Alonso, McLaren, and Indycar

[dren]

Three years ago I was told, at flagstaff, that I wasn't suposed to be there. That happened while asking for directions at a gas station, and the first girl I tried to ask for help ran to her car as soon as she saw me. Like in a zombie movie, but I was only somehow a kind of hipster in pink shorts driving a new Focus and not familiar with U.S octanes standards. No blood on my lips.

The guy that told me that, he couldn't even grasp the fact that somebody from spain could be a tourist. He was refusing to believe "we've got a lot of trouble here", he said. Not unfriendly though, just very, very confused.

So, while the majority of people on my trip through Arizona were über-nice, always asking about my Ducati cap (they were really into caps it seems), MAN, that weird moment at the gas station was quite something and tells something about being "all for immigration as long it's legal".

I mean... yes and no. It's seems to me it's quite an huge country, very variable.

Yeah, it varies where you are. Arizona is probably the size of Spain, and it is one of 50 states! Hats/caps are big in the states, so are sports shoes. Not sure what you'd refer to them as?

Me refering to my cap? "Sun protector". I didn't get you there.

No, do you have a specific name for sneakers. When I was in Madrid most people wore dress style shoes, not things like Nike airs.

[notsofast]

As for the complaint of randomness of the result - results appear more random when equipment is largely standardised. Over time, the better drivers will reveal themselves.

This. With a little luck, a driver may win a race, but a driver won't win a championship based on luck.

With respect to racing, F1 and Indycar Racing are similar in the sense that there's often just one good place to overtake. Even at Indianapolis, there's turn 1 and turn 3, but one of them is usually better depending on the wind direction.

[daren_p]

Alo and Rossi were controlling the race with magnificent, similar pace. Can you see where Rossi ended up? I do not see a reason why Alo should have been much further ahead.

Rossi dropped so far back because of a pit stop issue, Alo also spent much of the race around Sato & where did he end up? IIRC Also was running 7th before the engine failure? If he avoided the accident that happened a few laps after he was out he would have moved up a couple more spots. Who knows what he could have done from there? He could have been fighting for the win, or he could have got taken out in an accident, etc. Because of good ol' Honda, we'll never know....

[dmjunqueira]

I just watched the indy500 race... (first time!)

So let me get this straight:

1.) The challenge of indy500 is the endurance, stressing both driver and the car
2.) strategic element, of various downforce levels that either make for better leading or better at overtaking
3.) fuel strategy - e.g. by following other cars getting tows and thus using less fuel that may come into play by stopping a lap earlier?
4.) Indy500 is probably one of the most dangerous forms of motorsport? (that crash by Dixon )

Even so, the result seems to be a fair bit arbitrary, as the amount of crashes and yellow flags and safety cars meant that some drivers "lucked" into a better strategy than others?

On the other hand, because the race itself is the highlight, not necessarily 'who wins', I suppose there is less hostility among the drivers, compared to say F1 where it's very much a run for the championship. Am I more or less correct or am I way off here?

First time watching an oval race. Got more or less the same impressions too...
It's too aleatory and so, so, so risky!
The entire time I was afraid of an imminent accident!
But overall I enjoyed cheering for Alonso, despite the results.

[Sevach]

I just watched the indy500 race... (first time!)

So let me get this straight:

1.) The challenge of indy500 is the endurance, stressing both driver and the car
2.) strategic element, of various downforce levels that either make for better leading or better at overtaking
3.) fuel strategy - e.g. by following other cars getting tows and thus using less fuel that may come into play by stopping a lap earlier?
4.) Indy500 is probably one of the most dangerous forms of motorsport? (that crash by Dixon )

Even so, the result seems to be a fair bit arbitrary, as the amount of crashes and yellow flags and safety cars meant that some drivers "lucked" into a better strategy than others?

On the other hand, because the race itself is the highlight, not necessarily 'who wins', I suppose there is less hostility among the drivers, compared to say F1 where it's very much a run for the championship. Am I more or less correct or am I way off here?

The first 150 laps are about staying in the pack, there isn't really a fight for track position, after that it's time to rise to the top.
Even in the final 50 laps there's very clear "rules" of position defense that very few drivers cross, they all know that trying to squeeze somebody is putting lifes at risk.

There's less rivalry because there are more race winners, we don't have a season long duel Hamilton/Rosberg or Hamilton/Vettel now.
With that said the Indy 500 is one of the more win or go home races there is, kinda like Le Mans it might be worth more to the average person than winning the Indycar Championship, and nobody cares about the second place.

