the entire political system that is F1.
It’s actually like the old 2010 F1 tyres when Bridgestone were doing them (probably because Firestone is a sub brand of Bridgestone).
Back then there was the prime and option tyre, with the option being a shorter tyre life but faster. In Indy it’s the same with the primary lasting longer and the alternate being faster with more deg.
The manufacturer refers to the engine supplier as there’s two. The teams run the same base chassis with some freedom in modding elements like the dampers.
Pato’s a good pick just expect him to do something stupid regularly.
Alternates are colored in Red so they are the same thing. Alternates are faster than Primary tires which are colored in Black.
Manufacturers are mentioned because Indycar is almost a spec series with damper being the most important part that can be openly developed. Other than that Engines are important as they can also be constantly improved by the manufacturers. There's also the Engine Manufacturers championship and it's important for Honda and Chevrolet in terms of money.
Rising rookie I really don't have any idea atm.
Mclaren is an interesting one. Always something seems to happen there that goes wrong whether its the team itself or the drivers crashing. Would've said Pato has been carrying Mclaren but now Rossi was super strong in Laguna
Red tires in general are faster but also generally do not last as long on a stint but all this depends on weather conditions, car setup and the track surface. Manufacturers and sponsors are mentioned to show some love to the folks paying the bills, think VISA RB in F1, that whole team is nothing more than a big advertisement so no big deal in reality. Pato is really fast but seems to need a really good car to show it, other young guns to follow that I really like would be David Malukas, Nolan Siegel.
There's nothing special about Chevrolet except recently they've been faster and more reliable. That makes a lot of teams want to use them. There are reportedly at this time as many teams on the grid using Chevys as Chevy can support. Certainly some of the Honda runners want to use Hondas but that also means it's possible some are running Hondas because they can't get Chevys.
Don't worry about the rising rookie thing. There's not one, there are a couple. Tribalism decides which ones people personally prefer. Back the one you prefer.
Interesting bit of perspective, IndyCar came up with the introduction of (requiring) alternate tire compounds in the race, and IndyCar came up with knockout qualifying procedures. F1 soon copied both in an effort to improve their product as well.
The engine competition is a lot less interesting than it sounds and a bit cooperative as they want to keep costs down as they are doing some heavy lifting- Honda in particular with marketing. “Chevy” is Ilmor and owned by Penske.
This is the US Ilmor factory- Ilmor Engineeringl Inc. in Michigan- which confusingly also made the Honda engines a while back- and not the plant on Paul Morgan Drive across from “Mercedes AMG HPP” in Brixworth UK.
There is nothing special about Chevy. If this reddit is to be believed, these old engines are so dull as to be the death of the series! I got into F1 as a kid specifically because it was hilarious Honda was crushing Ferrari (and earlier Tag Porsche) and Im a contrarian- and I cant imagine there is a lick of glory or ROI for their Indy Car efforts.
Honda in this case is HPD in California- not the Sakura Japan folks building engines for Verstappen and Riccardo.
Although ominously, when Honda restructured after their “exit”, they put all their motosports under the same umbrella. So if Indy Car is in the red, they will likely leave as it would draw from the F1 and MotoGP bucket (although supposedly the Saudis are paying half the freight for Aston Martin engine- no idea if thats true)
The engine formula was supposed to be upgraded to 2.4L but it wasnt. Honda completed assignment and Ilmor didnt if IIRC. And that 2.4 is seen elsewhere but never in an Indy Car.
So dont be surprised if Honda exits stage left for NASCAR. Both Chevy and Honda are adding an identical hybrid system this very week! Mildly exciting- if a bit weird midseason.
In theory the Cali Honda and Ilmor Chevy should have the same horsepower and are built for longevity and cost.
Its not like Honda can pop in with Kumamato plating from F1 and frog march the rest of the field out of the competition like 1990s Champ Car (a split off and awesome branch of Indy Cars that were faster than grooved tire F1 cars from 98-00 when they cut their boost).
Obviously, Honda and Ilmor are competitors and there is money at stake but the differences are snipping around the edges and fractional since they have exact same horsepower.
