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 appear the following week.
Q: What about safety with the hybrids? OK, so the system maximum voltage is only 60 volts and therefore not high voltage. For the record, high voltage is 750 volts or greater. In industries like sawmills, motors are typically 600 volts or less and therefore not high voltage. I know this because prior to retirement I was a safety trainer in the electrical industry.
In Canada where I live, the maximum allowable voltage that you can work on without safety gloves or other apparatus is 35 volts. It used to be 50 volts but this was changed about 20 years ago because it had been proven that a person could be electrocuted on a 50-volt system.
So for electricians and technicians working on live electrical equipment, if the voltage is between 36 and 749 volts, lockout procedures or specialized safety equipment is required. True high voltage is another matter altogether, where “Limits of Approach” must be maintained.
So I am assuming that the teams will be wearing low-voltage rubber gloves at times during work on the ERS units or the unit must be completely discharged. Is that correct? 60 volts is enough to electrocute someone and the potential of 2000 amps is significant. What is being done to ensure the crews don’t get hurt?
Doug Mayer
MARSHALL PRUETT: It is, but the 60-volt system has been designed to operate in isolation within the bellhousing, instead of also being used to power the entire car, so there’s that. There’s also a requirement to discharge the system to 40 volts or less when leaving pit lane.
Q: The upside being obvious (to me anyway), what is the downside to splitting IndyCar Q1 into three groups of nine?
Lew
MP: Assuming the time IndyCar sets aside for two is cut into thirds, I can’t think of a downside, Lew.
Q: I’m seeing IndyCars that are trying to get clean air get stacked up during practice and qualifying. With IndyCar being a spec series, wouldn’t it be better to design cars that relied on mechanical grip versus aero grip? Or would that cause a totally different problem?
Steve C, Vancouver, WA
MP: They rely on both. Take the aero grip away and we go back the roadster era, which was awesome, but if you like cars to corner at unbelievable speeds instead of behaving like dragsters on the straight and (by comparison) crawling through turns, the best way to do that is to remove the aero grip.
FWIW, they aren’t searching for clean air; they’re trying to create space to complete an uninterrupted lap to get a proper feel for the car’s handling and settings at the limit in every corner.
Q: How much does that 100-lb hybrid boat anchor cost including installation? Who pays for each unit?
Bob Gray, Canoga Park, CA
MP: We have thousands of words of answers to all kinds of IndyCar hybrid questions in a Part 1 and Part 2 Q&A feature, including these. I’d take a look. The annual lease, paid for by each team, is believed to be $90K for this half-season and $200K for the full 2025 season.
Q: Is F1 hybrid system more advanced than the IndyCar hybrid system? What’s the difference between the F1 and IndyCar hybrid systems, and will NASCAR switch to hybrids in the next few years?
Alistair, Springfield, MO
MP: Yes, far more advanced because it’s made with a giant budget. F1’s hybrid uses two ERS systems, and IndyCar uses one. F1’s is contained in a comparatively powerful and semi-long-lasting lithium-ion battery. IndyCar’s is smaller and less powerful and uses supercapacitors. I don’t know about NASCAR.
Q: How come the hybrid IndyCars are so slow? Why bother?
Ken
MP: The ERS unit adds 105 lbs. Why bother? Because most auto manufacturers who participate in racing want to race with modern technology they sell in their road cars and trucks, and in IndyCar, its engine suppliers at Chevy and Honda sell a lot of hybrids.
Q: Watching on Peacock, the Mid-Ohio race was clogged with so much advertising, it was annoying to watch. I wonder if NBC is loading it up out of spite now that they’re getting rid of IndyCar?
Brad, Hollywood
MP: According to those who’ve written in to complain about the same thing with Peacock ads for a few years now, it’s nothing new.
Q: I’m sending this from the Mid-Ohio infield, where my vehicle hasn’t moved since the end of the race. You can’t have one way in and out of the racetrack. A two-lane bridge at that… What happened to the exit at Turn 8?
Green Savoree has some explaining to do and changes to make, or I am never coming back to the closest IndyCar race to the Northeast. It’s been an hour and a half since the race ended. I have a seven-hour drive.
Dave, King of Prussia, PA
MP: First, that sucks. Second, what happened to the king’s helicopter? A king should never be forced to drive among the peasants.
I’d ask our friends at Green Savoree, but when people have recently written in with questions or complaints, they haven’t been interested in answering the last few Mailbag items like yours that I’ve sent their way.
Q: What do you think about Tommy Kendall stepping back into the booth for IndyCar broadcasts with FOX? I thought he was pretty good during the Champ Car days. I don’t think he’s been racing for quite a bit, but I can imagine he has been paying attention to the sport. Just don’t ask him to do a grid walk.
Looked like a good debut for the hybrid system, unless you were Dixon.
Big Bird, St. Petersburg, FL
MP: I’d love to have Tommy back in the booth. Paired with his close friend Paul Tracy, it would be a riot.
Q: I am not sure if you have been paying attention, but F1 as of late has busted the myth of IndyCar having the most compelling racing. The majority of the IndyCar races during the aeroscreen era have been forgettable affairs (outside of Indy and crashfests like Nashville).
It appears that passing and executing exchanges for the lead is almost impossible on road and street circuits. Additionally, faster cars struggle to pass slower cars deeper into a stint. Is it the aero? Tires? A dinosuar of a chassis that has been over-engineered?
Hopefully the series is paying attention that a more popular series, with better presentation, prestige and production value is eating IndyCar’s lunch.
Woodford
MP: F1 has put on some really good races of late. Turning that into “F1 is overtaking IndyCar with better racing,” if you limit it to those recent races, would be accurate. But let’s not be the silly people who use “of late” to make grand proclamations. Let’s check back at the end of both seasons and see whose lunch has been eaten.