In Formula One land there is a notion that everyone should be grateful to be given the chance to participate in the world’s leading motorsports series. Drivers apparently should drop their lives elsewhere if offered the chance of a seat in the championship even if it means trundling around at the back of the field in a Sauber and being away from home for the majority of the year.

Indycar and Formula One were once intertwined with the globally famous Indianapolis 500 mile race as part of the F1 schedule. Thirteen Formula One drivers have won “the Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” and for those who believe the legendary event is just cars turning left, they have never experienced the eye watering speed hurtle around the famous ‘brickyard’ track just inches from the walls and at  average speeds in excess of 230mph.

In recent decades a Berlin wall style disconnect has arisen between F1 and Indycar, with the odd failed F1 driver transitioning to the series. But now there is a new influx of F1 lesser stars joining the series and on the whole they are welcomed and afforded acclaim for their time in Formula One.

 

 

 

F1 and Indycar were intertwined

However, the transition the other way across the pond remains something of a note in history.

Alexander Rossi and Marcus Ericsson both raced for back of the grid F1 teams and have since gone on to glory winning the Indy500 and the marmite Romain Grosjean also made the transition and despite his meagre results in F1 is now a revered member of the Indycar club.

Yet the winds of change are blowing. McLaren announced in 2021 that it had taken the next step in its full-time return to IndyCar by declaring it had entered into an agreement to acquire a majority share in the Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar team. 

Since then the team have grown from a being a single entry competitor to a fully loaded ‘works’ type team with Indy500 winner Alexander Rossi in the squad alongside multiple race winner Pato O’Ward and rookie Nolan Siegel completing the lineup.

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McLaren now bridging the gap

While McLaren are yet to have a championship winning driver as an accolade, they are fighting with the big boys Andretti, Penske and Chip Ganassi, claiming 11 pole positions and twelve race victories.

In 2022 McLaren made a move for IndyCar champion Alex Palou with the allure it could be a stepping stone to joining the F1 team. Having claimed they had signed a contract with the Spanish driver in Alpine style, it then all went pear shaped for Zak Brown.

Chip Ganassi who Palou was driving for defended their contract with the driver then appearing to go cool on the McLaren offer as they announced the signing of rookie Oscar Piastri as the long term team mate for Lando Norris.

There is now an ongoing lawsuit between McLaren and Palou initially filed to the tune of $23m but which was later reported to have been bumped up by Zak Brown to an eye watering $30m.

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Indycar double champion offered F1 drive

This week reports emerged that Audi were offering Palou the seat they had earmarked for Carlos Sainz which would see the two times IndyCar champion line up alongside Nico Hulkenberg.

However, the Sauber team who will become the full Audi works outfit in 2026 are bottom of the F1 pile at present and are underfunded and muddling their way through a lengthy transition into their future.

The appointment of ex-Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto and Red Bull’s Sporting director, Jonathan Wheatley as team principal, has finally given some credibility to the Audi F1 project which until recently was suspected of never coming to fulfilment.

Yet as the Sauber team’s technical director James Key said earlier this season, even when the Swiss based team isn fully backed by Audi in 2026, he expects the integration to be incomplete until 2027.

Binotto: ‘More heads to roll’

 

 

 

Palou only wants a top F1 team

“There is a lead time to people of course, with garden [leave] periods. So we’re aware of that. We’re certainly not waiting for that, there’s a lot of stuff we can do now without any extra people and so on,” said Key.

“I think ultimately, we’re probably not going to be the final product that we’re aiming for until about ’27 time really, because there is a lot to do.”

This of course is good news for the likes of Nico Hulkenberg and whoever his team mate will be going forward given the expectations on the drivers are minimal and their future in Formula One will be guaranteed by Audi until at least the end of 2026.

Palou has now responded to the alleged Audi offer making it clear he has not interest in joining an ‘also ran’ Fomrula One team. “Some people think that, for example, [Alex] Albon has had a better racing career than me. But I’d rather have two IndyCar titles than no wins in Formula One.

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Third Indycar title on offer

“Obviously we all would have liked to have been in Formula One and seen what we could have done, but we all know I wouldn’t have won two championships. I obviously tried [to join the McLaren organisation]. It didn’t work out… that’s fine.”

At just 27 years of age, Palou is on course for his third Indycar championship this season, a feat only Scott Dixon has bettered amongst the current crop of drivers in the American motorsport series. Alex was a product of the Formula One ladder competing in GP3 and F2 (2017) although his results in the junior formula were ordinary at best.

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F1 feeder series produces multiple Indycar championship winner

His goal at the time was to make it into F1 though now he believes he is better off in Indycar and neither he or Formula One have suffered from his lack of presence in the sport.

“Let’s say it doesn’t hurt. I tried, it didn’t work out and that’s it. I haven’t lost anything. And no, I don’t think Formula One has missed anything as I haven’t missed anything either. I’m incredibly enjoying every day here, winning races and championships,” concluded Palou.

If it is championships that Palou is after then he is on the right track. The Barcelona-born racer has already notched up three wins in 2024 and has a 49-point lead over second-placed Will Power as the pair both battle for a third title.

Binotto “resets” future driver discussions for Audi

 

 

 

Its going to be “very difficult” to help Perez, says Red Bull boss

Sergio Perez is now in his fourth season with Red Bull Racing and tenure with the world champion F1 team has been mixed at best. The Mexican driver claimed his maiden F1 victory during the Covid stricken season when at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix he took the lead from Esteban Ocon with just over 20 laps remaining.

Since his arrival at Red Bull the following season as the replacement for the outgoing Alex Albon, Checo was won five Grand Prix with his first coming at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

This year of course saw the titanic battle between his team mate and Lewis Hamilton for the drivers title which famously was won on the last lap of the last race of the year. While Verstappen was basking in the glory of his first championship, Red Bull lost out to Mercedes in the constructors’ title race that season due to Perez’s inability to match the performances of Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes number two driver… READ MORE