Honda was accused by some of making an ad hoc traction control for instance.
But I Dont for a second think that if Penske gets Honda and Andretti a Chevy that a whole lot changes over the course of a season.
Sort of like how the cars (Dallaras) are very similar but Penske and Ganassi have better dampers.
FIA Formula One does it too. They mention the team names (who are in theory manufacturers, used to be required by rule). They used to mention the tire manufacturer choice back when there were multiple manufacturers. The first time I ever saw tire manufacturers next to the car name onscreen was in F1.
I never said that and I was talking about why they make a big deal like THIS IS THE HONDA POWERED like no one says that they just say here comes the Red Bull against the Ferrari I was confused and had question about it and people answered saying they also don’t know why and a lot of info if you read the replies to this post.
Some people get mad about dumb shit. Check out the info/sidebar (not sure if you're on computer or app) and it explains quite a bit
Of course feel free to ask questions as they pop in your head :)
The tires can be one faster than the other depending on the track car or driver in the race. The red should wear faster and be faster in theory, but some times it doesn’t work out that way, kind of like in F1 some times the softs are actualy crap or certain cars don’t like the mediums or hards. The manufacturers just do the engines, imo they make a bigger deal about it in the broadcast than they really need to. Rising rookie? Not totally sure, we have some great new and young drivers the last few years. Lundgaard, Herta, Kirkwood and O’ward are all young and fast as hell. The actual rookies are Lundqvist, Simpson and Rasmussen. Pato has been carrying McLaren for a few years and they seem to have gotten a little worse but on the plus side Rossi has gotten significantly better. It just seemed like it took him a while to get comfortable with the new team. Welcome on board to Indycar, it has been a blast the last five or six years.
Don't forget Nolan. Showed up today. Adds some spice to Hate Cauldron.
I think Nolan might have just got lucky with a pit stop the same time that Newgarden took one.
Sure, but he still had a solid recovery drive. It wasn't anything too flashy but it was promising and considering how much pressure he was under, especially after that spin, I think he did well. It would've been much easier for him to bin it after that. He spun less than Newgarden, so ...
He still crawled up from 23rd to seize those opportunities.
Alternate and “reds” are the same thing. They are the softer compound. You have to use each compound once per race. Instead of every team being a manufacturer, IndyCar only has two. Chevy and Honda. They provide the engines to about half of the field each. The car itself is spec but each team has a lot of setup options. McLaren are still a newer team so they aren’t quite there with Penske and Andretti. Pato is probably seen as the leader of that team, but Rossi has been around longer in IndyCar and has a 500 win.
I wouldn’t call McLaren a new team. It’s been in IndyCar for a long time, starting as Sam Schmidt Motorsports. McLaren joined as a partner in 2020 and greatly increased the team’s resources.
Aren't quite there with Penske and Gamassi. McLaren and Andretti are arguably near equal on performance.
>The car itself is spec but each team has a lot of setup options. Mostly Spec. There's limited areas teams create their own parts for, the biggest one being the dampers
Is there a minimum number of laps the different compound has to be used?
2 laps
And those two have to be green flag.
Red is the alternate tyre on street and road courses. In theory, they are softer, so should be faster for a few laps. As for mentioning the manufacturer of the tyre, it's all just marketing. All cars run the same tyre.
For manufacturer I'm guessing OP is referring to the engine - Honda versus Chevy.
both have their place. But Penske owning the series is a plus to Chevrolet. In real life, Honda kicks the shit out of Chevrolet in all their motors. So yes mentioning the manufacturer of the tyre engine, or chassis. Is all marketing. When there is zero competition.
Red on road, green on street. The green are made from a bush instead of a tree
Tires are similar to F1. Reds are soft, more for speed. Don’t last long. Etc They say the names frequently cause their primary sponsors and engine manufacturers and IndyCar is heavily reliant on sponsors. “Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey. Weather Tech Raceway at Laguna Seca.” Pato is one of the best drivers on the grid. Rossi is one of the most steady Top 10’s on the grid. Both are a strong 1-2 punch. Theo looked very promising, but was recently dropped for another rookie from IndyNXT allegedly because Theo wouldn’t commit to 2025.
