Will more drivers make the switch from F1 to IndyCar?
By: Andy Young | 9 March 2016
Alexander Rossi’s recent decision to switch from Formula 1 to IndyCar for 2016 may have been born out of necessity, but such a move is nothing new. For many decades, drivers have switched between Formula 1 and America - some with limited success; others have managed to go all the way to the top.
F1 is considered by many to be in a state of crisis at the moment. Even F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone said that the sport is the worst it has even been in a recent interview, making a potential switch to IndyCar look exceptionally inviting.
With former Marussia/Manor racers Max Chilton and Rossi the latest to complete such a switch, joining Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport respectively, Grand Prix Times’ Andy Young weighs up the pros and cons of crossing the pond to IndyCar.
When you think about drivers who have switched from F1 to IndyCar, names such as Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell and, more recently, Takuma Sato tend to crop up.
Admittedly only very few drivers have successfully managed to master both F1 and IndyCar, so why would one consider such a move?
One of the biggest pros that will have undoubtedly made the likes of Chilton and Rossi consider the switch is the relatively equal playing field in IndyCar, particularly in comparison to that of F1.
The pecking order in F1 has not only become exceptionally predictable, but it is also virtually impossible for midfield and smaller teams to taste any form of success - to the point where scoring a point is equivalent to winning a race for the likes of Manor.
In IndyCar, that predictability still exists to a certain extent. The likes of Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport are still considered to be the big boys of the paddock.
However, one quick glance at the last two seasons’ worth of team winners paints a different picture. A whopping nine different teams have won an IndyCar race since the start of the 2014 season - a stark comparison to that of F1 where only Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull have won races in the same period.
Admittedly this all boils down to the fact that the cars in the IndyCar field are all practically identical, save for only the manufacturer’s engine and the aero kits provided by them.
Apart from that, the chassis and tyres are identical between all the cars on the grid, with Dallara and Firestone supplying the respective parts above.
This extra feeling of competitiveness could naturally lead to success for a potential F1 refugee during even his first season in IndyCar, with drivers such as Carlos Munoz finishing second on his debut at the 2013 Indianapolis 500 before finishing third on three occasions during his first full season a year later.
However, when it comes to success from the word go for an ex-F1 driver in IndyCar, one will find it hard to look beyond Nigel Mansell’s debut season in American open-wheel racing with Newman/Haas Racing in 1993.
The reigning F1 champion not only won his first race at Surfers Paradise in Australia, but then returned to victory lane a further four times en route to becoming champion.
This potential for F1 drivers to switch to IndyCar and taste relative success from the word go also has another plus, one which could theoretically enable them to return to F1 soon after.
Picture an F1 driver who has competed either in the midfield or towards the rear of the pecking order for several seasons, and is understandably disheartened by producing superb drives yet yielding no real sense of achievement as their machinery is unable to allow them to score points or podiums.
That driver could then secure a drive with an IndyCar team such as Chip Ganassi Racing, Andretti Autosport or Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for either a full season or a handful of races. If that driver in question has a core competitiveness, there is a chance that it could enable him to secure podiums, pole positions or even race victories.
Not only would that driver then feel a sense of achievement and success at last, but he could also begin to turn the heads of team principals elsewhere, particularly if he manages to adapt to oval racing without too much of a challenge.
The driver could then use his success in IndyCar to wager a return to F1 if he so desired, potentially allowing him to secure a drive further up the grid than before.
The driver has not wasted countless seasons struggling towards the rear of the order, constantly being lapped by the same old faces in the same old cars. Instead he has hopped across the pond to show what he can do in relatively equal machinery, in a series which is undoubtedly experiencing a boom from every angle.
Unfortunately there is not an example of this to look back upon just yet,. That said, Chilton has already refused to rule out a return to F1, stating that should his time in IndyCar enable him to secure a more competitive drive then he would consider it. Rossi is also likely to be linked with F1 drives in the future, particularly at the American Haas team.
