Q: Just saw Chris Medland’s article about Miami having additional track layouts now. Does IndyCar have any interest? And we all know that it’s about sponsorship money, but I was curious if this is an area where Indycar is somewhat more inclined to seek sponsorship? Also, does F1 have any clause preventing another open-wheel series from hosting any event at the track as part of the F1 race contract (outside of F1-affiliated series’).
Tom, Greenwood, SC
MP: I sure hope not regarding IndyCar looking at being a distant second to the huge draw of F1 at Miami. It has nothing to do with sponsorship. IndyCar went to COTA and it was an embarrassment; nobody showed up to watch. That lesson has been learned. Don’t play with F1 on the tracks it dominates. Not unless you want to look like an absolute failure.
CM: In terms of on the support card to F1, that does need F1 approval as the hosting contract is with F1 for that weekend. It’s not something that specifically blocks another series from racing, but it’s usually the commercial elements that would stop that happening.
Contracts would prevent certain sponsors being placed trackside, non-F1 broadcasters showing the event during that weekend – that sort of thing – that logistically just wouldn’t make it possible to run a commercially viable support race in some circumstances.
Q: Do you know if Adrian Newey has been completely removed from the Red Bull Racing side since his decision to leave?
I know Red Bull keeps saying how their engineering side is strong and will not miss a beat, but it seems more than coincidental that this is the first time in many, many years that the chassis development has stagnated relative to some other teams.
Ed Kelly
CM: He has been removed from car development, yes, although he still was due to attend certain races in a trackside capacity to help with execution during race weekends. He’s also focusing on delivery of the RB17 Hypercar that was unveiled at Goodwood earlier this year.
I totally agree with you, Ed. Christian Horner has regularly referenced the fact that the problems being faced now are inherent traits in the car since 2022, and while that is likely to be the case — and therefore something that Newey worked on at the time — you’d imagine the team would be better off with his input into how to rectify those issues than not.
Q: When the NASCAR Xfinity Series deal with The CW network was announced, it was stated that the races would be live on the CW platform. However, that’s not happening. They’re released the next day. Are there plans for the Xfinity race to be live on CW’s streaming app, like other sports? The streaming app is the only way I can get The CW. (Due to the location of my home I can’t get antenna TV programs, and I currently don’t subscribe to other services which carry it).
Kevin, Pennsylvania
KELLY CRANDALL: The CW Network ended up taking over the final eight races of this season as it prepares for the 2025 season. Right now, the races air live on broadcast and, as you stated, then become available the next day on the app. However, when the deal with NASCAR was originally announced for the 2025-31 seasons, NASCAR released a “what you need to know” sheet and said that beginning in 20245, all 33 races will air live on The CW Network and the CW App, as will the majority of practice and qualifying sessions. So, my expectation is that when The CW has fully integrated itself next year there will be additional ways to consume the product.
THE FINAL WORD
From Robin Miller’s Mailbag, October 2, 2013
Q: Why are you so gung-ho for bringing back the apron at IMS? If I remember correctly, it was taken out for safety reasons to lessen the angle of impact on common spins. In my opinion, this is a better reason to not have the apron than any reason I have seen to bring it back. Do we need more passing? Sixty-eight lead changes last year was borderline ridiculous. You always talk about wanting drivers to have more of a challenge, but you want them to have an extra lane to cut the corners short? I don’t get it.
Since the apron did allow drivers to cut the corner a little short, I believe it was an artificial inflator of lap times/speed. I’ve never heard/read anyone else mention this, but it had to be a factor. This is another reason I’d rather see the warm-up lanes stay and the apron stay away. Could you ask around and see what engineers and/or Donald Davidson think about this?
Kyle Jenkins, Shiloh, IL
ROBIN MILLER: Go watch a YouTube clip of Michael Andretti and Rick Mears, Bill Vukovich and Jack McGrath or Lloyd Ruby and Mario and tell me why you wouldn’t want the apron. It gave drivers another groove and an escape route from a badly pushing car (ask Gordon Johncock about those final 10 laps in 1982). It could also help pump a little life into the Brickyard 400. I don’t care what engineers think, I know what I saw and it was all good. As for the angle of crashes, etc. well that was before the SAFER Barrier and before they got rid of those IRL 500-pound gearbox battering rams.