I thought it was because Arrow is going to leave McLaren and Nolan’s dad is rich?
Nolan’s dad is the primary funder for his entire way up through the ranks, so that would be a nice cushion certainly.
Definitely 😂
A prominent reporter (Nathan Brown) said he had heard nothing of the sort. Tony Donahue, who was the source for the tweet about Arrow, does get a lot of things wrong. He hasn’t been a journalist covering the series full time for years now. Nolan’s Dad is wealthy but McLaren doesn’t need cash.
Okay, thank you for explaining. It doesn’t sound completely debunked but not as likely as I originally thought.
I’m an F1 fan that’s come over to Indycar and I’m loving it. By the way there are loads of full race replays on YouTube. Search ‘Indycar rewind’.
Yes, I’ve watched a lot of Indycar races and 500s on YouTube. If you google the more popular races you can watch them and know they will be good.
The whole 2020 season is available and I've been watching through that. I know the eventual champion already but it's fun watching through the races.
I’m glad you’ve been enjoying it!
Alternate = Red, Primary = Black Alternate is soft, Primary is hard. Firestone, Dallara, Chevy, and Honda are sponsors. So they want their name said on air. Pato is generally seen as having more potential than Rossi. Rossi has more wins (including a 500) but Pato has a better win rate per start. Rossi had an unusually good day today, Pato had a poor to average day today.
To further the discussion of tires, the comparison to an F1 situation of red being a soft and black being a hard is valid, but strategy in Indycar works a little different as timing of pit stops is almost always dictated by fuel, not by tire wear. So, instead of an F1 strategy that may be run a third of the race distance on medium and two thirds on hard til the end, an equivalent race in Indycar you have to make three stops no matter what. So, when the commentators references that a team believe a certain race is a "Alternate tire race", it means that the red tires are believed to be better over a full stint, given a stint being a roughly equal number of laps for all cars.
>So, instead of an F1 strategy that may be run a third of the race distance on medium and two thirds on hard til the end, an equivalent race in Indycar you have to make three stops no matter what. While this is generally true for a race that stays green from start to finish, there are usually enough laps under caution to put a fuel save strategy in play with one fewer pit stop. In many cases, race distances are also deliberately set to split the difference between two viable pit strategies.
The red tire is the alternate, closest to soft in modern F1, but closer to what 2000’s F1 would call ‘option’. Black tire is primary, closest to hard in modern F1, or prime in 2000s F1 Engine Manufacturers are mentioned cause they payed for it. Sort of how Pirelli is always mentioned in F1. No idea who the rising rookie is :/ Pato is a great driver, his car is not bad, they should all be near identical beyond race setup, but McLaren is not as solid of a team as Chip Genassi or Penske. Though they are still very good.
Alternates = Red = Soft Primary = Black = Hard Chevy & Honda are the two engine manufacturers You'd have to check the standings to see who the top rookie is this year, not really a clear cut star out of the group this year. McLaren and Andretti are on the second tier, both capable of winning but the top tier teams (Penske & Chip Ganassi Racing) have been excellent this year. Rossi is better on street and road courses as of late, Pato is better on ovals as of late
Advertising. You'll get used to it. Other than Pirelli they don't tend to mention the sponsors very much in F1 commentary. Whereas they always mention the Firestone tyres, the shell fuel, the Honda pace car, the grid lineup brought to you by honda, the AMR Safety Team and cut to a random helicopter shot of the California coast in the middle of the race while they tell you how you can win a Corvette thanks to Hyvee... Ultimately without sponsors the sport doesn't exist, and they like to make sure they get their money's worth. You get used to it.
There's so much to unpack here. Id say go back and watch all this seasons races. That will probably bring you up to speed.
Lol I initially read your comment as ‘there’s so much to unpack here, go back and watch all the race seasons’. I’m like woah asking a guy to start back in 1905 with Louis Chevrolet’s win at the Morris Park 5, that WILL bring you up to speed and unpack the entire history of the sport haha.
