Indycar best drivers

The 26-year-old Florida-born American Swede hasn’t competed in North America’s premier open wheel championship since 2021 but could be poised for a return to the grid in 2024. Askew , along with newly crowned Indy NXT champion Christian Rasmussen, are both testing with ECR at the 2.3-mile, 17-turn natural terrain road course. And the aim is to use the opportunity to springboard into the team’s No. 20 Chevrolet entry alongside Rinus VeeKay for next year. “There's nothing that would make me happier than a redo at what meant the world to me -- and what still does -- in IndyCar,” Askew told Motorsport.com. “I really want to go back and cause some mischief.” The outing for Askew comes 729 days since his last IndyCar start, which came in the season finale on the Streets of Long Beach Sept. 26, 2021. Oliver Askew, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda Photo by: Barry Cantrell / Motorsport Images A potential pairing alongside VeeKay would provide ECR with one … [Read more...] about Askew hopeful ECR test leads to IndyCar return

Newly announced IndyCar driver Tatiana Calderon says there are more opportunities available to female racing drivers in American racing series than elsewhere in the motorsport world. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The former Formula 2 and World Endurance Championship racer was confirmed yesterday in a third Foyt-run car for the upcoming IndyCar season. “IndyCar has always been on my radar,” said Calderon. “I’ve always been very competitive and I want to be where the best drivers are at and I think IndyCar is pretty high up there on the single seater ladder. I’ve always enjoyed single seaters quite a lot as well, so it’s a honour to be racing in IndyCar.” Having spent much of the past 10 years racing in European-focused series, Calderon believes there are more opportunities available to drivers who are women in the US than in Europe. “Here in America, in IndyCar, there have been many female drivers coming through. So I think there is more opportunity at … [Read more...] about More opportunity for women racers in IndyCar – Calderon

The writing had been on the wall for several years, but the inevitable separation of the IndyCar Series and Texas Motor Speedway finally came with the arrival of the 2024 schedule. A relationship that began in 1997, the two transitioned through nearly every phase possible in the best and worst ways. The reality, though, is that things have been turbulent for an extended amount of time and both parties are at fault for its failure. In many ways, it’s fitting how everything started – with four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and Texas native AJ Foyt backhanding Arie Luyendyk in Victory Lane after the inaugural event in 1997. Factor in timing and scoring issues that delayed final results until the next day and it also signaled the end of the United States Auto Club’s involvement in the championship. When the series needed to bolster its schedule in the early days and an ideal market to crown a champion, the 1.5-mile superspeedway stepped up and hosted races in summer and fall from … [Read more...] about Has IndyCar’s Texas loss come at the right time?

Formula 1 may come to regret Alex Palou’s decision to cut ties with McLaren as the sport may never see the driver, dubbed “more complete than Max Verstappen”, line up on the grid. Although Palou was expected to race for McLaren in the IndyCar series next season, dovetailing that with Formula 1 reserve driver commitments, that relationship broke down after the Spaniard opted to stay with Chip Ganassi Racing. Instead of winning races with Palou, and potentially fielding him in Formula 1 in the years to come, McLaren are suing the driver for a reported $20-30 million in damages stemming from him reneging on his deal. Alex Palou v Max Verstappen for the best ‘alien’ award That, McLaren CEO Zak Brown says, is probably it for Palou’s Formula 1 story . “I think in Formula 1, there’s so much you have to do as a driver to be a complete race car driver,” said the American. “He certainly has demonstrated in IndyCar and his time with us that he is a racing driver, but I’m not sure … [Read more...] about The driver dubbed ‘best in the world’ and ‘more complete than Max Verstappen’

World Endurance Championship title holder and Le Mans 24 Hours winner Ryo Hirakawa has joined McLaren’s driver development programme. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free Hirakawa will serve as one of the team’s reserve drivers in Formula 1 this year. His signing comes after IndyCar champion Alex Palou cut his ties with the team and chose to remain with Ganassi in the US series. McLaren confirmed Hirakawa will continue to drive for Toyota in WEC, where he leads the championship he won last year with his team mates Brendon Hartley and Sebastien Buemi. The 29-year-old is also in his sixth season of racing in Japan’s Super Formula series, where he currently races against drivers including AlphaTauri racer Liam Lawson . Hirakawa has won four races in the series and has a best championship position of second. McLaren has not indicated whether it plans to run Hirakawa in practice sessions, though his lack of F1 experience means doing so would count towards … [Read more...] about McLaren signs WEC champion and Le Mans winner Hirakawa as F1 reserve driver

