#barbergp

Going into this season, as many as a dozen drivers were considered to be very much in the running for the title this year, yet a lot of people may have overlooked the driver who didn’t just win today, he dominated the race!

Palou shone in his rookie year at Dale Coyne Racing, with many incredible performances, enough to convince Chip to hire him! Whilst we knew he was a true talent, it was expected it would take time for him to bed into the team, instead though he drove his first race with maturity, pace, as well as saving the tyres and fuel he needed. He now must be considered a real threat for the title, given what we saw at the weekend. His weakness will probably be the ovals, but with a relative lack of them this year, it may not hurt him too much!

It wasn’t just Palou who did well in CGR, Dixon got another podium today, still yet to win here, and could have matched Alex’s pace if he wasn’t stuck behind Power. Ericsson also ran well, it looked at one point that the team could sweep the podium, however when Ericsson pitted early to get the undercut, it meant he had to save too much fuel, and dropped back to eighth. With those 3 drivers looking fast, it could be another great year for the team! I probably should mention Jimmie Johnson, as NBC couldn’t stop talking about him! He clearly is taking time to get up to speed, however improvements are there, he said he learnt a lot from the race, so next weekend could be much better for him!

Team Penske had a mixed day, Newgarden did not cover himself in glory today, neither did he help his championship. The error on Lap 1 looked rookie-ish, as he got caught in the wash of other cars, although it is easy for me to say on the outside, and it hurt many other drivers today. Pagenaud was able to improve on his starting spot, yet he still isn’t matching his teammates, and only just beat McLaughlin, who should be very pleased with how the race went despite falling back late on! Power on the other hand had a very good day, using the 2 stop to gain places, and sit in behind Palou, but was unable to match him most of the race.

You have to feel for O’Ward, I do believe he had the fastest car today, although Palou was very close, it was just the choice of strategy that cost him today. You can’t blame the team too much for it, as that strategy looked to be the way to go, it was just one of those things the team has to learn from, which more experienced teams already know. Rosenqvist’s terrible weekend went on, as he got caught up in the Lap 1 crash, at least he has good pace when he can show it.

Bourdais, Veekay and Rahal, all used strategy to their advantage today, as pitting on Lap 11 during the caution, meant they could be on the winning strategy, but didn’t have to save as much fuel, so they were able to climb up into very good positions. AJ Foyt Racing must be especially happy, given the pain of recent years, because even without the good strategy, Bourdais had the pace.

We thought this could be a revival year for Andretti Autosport, and it may still be, but it didn’t start off very well. Effectively losing two cars in the first lap crash was very damaging for their title hopes, however that is what happens when you qualify in the mid pack, as Herta and Hunter-Reay did. After that, Rossi was the teams hope for the race, but the car just didn’t have the pace, as he couldn’t stay with O’Ward on the same strategy, and barely stayed in the top 10, so the DNF for his teammates didn’t hurt them too much then, given they wouldn’t have finished that well anyway. The decision to follow O’Ward in on the same lap to do a 3 stop was weird, as they were hoping to jump him, so why should you copy him?

A close second to Palou for driver of the day is Grosjean, who battled hard and was able to stay in the top 10 at the end of the race, and it wasn’t like he was holding cars up at all. His prowess in open wheel cars is clear to see, and I cannot wait to see what he can do as he gets more comfortable in the car, and with the team!

Having waited so long for the season to start, the season will now be coming thick and fast, in the run up to the Indy 500. St Petersburg should bring us our fair share of chaos, on a tight street circuit, with no margin for error. Andretti and Penske were good there to end last year, so can they stop the momentum of CGR?

Following the usual tremendously long winter break, racing has returned for the IndyCar series, bringing with it an incredible line up of drivers. With stars of the sport in new places, and stars of other racing series, trying their hand at the top open wheel series in America!

Throughout testing it was O’Ward on top, carrying the momentum from last year, where the Arrow McLaren SP team became a real front runner, only just missing out on multiple wins! So, it is not a surprise really to see him on pole, even though he had to fight hard to get it! Patricio has been a star ever since he first joined the sport, and unless things take a dramatic turn, he will be in the title fight for sure this year! Rosenqvist, who had moved to the squad from Chip Ganassi, had the pace for the top 6, but spun off and lost his best time, however he could still be a factor today in the race, if they use strategy right!

Off the back of one of their worst seasons in a long time, Andretti Autosport are starting this year on the right foot, whilst Hinchcliffe binned it early on in qualifying, ruining his weekend, Herta and especially Rossi are quick, so could be the biggest threat to Pato in the race. These road and street circuits may be the strength of those two drivers, which bodes well given the lack of ovals this year! Rossi himself is driving angry I believe, after a horrible 2020, so anyone in his way better watch out, as he should be another title contender!

Chip Ganassi Racing will be the other main threat in the race, I don’t think much needs to be said about Dixon, as it has already likely been said. Given he normally isn’t a great qualifier, P5 may be the perfect place to finally break his record of 2nd places at this track! If there were any doubts as to why Chip hired Palou to join his team after just one season, they were dispelled today, he topped the practice session earlier in the day, and just missed out on pole. I can’t wait to see how he will perform this year! Ericsson has also started the year well, although having been beaten by the younger teammate today, he will need to up his game to show his worth in the squad! This year is going to be tough for Johnson, who is clearly still trying to get used to open wheel cars, we can see there is progress at least, so there may be more to come in the future.

Team Penske have a good track record around this place, especially with Newgarden, so having no one in the top three, shows the level of talent in the sport. You should always be wary of that team though, they know what they are doing, so could have saved something for the race. Power and Newgarden are in a position to capitalise on opportunities, through incidents or strategy. Pagenaud is the driver under threat this year I feel, since he won the 2019 Indy 500, we have only seen the odd glimpse of pace, such as his win from last at Iowa. That isn’t good enough for Penske, with Power and Newgarden always near the front, and even McLaughlin beating him yesterday, he needs to find a fix soon! Scott himself was brilliant, getting used to open wheel cars very quickly, with time he could be a star of the sport!

Grosjean may be my driver of qualifying today, bearing in mind not only is this his first time racing in America let alone IndyCar, it is also his first competitive outing since the horrifying crash at Bahrain, his performance was staggering. It just shows how good a driver he is, despite his reputation in F1, and suggests he could go far in this sport. I do think he could win at least one race this year. Daly was another to impress, getting in the top ten on a track he isn’t comfortable on. Could this be the year we see a breakthrough drive from Conor?

Looking at the more disappointing performances from Saturday, Jones should be worried that his rookie teammate beat him first time out, Ed does have skill, as we saw back in 2017, I am just worried he will be outshone at Dale Coyne. AJ Foyt were hoping to have a bit of a revival, with the addition of Bourdais to the squad, however so far we aren’t seeing any fruits of that, it may take time, although in a sport as cut throat as this, time is limited. Finally, RLL could be the most disappointing of all, having won here back in 2019, the last time we raced here. They just seemed to have no pace, so it could be track specific, they better hope so at least. We know that Indy will be their strongest chance, has it come at the cost of road and street courses?

Arrow McLaren SP, Andretti Autosport and Chip Ganassi Racing are the ones on form at Barber, and will likely make up the podium positions in the race, that being said, something crazy always happens in IndyCar, so don’t get too complacent!