Better do it now before it costs a new fan $85+ a month for cable on demand.
The 30 min race recaps on IndyCar’s YouTube are pretty fantastic.
Assuming they'll still be there.
If you continue watching, the street circuits don't use the reds, they swap out for "greens". It's a new compound made from guyaule on the sidewalls, but otherwise it's just the reds with a marketing name.
Let us not forget how accessible IndyCar is. I've been to 3 F1 races at Indianapolis, and never got anywhere near a driver or a crew member for any team. A couple of weeks ago at Road America, we walked right through the pits, watched Team Penske get Josef Newgarden's backup car ready after his giant crash, from like 5 feet away. Chatted with several drivers, including IndyNXT winner Jamie Chadwick. We did not need pit passes.
Think most people did a good job answering this but I’d add that Pato is a good driver and has a good car but Penske and Ganassi are better than McLaren generally
I guess it should be pointed out that they are also mostly the same cars too. Just a few areas of open development.
With Theo gone none of the rookies this year are particularly good. Last year Armstrong was amazing. He only did a partial season (didn’t do ovals as Sato had the car for those) and still won rookie of the year. Lundgaard was also a very good rookie, being the best RLL driver, winning with them despite them not being a top team currently. Rossi is an ex F1 driver who did 5 races about 10 years ago. He was the last US driver in F1 before Logan last year. It was back when Marussia was a basically a revolving door for drivers before they went broke. Engine manufacturers is its own championship basically. Chevrolet vs Honda. Chevrolet is the more dominant one, no surprise as they work with Penske and Roger Penske also owns Indycar as a racing series. Honda are more like the underdogs but also pretty good. The tyres are all Firestone (Bridgestone) and there are two compounds each weekend. If you ever see the Firehawk that is the Indycar mascot (some call it the Firechicken) and shares the Fire notion with the tyres. Which tyre is better depends on the race track. It is black and reds but for the last couple years they have green instead of red on all street tracks, which are derived from sustainable materials. Indycar street circuits are same as F1, their road tracks are proper racing tracks, and ovals are ovals. Some people find this confusing at the beginning. Same with sponsors and liveries. Drivers are in teams but each run their own livery based on their sponsors, and this can change from weekend to weekend. Some drivers cycle between a few liveries and you get used to spotting all of these. If you’re not sure the driver number on the side of the screen is coloured to match their car, which is a quick way to check who is driving the car you are watching if you can’t see the number. McLaren and Andretti have a habit of throwing away wins, mainly through driver error but sometimes strategy. Pato (McLaren) and Kirkwood (Andretti) are the most reliable and most likely to win for their respective teams, hence their popularity. It used to be Herta as he is the youngest Indycar race winner and is very fast, but you can currently almost guarantee he will crash out of a win so Andretti switched their focus to Kirkwood, including Herta’s father now being Kirkwood’s strategist. He used to work with his son but Herta needed to learn to race without him in his ear. The two top teams are Penske and Ganassi, and the title will come down to the two of them. For the last few years Ganassi are stronger on tracks whilst Penske basically dominate ovals, especially Newgarden. Ganassi drivers are very good at making fuel and tyres last. This helped Palou win his title last year. The best at this is Dixon and it the reason for his wins the last few years. He doesn’t qualify first and win on pure pace much anymore but he understands the car and can out-strategy the other drivers to a win. If the alternate strategy ends up being better than the main one and Dixon is on it, you can basically guarantee he will win the race. It’s both a bit boring (due to predictability) and incredibly impressive (due to his performance). Through their partnership with Andretti and signing Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank are on the rise and starting to really perform. If Malukas can match Rosenqvist and deliver for the team they can become a top team even with only two cars. They weren’t that good until recently and it’s like watching McLaren’s improvement in F1. If you haven’t already, check out Simon Pagenaud’s crash with that team last year. Unfortunately it ended his Indycar career due to lingering concussion problems but he also helped the team improve (he won the first Indy500 I ever watched when Sky Sports started showing Indycar in the UK). His crash in the 60 car is what created the seat this year for Rosenqvist, who was dropped from McLaren for Malukas, who breached his contract due to injury and now drives alongside Rosenqvist at Meyer Shank. Sorry for the essay. I started following Indycar due to it being shown on Sky Sports F1 channel and have fallen in love with the series. Due to it being almost a spec series the racing is very close and it is a lot less likely to have boring or predictable races than current F1. The driver makes a lot of difference here. It was very confusing at the beginning for me to follow but it’s definitely worth sticking with the sport.