Another reason drivers may look upon IndyCar as a brighter alternative to F1 is the laid back approach to competing in other categories of motorsport. Already this season we have seen Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Ryan Hunter-Reay and many others compete in the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Although Nico Hulkenberg managed to compete in and win the 24 Hours of Le Mans last season, it is also widely known that F1 drivers wishing to compete in other motorsport races are usually discouraged or even prevented from doing so by their teams.
Meanwhile in IndyCar many drivers have been able to do so while remaining in IndyCar. These include Takuma Sato, who has competed in WEC, Formula Nippon and Super Formula, Tony Kanaan, who has competed in the American Le Mans Series, Formula Nippon and Stock Car Brasil, and Helio Castroneves who has also competed in the American Le Mans Series along with V8 Supercar and Stock Car Brasil.
Despite the many positives that could lure drivers from F1 to IndyCar listed above, there are also several cons to consider.
One of the first and probably the biggest is the variation in driving style, most notably on ovals. Apart from NASCAR - which has a calendar consisting of only two road courses - IndyCar is synonymous with oval racing, despite a decline of the amount of ovals on the calendar in recent years.
Whilst some look at ovals with a jeering manner, stating that it is simply going round in circles and therefore should be much more easier than 44 gruelling laps around Spa-Francorchamps, it is evidently far less simple than that.
One need only take a brief look at YouTube to see just how dangerous oval racing can be, with one minor mistake resulting in a multi-car accident and even serious injury.
Take Kenny Brack’s horrendous shunt at Texas way back in 2003 as an example of the fine line in oval racing between running side-by-side with another competitor and finding yourself pulling in excess of 200G after being launched into the catch-fencing.
In the last 16 years only a handful of drivers have won on ovals after competing in F1, namely Juan Pablo Montoya and Sebastien Bourdais, both of whom had ample oval experience before joining F1.
Only the late Justin Wilson, Max Papis and Christian Fittipaldi have also done so, with Wilson winning at Texas in 2012, Papis at Homestead-Miami in 2000 and Fittipaldi at Fontana also in 2000.
As the stats above clearly indicate, former F1 drivers find it difficult to succeed on ovals. In the same timeframe as above, 33 drivers from F1 have competed in at least one IndyCar/ChampCar/CART race but only five have managed to reach victory lane on ovals, two of them after beginning their senior open-wheel careers in ChampCar/CART.
Whilst some F1 drivers may view oval racing as a challenge to overcome, others may be put off entirely by another factor altogether - that being the venues that IndyCar visits and the strong American fan base that follows the sport.
During a standard F1 season, a driver will usually visit up to 18 to 19 different nations, therefore broadening his potential fan base immensely. One weekend he will be competing in Australia, before jetting off to the likes of Malaysia, China and Bahrain before returning to Europe.
In IndyCar it is an entirely different kettle of fish, with the 2016 season alone only including one non-American race in Canada in July. The remaining 15 races will all take place on American soil, in front of a high number of American fans.
Although IndyCar has a vast variation of nationalities when it comes to competitors, there’s no denying that the inability for European drivers to compete in front of their own fans could be a turn off.
Despite the relatively non-existent races overseas, IndyCar/ChampCar/CART has visited European venues in the past, most notably the Lausitzring in Germany and Rockingham and Brands Hatch in the United Kingdom.
ChampCar/CART in particular had a strong international calendar, featuring races in Australia, Mexico, Belgium, Holland, Japan and Brazil.
In IndyCar’s defence, a race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico is being planned, but it looks likely that event will have to wait until 2017 before it returns to the calendar.
Despite the lack of races outside of the United States and Canada, the number of international drivers certainly does not seem to be affected. This season alone 10 different nationalities are set to line-up on the IndyCar grid, in comparison to 13 different nationalities on the F1 grid.
For some drivers the fact that F1 is still considered to be the pinnacle of motorsport would be a major reason for them to stay in the sport, with crown jewel races at venues such as Monte-Carlo, Spa-Francorchamps, Silverstone and Monza still on the calendar.