So yes, there's less general animosity, but everybody cares a lot about this particular race.


If you are outside the top 8 or so you try to play the strategy game to get yourself into the leading pack, Chilton found himself leading near the end of the race after being lower for most of the race, Castroneves had different pit timing early, but once he got himself in the thick of things he started following the herd.

You still have to hold on in the end fight when you "do a Chilton" and find yourself near the top in the end, strategy(usually) is there to put you in the fight not win the fight for you.
If you wanna see a true freak occurrence google Alex Rossi Indy 2016.

The great oval drivers often make a difference in restarts and using the tow, more or less anyone can drive the IMS no problem, Alonso was OK but not great honestly.

That's understandable, because although there have been rookie Indy 500 winners they all had some degree of oval experience.

[WaikeCU]

I just watched the indy500 race... (first time!)

So let me get this straight:

1.) The challenge of indy500 is the endurance, stressing both driver and the car
2.) strategic element, of various downforce levels that either make for better leading or better at overtaking
3.) fuel strategy - e.g. by following other cars getting tows and thus using less fuel that may come into play by stopping a lap earlier?
4.) Indy500 is probably one of the most dangerous forms of motorsport? (that crash by Dixon )

Even so, the result seems to be a fair bit arbitrary, as the amount of crashes and yellow flags and safety cars meant that some drivers "lucked" into a better strategy than others?

On the other hand, because the race itself is the highlight, not necessarily 'who wins', I suppose there is less hostility among the drivers, compared to say F1 where it's very much a run for the championship. Am I more or less correct or am I way off here?

The first 150 laps are about staying in the pack, there isn't really a fight for track position, after that it's time to rise to the top.
Even in the final 50 laps there's very clear "rules" of position defense that very few drivers cross, they all know that trying to squeeze somebody is putting lifes at risk.

There's less rivalry because there are more race winners, we don't have a season long duel Hamilton/Rosberg or Hamilton/Vettel now.
With that said the Indy 500 is one of the more win or go home races there is, kinda like Le Mans it might be worth more to the average person than winning the Indycar Championship, and nobody cares about the second place.

So yes, there's less general animosity, but everybody cares a lot about this particular race.


If you are outside the top 8 or so you try to play the strategy game to get yourself into the leading pack, Chilton found himself leading near the end of the race after being lower for most of the race, Castroneves had different pit timing early, but once he got himself in the thick of things he started following the herd.

You still have to hold on in the end fight when you "do a Chilton" and find yourself near the top in the end, strategy(usually) is there to put you in the fight not win the fight for you.
If you wanna see a true freak occurrence google Alex Rossi Indy 2016.

The great oval drivers often make a difference in restarts and using the tow, more or less anyone can drive the IMS no problem, Alonso was OK but not great honestly.

That's understandable, because although there have been rookie Indy 500 winners they all had some degree of oval experience.

It was actually interesting to hear Fernando that I thought after one of the restarts he dropped a couple of positions to 10th. He wasn't struggling in his point of view, but more or less saving the front tires for the latter stage of the race, but then his engine blew up. So perhaps with relatively fresher front tires he'd maybe could carry more speed into the turns and made his way up the order. Well, we would never know of course.

[Vasconia]

Guys, I dont understand those complains about the race in Monaco. This season the race hasn´t be worse than in the previous(except 2016 due to the always welcome rain) season. Overtaking has always been almost imposible so nothing has changed.

As our opinion about how boring are Monaco GPs, nothing has changed indeed

But I´m not saying Indy was better, IMHO that´s more of a show than a real competition, wich is exactly what many of us don´t like about F1 lately

It was fun to see american way to make a show tough, I specially liked drivers presentation at the pre-race . If F1 owners want to follow that route they should keep an eye on them, as they´re the best making shows by a fair margin IMHO

Yes, Americans are the best if we speak about spectacle. 200 laps on this track should be boring as hell, but they can make a spectacle of it, impressive at least.

[JuanjoTS]

I stay with the previous laps to the first yellow flag, when they started to overtake folded and the ability of ALO , Which was the first, made it to 2 ° further and further, came to have 1.5s of advantage, that in Indy 500 is a world. I agree that it is too random, the first 170 laps only serve to remain on track or leave by accident or break, if not, if the security cars were virtual or respected the differences before the yellow or red flag , Alo would have remained the 1st at a great distance from the 2nd, I refer to the moment before the first yellow flag, ALO was leaving behind the 2nd with incredible ease.