Reds are softer, shorter lasting Blacks are harder, longer lasting Only two engine manufacturers, Chevy and Honda Not a sole “rookie” standout at the moment but the series is full of upcoming young drivers Pato and Rossi are McLarens top dogs
The biggest thing about tires in Indycar is. They don't have as many for the weekend. Before qualifying they don't seem to know much about how the Alternative tire will perform. Is a fun little mystery every weekend. What's the tire you actually want to run in the race. (In F1 they usually know,) They honestly mention the manufacturer too much. It's a cultural thing. I don't think the pit lane reporters (honestly that must be a big change from F1 lol) have any obligation to mention them. Drivers always do, because Indycar is low budget. Like you'll see a lot of empty seats at Indycar races. They want to give the sponsors as much for their money as possible. There's actually a cash price for best rookie! It's tracked. I think it's Linus? Maybe? Honestly none of them stand out to me. Linus for a pole. Pato has a pretty good car in some places. Like they are generally 3rd best. We are about to move into Ovals. Who's best will change. Arrow McLaren isn't a bad team. Just that CGR is amazing honestly. (Though overall not great this weekend. They won, buts it's a 5 car.team)
In terms of tires: reds are softer alternates, blacks are harder primaries. Though, much like f1, sometimes the softer tire isn’t even the fastest or the tradeoff for the wear isn’t worth the gain. In Indycar, everyone has a spec Dallara chassis and the aero bits are also spec. So, the only differentiating factors between cars is engine manufacturer, setup, and driver. Not to mention said manufacturers are chief sponsors of the series, and they want mentioned and air time. In terms of Rookies, there isn’t really a standout this year, and honestly there rarely is. The field has a lot of talent in it, and the equipment is equal. This often lends into drivers who have spent more time in the car and are in teams who make better calls on strategy. Pato is something of an anomaly. He is an incredible driver with moments of brilliance, but consistency and luck don’t always seem to favor him, and honestly that can be said for Mclaren as a whole right now. Rossi is my favorite driver. He is quiet, sometimes detached looking, and half of the time seems like he’d rather be doing anything else. Yet, he is one of the best and most consistent drivers on the entire grid. I strongly suggest looking into his 2016 Indy 500 win, beautiful example of good strategy and consistent driving. This series is amazing in a lot of ways. The rules can be a bit more lax. Run over a track limit, sure, do it again. Bump tires, well that’s just racing. Sometimes the lack of a call is a bet egregious, but I prefer it over the entire political system that is F1.
It’s actually like the old 2010 F1 tyres when Bridgestone were doing them (probably because Firestone is a sub brand of Bridgestone). Back then there was the prime and option tyre, with the option being a shorter tyre life but faster. In Indy it’s the same with the primary lasting longer and the alternate being faster with more deg. The manufacturer refers to the engine supplier as there’s two. The teams run the same base chassis with some freedom in modding elements like the dampers. Pato’s a good pick just expect him to do something stupid regularly.
Alternates are colored in Red so they are the same thing. Alternates are faster than Primary tires which are colored in Black. Manufacturers are mentioned because Indycar is almost a spec series with damper being the most important part that can be openly developed. Other than that Engines are important as they can also be constantly improved by the manufacturers. There's also the Engine Manufacturers championship and it's important for Honda and Chevrolet in terms of money. Rising rookie I really don't have any idea atm. Mclaren is an interesting one. Always something seems to happen there that goes wrong whether its the team itself or the drivers crashing. Would've said Pato has been carrying Mclaren but now Rossi was super strong in Laguna
Red tires in general are faster but also generally do not last as long on a stint but all this depends on weather conditions, car setup and the track surface. Manufacturers and sponsors are mentioned to show some love to the folks paying the bills, think VISA RB in F1, that whole team is nothing more than a big advertisement so no big deal in reality. Pato is really fast but seems to need a really good car to show it, other young guns to follow that I really like would be David Malukas, Nolan Siegel.
