A forged record of drivers largely staying the identical, and largely in the identical locations, may lead you to anticipate the 2023 IndyCar season to be a rerun of 2022. This perception could possibly be compounded by the truth that the marketing campaign forward would be the twelfth for the two.2-liter twin-turbo V6s from Chevrolet and Honda, the sixth for the common aerokit, and the fourth for the aeroscreen. Even the schedule is basically the identical, apart from Detroit’s race switching from Belle Isle to a brand new 1.7-mile course in downtown Motown.
But it surely’s the very tightness of the system which means, from yr to yr, the narrative might be nudged in a unique route, based on a crew’s mini breakthroughs with engine, aerodynamics, shocks and dampers. For instance, who would have anticipated within the twilight of the present engine period that Chevrolet would achieve such a noticeable edge for 2022 that it might take 11 wins and 13 poles from 17 races after 4 straight years of defeat within the producers’ championship? Did anybody foresee Andretti Autosport immediately turning into sturdy on the Indy highway course – previously its bête noire – but lose its earlier superiority on road programs as Penske caught up?
After all, IndyCar isn’t at all times about burning the formbook. Some current themes had been prolonged in 2022, together with Chip Ganassi Racing’s superiority at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which truly elevated. However who can be shocked if Ganassi’s forte in 2023 turned momentary tracks, and Penske immediately returned to its 2018-’19 type on the Speedway? These are, in any case, two of the best open-wheel groups on this planet.
The purpose is, in IndyCar the formbook ought to be regarded solely as a information, not an almanac, at the same time as these vehicles and this system approaches the top of its life cycle. The most important brains within the paddock try to squeeze out the final fractions of potential from their vehicles and have been poring over knowledge collected from their race weekend notes, the simulator, the wind tunnel and the shaker rig. Chances are high, they’ve discovered loads of objects to research in opening apply periods throughout the season’s first quarter.
Nonetheless, the spec nature of the vehicles does throw the emphasis very a lot onto the drivers, and for some this needs to be an enormous yr.
Felix Rosenqvist has the specter of Alex Palou hanging over him as he enters his third season at Arrow McLaren, simply as he did at Ganassi in 2019. The crew has expanded to 3 full-time vehicles this yr, however Rosenqvist solely retained his seat after Palou did not extract himself from Ganassi, and the 31-year-old Swede is aware of that incumbent team-mate Pato O’Ward and newly arrived stablemate Alexander Rossi each have AM contracts that can see them by means of subsequent yr, too. So assuming Palou is McLaren-bound but can’t discover a race seat within the Method 1 crew for 2024, then Rosenqvist is combating for a spot in IndyCar for 2024.
Rosenqvist faces a problem from Palou to maintain his place at Arrow McLaren, assuming the Spaniard’s days at Ganassi are numbered Photograph by: IndyCar Collection
Rosenqvist brushes off the subject, says the appropriate issues – “I really feel like I’ve good help from the crew to go and carry out,” and so forth – however he’s not naive. He is aware of he should elevate his probabilities of a worthy journey subsequent yr by shining when in direct comparability with O’Ward and Rosenqvist. Can he do it?
Effectively, shedding his former race engineer Craig Hampson to Rossi is a blow, however Rosenqvist and others converse extremely of substitute Chris Lawrence, who has served as assistant race engineer on the #7 automotive that Rosenqvist beforehand drove. And with out query, he has potential that has not but borne fruit and possesses exceptional resilience.
He outqualified O’Ward solely 4 occasions in 2022, however twice that resulted in pole place, and he was hardly ever a good distance off the Mexican. Extra relevantly, there have been sufficient occasions when Rosenqvist outraced him, too, which suggests he can do sufficient to show himself to potential new employers.
“We overachieved some locations and we underachieved by making an attempt to overachieve at another locations! It’s unlucky, however I discovered a lot and I can’t wait to take what I discovered into this season” Kyle Kirkwood
Ex-F1 ace Romain Grosjean is one other driver with a lot to show in 2023, regardless of having a safe choice with Andretti Autosport for 2024. With solely a single podium to his title from his first season with AA – albeit in a really up-and-down yr for Michael Andretti’s squad as a complete – he was frankly a disappointment for a lot of 2022. The Frenchman might look extraordinarily quick after which make an error, or he might fade into mediocrity, as the road between tempo and prudence typically eluded him.
And issues received’t get any simpler, because the ultra-fast Colton Herta stays on the crew, and the departing Rossi has been changed by America’s subsequent Boy Surprise, Kyle Kirkwood. Or not less than we suppose Kirkwood is the subsequent massive factor. His document in junior formulation is impeccable, however the jury is out as a result of his rookie season at AJ Foyt Racing contained too many incidents – to which he readily admits.
“That’s fully truthful to say,” he agrees. “While you’re twentieth and you’re feeling caught, naturally you’re not going to only surrender, you’re going to push to absolutely the limits. In a way that’s what we did [at Foyt]. We overachieved some locations and we underachieved by making an attempt to overachieve at another locations! It’s unlucky, however I discovered a lot and I can’t wait to take what I discovered into this season.”
If pre-season testing is consultant, Kirkwood has instantly tailored again to the Andretti Autosport set-ups that he first examined as reward for profitable the Indy Lights title in 2021. The intra-team battle between him, Herta and Grosjean might be fascinating.
Grosjean has better inside competitors this yr as Kirkwood arrives desperate to show a degree following a combined rookie yr at Foyt Photograph by: IndyCar Collection
Their semi-team-mates at Meyer Shank Racing, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud, will want massive helpings of factors this season, after ending 18th and fifteenth respectively in 2022. Certain, the alliance with AA is a double-edged sword, nevertheless it was a shock that so incessantly this skilled pair – 46 wins and greater than 500 begins between them – couldn’t discover a set-up that suited them or Firestone’s tire compounds. One other yr just like the final, and Michael Shank and Jim Meyer might conclude that wholesale change is required in its line-up, particularly with IMSA champion Tom Blomqvist in-house and more than willing to switch disciplines…
The IndyCar driver with essentially the most to show this yr is Jack Harvey, who endured a wretched first season with Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Whereas the crew additionally struggled within the first half of 2022, its mid-season turnaround appeared solely to profit Harvey’s team-mates, Graham Rahal and Christian Lundgaard. Sponsor Hy-Vee has been switched to Lundgaard’s automotive this yr, which isn’t precisely a vote of confidence for Harvey, however he’s gritty sufficient to journey that out.
The important thing to bettering his type, the Briton says, is to “turn out to be extra versatile” when chasing set-ups, settle for when his automotive’s dealing with isn’t very best, and as a substitute adapt his driving to go well with what he’s obtained. In any other case he’s going to search out himself buried in a discipline that now contains 27 full-time entries.
Of the drivers who raced in each spherical of 2022, Dalton Kellett and Jimmie Johnson have gone, whereas the rookie consumption contains Marcus Armstrong (highway and road programs for Chip Ganassi Racing, in a ride-share with oval-only veteran Takuma Sato), Indy Lights graduates Sting Ray Robb and Benjamin Pedersen becoming a member of Foyt and Dale Coyne Racing respectively, and Argentine touring automotive legend Agustin Canapino swelling Juncos Hollinger Racing’s presence from one automotive to 2.
Harvey wants a giant season for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing after a making an attempt 2022 marketing campaign through which he was crushed by his team-mates
Photograph by: IndyCar Collection
