Q: I was glad to see that Zak Brown offered assistance from McLaren F1 arm in designing the new IndyCar. This is not the first time he has offered his assistance to the series. While I know he has his haters (as does everyone in the paddock), it seems to me that McLaren (and Zak) coming to the series has been a very good thing (beyond just adding an additional strong team). Your thoughts?
Tim, Fishers, IN
MP: With Michael Andretti out of the picture, Zak’s among the few remaining owners/principals who readily push back and tell Penske Entertainment things they don’t want to hear, and that’s vitally important. Penske doesn’t want to receive criticism or dissent, but Brown’s willing to spoil their ‘Everything is awesome’ echo chamber. On that alone, I appreciate his contrarian ways.
And then you have what you’ve cited, which is the other way to try and make things better by committing talent and resources to solve problems. But, in that echo chamber where everything they do is awesome, such offers aren’t likely to be accepted. Regardless, it’s hard to argue against trying to help.
As an entrant, I do hope Arrow McLaren sheds the ‘Team Disfunction’ tag it’s earned after three straight years of turmoil.
It’s on its third team leader since 2022, with the last two — Gavin Ward, and now, Tony Kanaan — having no prior experience running a major racing team. We know about the Alex Palou dramas, the revolving door of drivers this year, the high turnover with personnel, and the ongoing struggles to get over the championship and Indy 500 hurdles.
The bones of an excellent team are there. Look to McLaren’s F1 team as a blueprint of how to make key changes over a sustained period. It took many years of major changes to get there, with the most recent under the steady, multi-year leadership of Andrea Stella, leading the team to its first Constructors’ title in decades.
On the IndyCar side, it’s another do-over, just as it was after team president Taylor Kiel quit and left after the 2022 season finale, and again after the team moved on from Ward. Now Kanaan’s the big boss, with a revised driver lineup, a revised engineering lineup, and yet another huge mountain to climb to catch and beat Ganassi and Penske. It’s entirely possible to achieve, but it will take time.
Think of the Foyt team and its constant year-to-year changes and how the never-ending rebuilding actually kept it from making progress. And then think of how it had proper consistency for two consecutive seasons with Ferrucci in the No. 14 car and how that consistency is what allowed that entry to flourish. Same team president. Same team manager. Same technical director. Same crew chief.
It would be strange for Arrow McLaren to make a big leap in 2025 with another shakeup to process, but it’s what they need. I don’t envy Kanaan, but he’s never been afraid of a challenge.
Q: Thanks for the article on the owner’s reactions to 2027 design proposal. I think I fall in line with Adrian Newey’s thoughts; I just want to watch a cool-looking car. What surprised me was that people who seemed to most agree with prioritizing a more innovative look (at a likely higher price) were the teams who seemed to have the smaller budgets for the current cars and would be most affected if the price of racing laps went up with a new one. Penske seems like it could best survive cost increases. It’s proposing a plan to keep it as affordable as possible when Penske probably could withstand a cost increase the most.
Everyone seems on the wrong team. What gives? Is there a feeling that a sufficiently innovative design will unlock new sponsors for the current lower tier budget teams to make it worthwhile? Does Penske feel so unexcited about a new design that they’ve committed to doing something only very slightly new? Is it the hope that a bigger design chance will put everyone back on a more even playing field? The drumbeat for a new design has been so loud and so long that I’m surprised there’s such a wide gulf on what the idea is to start – do they all even agree on why they’re doing a new car?
NK
MP: Since I started writing a few years ago that the Dallara DW12 is the only current pro-racing chassis that is actively competing in its primary series – IndyCar–and is eligible for entering vintage racing series at the same time, having met the criteria of being at least 10 years old — I hope it became obvious to all involved that being the series with the oldest car isn’t something to embrace.
Truth is, Penske could stick with the DW12 for another 10 years, but auto manufacturers have told the series they’d prefer a high-voltage ERS package, and there’s no way to retrofit such a thing to the current car. The low-voltage system that went into the cars last summer fits in a tiny space, and also has serious limitations — due to the lack of free space — on its capabilities.
That’s where a new chassis, with changes to the tub to accommodate the larger ERS package, became necessary.
Q: Penske people have proven they have no imagination and should not be involved in design of the next-gen IndyCar. Leave it to Dallara and the engineers from the current teams, since they are the customers. Also a simple (stupid?) question. How about a windscreen that you can run without the full plexiglass on those hot street/road courses? Fans want to see drivers working the wheel.
Dave, DE
MP: High-speed crashes happen on road and street courses, which means high-speed debris can strike the driver’s head and helmet, which is why the halo has the PPG laminate. I hate the look of the car with the aeroscreen, and that we don’t get to see drivers fighting the car, but that laminate has prevented major strikes on multiple occasions. It’s not going away or being modified to be half of what it is.