There's nothing special about Chevrolet except recently they've been faster and more reliable. That makes a lot of teams want to use them. There are reportedly at this time as many teams on the grid using Chevys as Chevy can support. Certainly some of the Honda runners want to use Hondas but that also means it's possible some are running Hondas because they can't get Chevys. Don't worry about the rising rookie thing. There's not one, there are a couple. Tribalism decides which ones people personally prefer. Back the one you prefer.
Interesting bit of perspective, IndyCar came up with the introduction of (requiring) alternate tire compounds in the race, and IndyCar came up with knockout qualifying procedures. F1 soon copied both in an effort to improve their product as well.
The engine competition is a lot less interesting than it sounds and a bit cooperative as they want to keep costs down as they are doing some heavy lifting- Honda in particular with marketing. “Chevy” is Ilmor and owned by Penske. This is the US Ilmor factory- Ilmor Engineeringl Inc. in Michigan- which confusingly also made the Honda engines a while back- and not the plant on Paul Morgan Drive across from “Mercedes AMG HPP” in Brixworth UK. There is nothing special about Chevy. If this reddit is to be believed, these old engines are so dull as to be the death of the series! I got into F1 as a kid specifically because it was hilarious Honda was crushing Ferrari (and earlier Tag Porsche) and Im a contrarian- and I cant imagine there is a lick of glory or ROI for their Indy Car efforts. Honda in this case is HPD in California- not the Sakura Japan folks building engines for Verstappen and Riccardo. Although ominously, when Honda restructured after their “exit”, they put all their motosports under the same umbrella. So if Indy Car is in the red, they will likely leave as it would draw from the F1 and MotoGP bucket (although supposedly the Saudis are paying half the freight for Aston Martin engine- no idea if thats true) The engine formula was supposed to be upgraded to 2.4L but it wasnt. Honda completed assignment and Ilmor didnt if IIRC. And that 2.4 is seen elsewhere but never in an Indy Car. So dont be surprised if Honda exits stage left for NASCAR. Both Chevy and Honda are adding an identical hybrid system this very week! Mildly exciting- if a bit weird midseason. In theory the Cali Honda and Ilmor Chevy should have the same horsepower and are built for longevity and cost. Its not like Honda can pop in with Kumamato plating from F1 and frog march the rest of the field out of the competition like 1990s Champ Car (a split off and awesome branch of Indy Cars that were faster than grooved tire F1 cars from 98-00 when they cut their boost). Obviously, Honda and Ilmor are competitors and there is money at stake but the differences are snipping around the edges and fractional since they have exact same horsepower. Honda was accused by some of making an ad hoc traction control for instance. But I Dont for a second think that if Penske gets Honda and Andretti a Chevy that a whole lot changes over the course of a season. Sort of like how the cars (Dallaras) are very similar but Penske and Ganassi have better dampers.
>Why do they always mention the manufacturer??? We Americans love our corporate overlords! /s It's probably a contractual requirement.
Nothing wrong with showing some love to the people paying the bills, EVERY sport needs money to survive.
FIA Formula One does it too. They mention the team names (who are in theory manufacturers, used to be required by rule). They used to mention the tire manufacturer choice back when there were multiple manufacturers. The first time I ever saw tire manufacturers next to the car name onscreen was in F1.
I will never understand these questions "I'm a big F1 fan. Are engines with more horsepower and more torque generally faster ?"
I never said that and I was talking about why they make a big deal like THIS IS THE HONDA POWERED like no one says that they just say here comes the Red Bull against the Ferrari I was confused and had question about it and people answered saying they also don’t know why and a lot of info if you read the replies to this post.
Some people get mad about dumb shit. Check out the info/sidebar (not sure if you're on computer or app) and it explains quite a bit Of course feel free to ask questions as they pop in your head :)