The three rookie drivers who will take their places on the grid for the 2023 F1 season arrive with differing expectations heaped upon them. Not only due to the different paths they’ve taken to reach F1, but also because of the teams they are joining. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The most experienced of the trio is AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries , who has one F1 start to his name courtesy of a last-minute call-up to replace the ill Alex Albon at Williams for last year’s Italian Grand Prix. His performance that weekend made him a target of multiple teams for 2023, and Red Bull’s interest won out over Williams’, so de Vries signed for its secondary AlphaTauri team for his long-awaited rookie F1 season. De Vries qualified 13th at Monza but started eighth due to others being penalised. He scored two points by finishing ninth in a car he had only driven in two practice sessions before his first run in qualifying. Team mate Nicholas Latifi came in 15th. … [Read more...] about De Vries vs Piastri vs Sargeant: Which rookie is best prepared for their F1 debut?

Kyle Kirkwood has secured his place on the IndyCar grid for 2024 and beyond after signing a new multi-year contract with Andretti. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The team fielded four full-time cars this season but have trimmed their entry to three for 2024. Colton Herta and Kirkwood go into their fifth and second seasons with Andretti respectively, while Marcus Ericsson joins from Chip Ganassi Racing. Kirkwood first raced for Andretti in 2021, when he won the Indy Nxt title with the team. That provided him with a scholarship to step up to IndyCar and he made the move with AJ Foyt Racing. Tenth place in Long Beach was the best result of his rookie season, and just six races into his IndyCar career he was announced as joining Andretti for 2023. The team switch worked well for Kirkwood, as he scored almost twice as many points as he had the year before and won from pole in Long Beach just three races into the campaign. Later in the year he picked up … [Read more...] about Rising IndyCar star Kirkwood signs contract extension with Andretti

The Barbados-born Caymanian was signed as a development driver with CGR in May 2022, only two races into his Indy NXT career that already featured a fifth-place finish (Barber Motorsports Park). He ended up finishing his rookie campaign ninth in the overall standings despite switching teams – TJ Speed Motorsports to HMD Motorsports – mid-season. There were already some flashes of potential shown the year prior as Simpson rolled to seven wins, 13 podiums and two poles en route to winning the 2021 Formula Regional Americas Championship. Fast forward to the conclusion of the 2023 Indy NXT season, the 18-year-old’s record included a career-best runner-up result (Mid-Ohio), an additional podium and a pole to finish 10th in the championship standings after competing in 13 of 14 events. The lone event missed, the 1.25-mile oval formerly known as Gateway, was a result of a schedule conflict with his full-time commitment to the European Le Mans Series. He currently sits second in the … [Read more...] about Indy NXT grad Simpson’s path to CGR seat aided by sports car experience

It has been another busy day in the world of Formula 1, so it is time to catch-up on the major talking points. With Max Verstappen leaving all challengers in his dust, Ferrari have been told to whip out a “blank cheque” to prise the Dutchman away from Red Bull, while Andretti has cleared a major hurdle in their efforts to join Verstappen on the Formula 1 grid. Let us then dive into the action… Ferrari urged to launch mega-money Max Verstappen pursuit If any of Verstappen’s doubters after that stumble in Singapore have followed his suggestion, then right now they will be sucking on an egg as the Dutchman returned to top, unstoppable form with victory at Suzuka. That result ensured that Red Bull retained the Constructors’ title for F1 2023, while Verstappen is now closing in fast on a third World Championship title. So, how can rivals like Ferrari possible stop the Verstappen-Red Bull onslaught? Well, Tom Coronel suggests they dig deep into their pockets to lure Verstappen … [Read more...] about Ferrari urged to make major signing with Andretti F1 bid ‘successful’ – F1 news round-up