Yahoo Autos The RACER Mailbag, October 18
Welcome to the RACER Mailbag. Questions for any of RACER’s writers can be sent to mailbag@racer.com. Due to the high volume of questions received, we can’t guarantee that every letter will be published, but we’ll answer as many as we can. Published questions may be edited for length and clarity. Questions received after 3pm ET each Monday will appear the following week.
Q: I have watched with interest these previews regarding the introduction of hybrid powertrains to IndyCar. What is your best guess as to the reliability issues of these cars? Will we see a higher percentages of breakdowns compared to years past, which may make some of the races more interesting? Also, is there a possibility of Ford getting back into IndyCar with a hybrid setup? Ford has such a history at Indy; I would love for that to happen.
Denny Jones, Garnett, KS
MARSHALL PRUETT: We’re six months out from the first race with new technology, so it’s tough to make predictions while the ERS units are still being tested. Will we have more breakdowns than usual? It would be strange if that wasn’t the case, but we lack the data to offer an answer at this point in time.
Ford has been consistent for more than a decade in expressing its lack of interest in returning to IndyCar.
Q: I’m not sure how to feel about the crash at Turn 1 of Petit Le Mans. The No. 10 was ahead of the No. 31 at some point before the apex, but I’m not sure what he expected to happen going around the outside of the No. 31 at Turn 1. At the same time, the No. 31 did not leave any room.
What were the most common opinions in the IMSA paddock about the crash? What are your thoughts?
Kyle
MP: There’s so much to process here, Kyle.
If it was Jack Aitken or Alexander Sims in the No. 31 Cadillac instead of Pipo Derani, the No. 10 Acura isn’t destroyed against the Turn 1 barriers. But it was Derani — who has forged an extended reputation as someone who will run you to the edge of the road and beyond, and has never been subjected to penalty that I can think of — so as far as he’s concerned, it’s sanctioned. If it wasn’t, he’d leave enough room for Albuquerque to make it around Turn 1.
And if Derani hadn’t used Albuquerque up and done what he did, we’d all be shocked and surprised. What played out is exactly what was expected between these drivers and teams. There’s the other side of this complicated affair, and it’s in knowing the combination of Derani and the No. 31 car is a dog that will bite if you try and engage, so if Albuquerque knew it was Derani behind the wheel, there was a well-known repercussion awaiting him by going for a pass on the outside of Road Atlanta’s fastest and scariest corner.
But how do you blame a driver for trying to pass another driver in a professional motor race where this is what they’re paid to do? And when that attempted pass — done cleanly on the outside — is the difference between winning and losing a championship, how do you blame Albuquerque?
Albuquerque should be able to attempt a pass without fear of being wrecked. Derani should be able to defend as hard as possible without making contact — but there was contact made — and without taking all of the room away on corner exit, but that room was taken away.
This is something IMSA will need to ponder before we go racing again in January. The No. 10 will have a new sister entry in 2024, and you’d hate to see retribution paid to the No. 31 next season. We all love rivalries, but this has the potential to turn ugly if it’s allowed to fester.
This rivalry might be getting a little too spicy. Richard Dole/Motorsport Images
Q: This year we saw several caution periods extended due to race control needing to reorder the field. Do we have a reason given for that? Did it just take that long for race control to review footage to see if passes happened before the yellow, or are teams refusing to give up positions while they appeal?
Mike, California
MP: Here’s an answer from IndyCar:
With the competition as tight as it is in IndyCar, order accuracy becomes a high priority during full-course yellow periods. Communication to teams, specific to a reorder, comes in a combination of ways including by team radios and instant messaging. Last green timelines are used for the order until the last 15-20 laps (depending on the circuit) when actual position on the track will determine the running order. Occasionally, a reorder is needed prior to and after a round of pitstops. IndyCar monitors the time it takes for competitors to correct an order and is prepared to react accordingly.
Q: Thank you for your excellent set of Porsche Rennsport Reunion videos. I especially enjoyed the Gunnar Jeannette tour of AO Racing. The only disappointment from an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable event was not having the 1998 Le Mans-winning GT-1. Was the reason for its non-appearance due to the damage sustained going up the Goodwood hill at the Festival of Speed this year?
Larry Haskett, Indianapolis, IN
MP: Yes, I heard the reason was because of the crash.
Q: It’s such a shame that American fans of the highest level of North American sports car racing are treated to commercial-free coverage for the first seven hours of one of the biggest sports car races in the world, only to be subjected to the total shift in coverage once it moves to network television.