Which is better for the show? That respect the differences between the pilots in each yellow flag or to regroup and someone who was KO in the first 170 laps can opt to victory? Which is fairer? Difficult to answer these questions in my opinion.

[WaikeCU]

Guys, I dont understand those complains about the race in Monaco. This season the race hasn´t be worse than in the previous(except 2016 due to the always welcome rain) season. Overtaking has always been almost imposible so nothing has changed.

As our opinion about how boring are Monaco GPs, nothing has changed indeed

But I´m not saying Indy was better, IMHO that´s more of a show than a real competition, wich is exactly what many of us don´t like about F1 lately

It was fun to see american way to make a show tough, I specially liked drivers presentation at the pre-race . If F1 owners want to follow that route they should keep an eye on them, as they´re the best making shows by a fair margin IMHO

Yes, Americans are the best if we speak about spectacle. 200 laps on this track should be boring as hell, but they can make a spectacle of it, impressive at least.

They've even placed plants on the barrier to dramatize the effect on the sheer speed of the cars flying by. The view itself was exciting to watch. They've even had the helmet cams on couple of cars such as Graham Rahal, that was brilliant as well. I would expect similar things in Monaco next season:

- Helmet cam on a Red Bull or Toro Rosso driver
- In-car feed between Jenson Button and Sky commentators (during SF car period)
- Inside corner cam Mirabeau
- Plants on the inside barrier of the tunnel with cams forward and backwards

[Chanman141]

At least we still know he still has his trademark fast hands https://twitter.com/mariolejandro/statu ... 3674411008

[Sevach]

It was actually interesting to hear Fernando that I thought after one of the restarts he dropped a couple of positions to 10th. He wasn't struggling in his point of view, but more or less saving the front tires for the latter stage of the race, but then his engine blew up. So perhaps with relatively fresher front tires he'd maybe could carry more speed into the turns and made his way up the order. Well, we would never know of course.

When i say he was OK but not great, it's basically because of this, when the going started to get tough i saw him start to drop a little, picking the wrong place in the tow, getting jumped by multiple cars in restarts... It would've been better to get a bigger sample of how he would do in the crunch time but his engine had other plans.

Anyways... Fernando is not coming back empty handed
https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news ... es-912476/

[Mclaren340]

Anyone else notice that Scott Dixon's visor appeared to be opened by the force of his accident. Is that normal? https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news ... h-12971430

[turbof1]

Anyone else notice that Scott Dixon's visor appeared to be opened by the force of his accident. Is that normal? https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news ... h-12971430

That's a good question. From a safety perspective this should have never happened, but you have to consider the violent tossing around of the car. Not very normal at all, but you are dealing with a highly abnormal accident. Given that for instance the force when hitting the fence barrier was enough to rip out the engine, a structural part of the chassis actually, it's not implausible that same force ended up opening the visor.

Speaks volumes about his luck to walk away with merely a slight limp. His eyes were exposed to shark carbon pieces.

[WaikeCU]

It was actually interesting to hear Fernando that I thought after one of the restarts he dropped a couple of positions to 10th. He wasn't struggling in his point of view, but more or less saving the front tires for the latter stage of the race, but then his engine blew up. So perhaps with relatively fresher front tires he'd maybe could carry more speed into the turns and made his way up the order. Well, we would never know of course.

When i say he was OK but not great, it's basically because of this, when the going started to get tough i saw him start to drop a little, picking the wrong place in the tow, getting jumped by multiple cars in restarts... It would've been better to get a bigger sample of how he would do in the crunch time but his engine had other plans.

Anyways... Fernando is not coming back empty handed
https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news ... es-912476/

Well, remembering him dropping back at the restart and then the engine letdown, I wonder if the PU is starting to lose its strength right then. I felt he was kind of following Kanaan around, but never came close enough for an overtake. Probably everyone else started turning up their engines at the latter stages.

Quite old for a rookie right?

[Sevach]

Well, remembering him dropping back at the restart and then the engine letdown, I wonder if the PU is starting to lose its strength right then. I felt he was kind of following Kanaan around, but never came close enough for an overtake. Probably everyone else started turning up their engines at the latter stages.

Quite old for a rookie right?

Hard to tell, the onboard of his engine failure he was trying for an overtake, dropped back weirdly, and as he picked up speed again the engine died.
Kanaan didn't make a whole lot of progress in the end of the race so shadowing him was probably not the best place to be, Sato and Castroneves were already making their way to the front at that point.

And indeed he is