Admittedly IndyCar has its own crown jewel races such as the Indianapolis 500, the Grand Prix of Long Beach and Pocono, but it still fails to match the prestige of Monaco or Silverstone.
Take for instance a casual sports fan who will happily watch the world’s biggest sporting events, such as the World Cup, Summer and Winter Olympics, Wimbledon, The Masters at Augusta and the FA Cup. That same fan will undoubtedly be drawn into the sheer prestige of the Monaco Grand Prix, a race on a track which has hardly changed in decades.
That same fan may also be drawn into the Indianapolis 500, however after the month of May IndyCar will fade away for the causal sports fan, whilst Formula 1 will manage to bring the casual fan back once again around July for the British Grand Prix and August for the Belgian Grand Prix, as these races are historically regarded as unmissable events.
The same feeling of prestige fails to gather momentum worldwide for any other IndyCar event except for the Grand Prix of Long Beach or maybe the likes of Pocono or Fontana, which recently made up the Triple Crown of 500-mile races along with the Indianapolis 500.
Incidentally the same “curse” befalls the World Endurance Championship, with the 24 Hours of Le Mans regarded by many as probably the most prestigious race of them all. However, the other endurance races throughout the season, such as the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps or the 6 Hours of Silverstone, fail to attract the same kind of attention. The WEC does still manage to pull in a strong amount of ex-F1 drivers though, most notably for 2016 Mark Webber, Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro Lamy.
Overall the debate between F1 and IndyCar seems to be eternal, with some fans divided down the middle and sharing their love for both categories. Some simply cannot fathom out the attraction of oval racing, whilst some in America simply aren't interested in extending an arm to F1 and remain exceptionally loyal to IndyCar and even more so to NASCAR.
Should an F1 driver switch to IndyCar? In my humble opinion, I believe leaving F1 for IndyCar is a good thing, particularly for those drivers stuck in the midfield section of the F1 grid. Drivers such as Nico Hulkenberg, Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado would all fit well into the IndyCar grid, and would most definitely become race winners or even championship contenders over time.
For the more successful drivers from F1, jumping to IndyCar could have a negative impact on their careers. For instance if Lewis Hamilton suddenly shocked the sporting world by retiring after 2016 and joining Team Penske for 2017, the pressure on his shoulders to perform well would be overwhelming.
Take Dario Franchitti as a classic example. After securing the IndyCar crown in 2007, Franchitti decided to leave the sport and try his hand in NASCAR in both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series.
In the more prestigious Sprint Cup series, Franchitti could only manage a personal best of 22nd at Martinsville before sustaining a fractured left ankle during a heavy shunt at Talladega. Although he continued sporadically in the Nationwide series for the remainder of the season, securing pole and finishing 5th at Watkins Glen, Franchitti soon returned to IndyCar.
The same could well befall the likes of Hamilton, Alonso, Button or Vettel should they choose to switch to IndyCar. Their success in F1 would immediately be expected to be reciprocated by their fans and peers alike, and should they fail to succeed then their credibility would be shattered.
Similar circumstances have appeared in reverse, with Cristiano da Matta and Sebastien Bourdais being classic examples of IndyCar drivers who have acquired success before joining F1 and struggling immensely.
However, should F1 continue its gradual decline with more iconic venues being put under pressure or dropped altogether and an emphasis on pay drivers over skill, then IndyCar could seem like a more attractive option for many drivers.
Already we have seen GP2 and GP3 drivers make such a switch before even tasting F1, with Josef Newgarden and Conor Daly classic examples.
If INDYCAR play their cards right, then the popularity of the series could well continue to blossom and attract even more talent from around the world.
http://www.grandprixtimes.com/news/id/11483
Definitely agree with many points raised in it especially the fact that it gets less recognition due to the lack of races outside of America. Similar to why the NFL took so long to take hold elsewhere but now has massive popularity with the advent of games outside its own borders particularly here in the UK.
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