Between the non-stop commercials, cutaways to random interviews, pointless vignettes, or some other promotional segment (all under green flag conditions, mind you), it seems like we get about 15 minutes of actual racing footage for every hour of coverage. Then you throw in the mind numbingly bureaucratic system that is the IMSA yellow flag procedures… it’s just so difficult to watch.
American motorsports fans just deserve so much better.
Brent
MP: Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Brent.
Q: In terms of the weather in Qatar, it seemed to be a wrong place/wrong time situation. I don’t recall an IndyCar race where so many had physical trouble with the heat, other than in 1953 where 10 starting drivers needed relief and Carl Scarborough died from heat exhaustion. Do any other races come to mind that were this bad?
Don Hopings, Cathedral City, CA
MP: Some might have been close in recent years, but not to the point of extremes where a life was lost. The Cleveland Champ Car race in 2004 was just brutal, as I recall, where the wealthiest people on the property must have been the ice vendors; I had my World Challenge GT crew working 30-minute shifts so half of them were in the transporter where the air conditioning was cranked to the max.
We also had a test day at Fontana in 2012 or 2013 where the same kind of situation damn near melted everyone; it was something like 100-105F from the morning onward. And then there was a mix of high heat and crazy humidity at Houston in 2013 or 2014 where it was pure misery for all involved. Iowa in 2022 was the last the-sun-is-trying-to-murder-us IndyCar event that comes to mind. I believe I drank almost two gallons of water per day during the HyVee doubleheader.
Q: Wondering if any of these scenarios are behind the Andretti/Grosjean separation: 1) Andretti got Grosjean to sign a deal to hedge bets that he would sign elsewhere like Palou, even if they did not intend to keep him under a contract with only one party’s signature. They could immediately sign it and then sue for damages if he signed elsewhere. 2) AA signs him intending to keep him, then learns it’s losing DHL. They then don’t sign his deal and walk away. 3) AA signs Grosjean then has immediate second thoughts due to his lousy mid-season performance.
Interested to see how this plays out.
Bill, Fresno, CA
MP: The first season of collaboration between Andretti and Grosjean was mostly an unhappy one, so when things made a big turnaround to open last season, there was a genuinely positive feeling throughout the team and the No. 28 Honda entry. It’s due to the strong and warm start to 2023 that both sides decided they wanted to do an extension to keep working beyond the end of Romain’s 2022-2023 contract. Then the poop hit the fan in May and kept hitting it in June, and your third scenario, which we’ve written about many times, kicked the extension from sixth gear into neutral, and it was never re-engaged.
We’ve pretty much burned through our supply of “Grosjean wearing a DHL racesuit and looking pensive” shots over the last few weeks, so here’s one of him hanging out with Guenther Steiner in Qatar instead. Andy Hone/Motorsport Images
Q: What’s the deal with Andretti and his LMP3 program? One race they are there and the next one they are not. I’m sure it can’t be funding?
Mel, Green Valley, AZ
MP: It’s Jarett Andretti’s program, run by his uncle, more than it being an Andretti Global program in and of itself. Jarrett added an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 to the program this year, so the LMP3 car was put to use in the four endurance events and the GTD Aston was pressed into service at three standard-length rounds.
Q: Could you give me the “Cliffsnotes” on Formula Fords? I saw them mentioned last week in the Mailbag, and Googled some images of them. Do they competitively race anymore? Were/are they high speed? Is there any downforce on them? To me they look very dangerous. I love going to IndyCar at Road America and geeking out at the beauty of the Vintage Indy cars. Are FFs similar in speed to older Indy cars, and just lack the downforce? Sorry if this is a stupid question.
Chad Brueggeman
MP: Of course! For three decades, Formula Fords were the global standard as the first step on the junior open-wheel ladder. They are/were powered by 1.6-liter four-cylinder Ford engines, which were readily found in many of Ford’s entry-level road cars, and made about 110hp. Tons of race car constructors — big and small — built FFs which had tubeframe chassis and fairly open rules on shapes and sizes and aerodynamics. As long as it had a 1.6L Ford “Kent” engine and complied with the formula’s basic requirements, it was good; the four-speed Hewland Mk. 9 gearbox, crafted from a VW Bug transmission case that was rotated 180 degrees, was the standard unit.
Wings and ground effects were illegal, so you had little cigar-shaped FFs that had good but not overwhelming grip from their tires, and at something close to 1000 pounds, the power-to-weight ratio was nice. FFs are all about the driver, not the car’s extreme performance or technology attributes, so the emphasis was on the driving.
Countless F1 and IndyCar champions got their starts in FFs, where learning racecraft and the basics of chassis tuning were a big part of the education. They’d do 120-130mph at a lot of tracks, and yes, there’s a smaller subset of FF racing here today with modern cars; many have converted to Honda power because there aren’t many Kents left in junkyards to draw from. England and Australia are the two biggest places where FF racing takes place today.
Q: If Grosjean is going to Juncos Hollinger, who is he replacing?
Bill Carsey, North Olmsted, OH
MP: The thought was that he’d be teaming with Ilott since the team had very little confidence it would find the funding to continue with Canapino. Grosjean being a much bigger international name would open more domestic and international doors, but in the last week, I’d heard there was a change for the positive with Agustin.
That could be announced by the time you’re reading this, in which case we’d then be on the clock to have Ilott confirmed as his teammate. If it isn’t going to be JHR, I’m not sure if there are any landing spots left for Grosjean in IndyCar for 2024.
Q: Just reading about the testing of the ERS system at IMS and have several random questions to blurt out.
Will dragging the brakes for regen potentially cause overheated brakes when they are needed for things such as pit stops? Are we going to see excessive pad wear/fade/failures at various tracks?
Will the ERS be something that factors into qualifying — including the Indy 500?
Is a failure of part or all of the ERS system game over for a car during a race, or will the ICE be able to press on?
I know F1 and IMSA both have hybrid technology, but I don’t watch either very often and hence know very little about the tech.
Matt Nuckolls, Iowa
MP: Great questions, Matt, and some of what you’re asking has yet to be decided by the series. Keep in mind that the series is still testing and developing the ERS units, so before they can decide exactly how it will be used in competition, they’ll need to finish testing.
The choice of supercapacitor was made because it charges extremely fast, so dragging the brakes for long periods shouldn’t be needed. With that said, teams have sensors on all four corners of the suspension to measure brake temperatures, so this is something they can and will monitor and set alarms to trigger if a problem occurs.
I’d assume the ERS will be part of all on-track activities, but that’s an item for the series to confirm prior to 2024.
So far, drivers have been instructed to stop the moment they experience an ERS issue out of fear the MGU could be destroyed if the car keeps rolling with it engaged.
We’ll be doing a lot more on IndyCar’s move to hybrids. I have a few videos left to produce from the August test I attended and more to write as we’re getting into the offseason. Having just completed eight weekends/events in 10 weekends, I hope to get caught up before too long.
There are still lots of unanswered questions about IndyCar’s new-for-2024 hybrids. Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
Q: At the beginning of the year you wrote an article about Bryan Herta’s eagerness to help Robert Wickens get back to IndyCar with the goal of the 2024 Indy 500. Do you have any updates you can share with us on the progress of this initiative between them, Dallara, or IndyCar? It would be very exciting to see all this come together at some point!
Tyler, Noblesville, IN
MP: A desire to make it happen remains, but I thin there’s a stronger chance of first seeing Robby in a GT car with hand controls than an IndyCar. We’ll do a follow-up story when we’re able.
Q: It seems that Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc have both gone off the boil in recent times compared to their teammates. Any insights to share?
Regarding the Perez-Horner-Marko triumvirate, my Spidey-sense suggests to me that they have already made up their minds to replace him. With constructor and driver championships already decided, what is the point of adding to the pressure on Perez at this stage of the season? It doesn’t make much sense other than getting pre-emptive information out into the public domain. While Red Bull has been a technically formidable team for many years, its driver management has been confusing to me. In this regard, the treatment of de Vries, Kyvat and Hartley come to mind at the very least.
Don Hopings, Cathedral City, CA
CHRIS MEDLAND: On Norris, I think that’s slightly harsh, to be honest, Don! It’s in qualifying he’s just made slight mistakes (in Japan) or big ones (in Qatar) and ended up behind Piastri on the grid, but from third he put over 20s on his teammate in the race at Suzuka, and then starting 10th he finished third behind Piastri in Qatar and was only not ahead due to team orders. That said, Piastri was a clear match in the sprint when he outqualified Norris and then won the race.
I think it’s just as sign of Piastri’s talent, and how he’s good enough to beat Norris the odd time his level dips, but Norris is still comfortably ahead in the drivers’ standings and has finished second-second-third in the past three grands prix, so I’m not going to say he’s gone off the boil.
Sainz did seem to find something that worked better with this Ferrari than Leclerc in recent rounds, and Leclerc himself says the unpredictability of the car hasn’t suited his driving style, but even so he had the upper hand at Suzuka and comfortably outqualified Sainz in Qatar (before we didn’t get a comparison in the race as Carlos didn’t start).
Sainz has always been a smart driver in the sense of working hard at weaknesses where perhaps teammates were deemed to have something more raw in terms of their talent, and I think we’ve been seeing the fruits of that towards the latter half of this season. But in both cases, it’s the closely matched pairing that both teams want in order to be a strong constructors’ championship force. Now they just need the cars that can deliver wins.
On Perez, there were whispers of a potential retirement announcement in Mexico this year, that seems premature given the contract he has and the fact that Red Bull doesn’t have certainty over a replacement next year, either. But the fact it doesn’t seem totally unfeasible means I agree with you that I just don’t see the situation setting him up for a future beyond his current contract. It feels like if all goes to plan for Red Bull, Ricciardo will be back in that seat in 2025, with Lawson in the AlphaTauri.
It’s a tough role to play but one thing Perez has proven is that it’s so hard being Verstappen’s teammate, just like it was for Bottas being Hamilton’s. It is a closer field now, and that almost makes the role impossible to fulfill because Red Bull realistically wants a driver good enough to be second all the time, and to do that they will need to be extremely quick rather than just very good, which means they’re unlikely to be happy playing that role.
I suppose in a much more long-winded way I’m agreeing with you about driver handling because I don’t think what Red Bull wants actually exists. So it either needs to take on the trouble of two top level drivers, or accept this is likely to be the trade-off if they go for an experienced and safe pair of hands that lacks that little extra something that the very best have.
Q: Sincere congrats to Michael Andretti for passing the latest test to be approved for an F1 team. I can only see positives to the IndyCar series if it comes to fruition. The politics there seem crazy — the one consistent comment I’ve seen is that it would be a positive to add the Andretti name to the F1 grid. How much behind the scenes lobbying is Mario doing? He’s such a wonderful ambassador.
John Sullivan
CM: As far as I know, not that much. Those who are in favor of the Andretti bid certainly see the value of what he’d bring to the paddock if the entry is successful, but in recent months Andretti has been playing a waiting game. Lobbying by Michael in Miami last year didn’t go down so well, and credit where it’s due: Both he and Mario have learned what gets a positive response from those they need to appease and what doesn’t, which is why they’ve been so quiet in recent months.
They might have some more to do behind the scenes in the coming months though if discussions with FOM start up, but the impression I got over the past few weeks was that it wasn’t going to be addressed quickly as there are Concorde Agreement discussions with the existing teams set to take place alongside it all.
Q: I am always impressed by drivers from an oval background that become very good road racers. In that sense, I have been very impressed by Bubba Wallace’s recent progress. Do any particular reasons come to mind?
Don Hopings, Cathedral City, CA
KELLY CRANDALL: Bubba Wallace has come very far on the road courses over the last year, and I agree, it has been impressive. The road courses were always a problem for Wallace, and nothing he did worked; the expectations were never high during those weekends.
But the change has been twofold. First, Wallace has done the work himself, whether it’s through time and laps on the simulator or studying data and information available to him. He has put in time to get better, especially with there being so many road courses on the schedule. They aren’t races that can be looked over.
Second, Tyler Reddick has been a massive resource not only for Wallace but everyone at Toyota Racing. Reddick is clearly one of the best road course racers, and he’s become a teacher to his teammates — even Denny Hamlin. Earlier this year at Circuit of The Americas, Wallace and Hamlin both mentioned they studied and tried to emulate Reddick in the simulator and still couldn’t keep up with him, but he’s another tool they have to get better.
Wallace has upped his road course game. Nigel Kinrade/Motorsport Images
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, October 15, 2014
Q: I have a question that has been bothering me for a long time. Why on earth doesn’t IndyCar use the discarded Formula 1 tracks? OK, I was thinking IndyCar could have a European swing with a race at Brands Hatch, Portugal (Estoril), the Monza high-banked oval and Kyalami. I would bet my life that there would be huge buzz if IndyCar promoted a European swing with those tracks. I think they would sell more than in the States because F1 is always abandoning great fans and racetracks, so IndyCar would be welcomed with open arms.
Can you imagine a race at Brands Hatch with those high speed swinging turns, and Portugal to boot? It would be fast and fun! And of course turn the boost up to at least beat old F1 times in qualifying :) Oh and one more thing: why doesn’t IndyCar race at Circuit of The Americas?
Robert Aguirre
ROBIN MILLER: I’ve been to both Brands Hatch races with USAC and Champ Car, and they were contested on the short course and not that well-attended. Maybe they would be today, hard to know, but all the tracks you mentioned may not still be FIA-approved. I’m sure there are a couple of former F1 tracks that might suit IndyCar, but it takes two to tango and the fall would be about the only available timeframe. Mike Lanigan was exploring COTA for IndyCar and it would be a nice addition to the schedule, but he’s also looking at an airport track in Houston for 2016.
And although Monza’s high banks still exist — check out Max Papis driving a NASCAR around there in 2011 — they need major work, and have had to be painted/coated to help preserve them.
