In the round-up: Qualifying for the first IndyCar race of 2021 was almost curtailed by power blackouts at Barber Motorsports Park, but it went ahead in thrilling style.
In brief
O’Ward claims second pole, Grosjean starts seventh on debut
The 2021 IndyCar season got underway at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday with the day split by a major power outage between the two practice sessions and qualifying.Qualifying in IndyCar is split into two groups of drivers at first, and Ganassi’s Alex Palou set a new track record in group one while team mate and seven-times NASCAR Cup series champion Jimmie Johnson avoided starting last for his IndyCar debut by outpacing Dalton Kellett.
The second group was interrupted by a crash for Andretti Autosport’s James Hinchcliffe, who skated through the gravel and caused the session to be red flagged when he got stuck in the barriers, and only a few minutes remained when the session restarted. The lap times tumbled once the drivers were back on track, and McLaren SP’s Patricio O’Ward went fastest despite almost flying off track at the end of his fastest lap. In second place was Coyne/Rick Ware debutant Romain Grosjean who was celebrating his 35th birthday and racing comeback.
A spin for O’Ward’s team mate Felix Rosenqvist at the end meant his best lap was removed, and promoted Andretti’s Colton Herta into sixth place and enabled him to progress to the next stage of qualifying.
Ganassi’s Marcus Ericsson and fellow ex-F1 driver Grosjean both briefly went fastest in the final two minutes, with Grosjean then returning to the top with one minute to go. His decision to pit after that meant he couldn’t respond to the drivers improving around him, and he was shuffled out of the progression spots to the Fast Six session as O’Ward went fastest again.
O’Ward carried that confidence into the pole-deciding Fast Six, setting a 1’05.848 that couldn’t be matched and meaning he starts the opening race of the season from the first place grid spot. Practice pacesetter Alexander Rossi got within two tenths for Andretti, while Palou and Penske’s Will Power will fill the second row of the grid.
Scott Dixon and Ericsson fill an all-Ganassi third row, with Grosjean lining up in seventh for his first IndyCar race later today.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Lewis claims pole at Imola, Valtteri eighth (Mercedes)
Valtteri Bottas: "Q3 first run, I went into turn two and had a really sudden snap from the rear end and I lost a lot of time. The same in run two, I couldn’t trust the rear end. That isn’t something I felt in Q1 or Q2 so it’s difficult to understand - we will have to investigate."
Lundqvist victorious on the return of Indy Lights in Alabama (Indy Lights)
Sweden’s Linus Lundqvist this afternoon claimed an emphatic victory for the Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports team as Indy Lights made its eagerly anticipated return following a one-year hiatus, and with drama from the off as two of the title favourites collided.
Indy Lights drops use of push-to-pass on return to ensure parity (Formula Scout)
The system provides an additional 50 horsepower from the Dallara IL-15 car’s turbocharged 2.0-liter straight-four engine that can be deployed when within one second of the driver ahead, and was trialled in practice. Glitches were found that could have provided one driver with an unfair advantage, so championship operator Andersen Promotions opted against its use to ensure parity across the grid.
Imola race one report: Vidales wins ahead of Quinn and David (FRECA)
Three drivers of three different teams conquer the podium in the first race of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine. It is the Spaniard David Vidales of Prema Powerteam to win the race after starting from pole and keeping the first position all the way, despite two restarts after safety cars.
Scott Dixon seeks motorsports milestone seventh championship (Miami Herald)
The Iceman isn't ready to pass the torch anytime soon. Dixon begins his 21st season in IndyCar with Sunday's season-opening race at Barber Motorsports Park in pursuit of Foyt's all-time marks. The six-times champion needs just one more title to tie Foyt's record of seven and his 50 career victories trail only Foyt (67) and Mario Andretti (52) in the record books.
Emil Frey Racing, team of Williams F1 reserve Jack Aitken, scored maximum real-world teams Championship points in the opening round of 2021’s Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series this evening at Monza where Arthur Rougier (Lamborghini) overcame Dani Juncadella (AKKA ASP, Mercedes-AMG) in the virtual 60-minute sprint race.
Indy Pro 2000 round 1: Barber Motorsport Park (Indy Pro 2000 via YouTube)
USF2000 round 1: Barber Motorsport Park (USF2000 via YouTube)
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
The closest qualifying between the top eight since 2012 🤯
Lights out can't come quick enough 🤩#ImolaGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/pMoBUkiERM
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 17, 2021
Let's just soak in this moment.💭😌#RoadToIndy | #TeamCooperTire | #HIGPA pic.twitter.com/Hs3NuwFMyX
— USF Pro 2000 (@USFPro2000) April 17, 2021
|@PatricioOWard runs wide, kicks up a ton of dust, keeps his foot in and goes quickest in @IndyCar qualifying. Time not disallowed. Then his team mate @FRosenqvist gets stuck in a gravel trap.@IndyCar knows how to do track limits. @F1 please take note.#IndyCar #F1
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) April 17, 2021
Power is out at @BarberMotorPark so we're on an indefinite hold for the start of the second @USF2000 race.
— USF Pro Insider (@USFProInsider) April 17, 2021
Saturday smiles ☺️pic.twitter.com/vkmCToGhDT
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) April 17, 2021
https://www.instagram.com/p/CNx_xdABvrj/
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
The lap times from practice didn’t make it clear who would be favourite for pole in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, and each segment of qualifying offered a different respective as Mercedes and Red Bull used different strategies. In the end Lewis Hamilton came out on top, just ahead of Red Bull duo Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, while Hamilton’s Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas was only sixth. David BR summarised how there is a lot to think about the result in the top positions alone.
A load of takeaways from this qualifying session, Perez beating Verstappen being the primary one. That must be a real wakeup call for Max, it pushes Perez into Ricciardo territory in terms of team mate threat for him. Undoubtedly Max showed more pace overall, but this is what a real championship battle looks like. He should have nailed pole on a track where overtaking is tricky. He needs a good start tomorrow, though Hamilton is exposed by the woeful performance of Bottas.
David BR
Happy birthday!
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On this day in F1
- 50 years ago today Tyrrell scored their first victory with their own car, Jackie Stewart triumphing at Montjuich Park ahead of Jacky Ickx, who he passed on lap six
Tristan (@skipgamer)
18th April 2021, 2:05
I don’t know why everyone is romanticising Norris’s lap or being upset it got deleted. He didn’t set that time, if they could have gravel surrounding the track he wouldn’t have set that time. They can’t for safety reasons so it is what it is. The commentators and everyone acting like he got robbed some how, well no, he wasn’t as quick and went off. Simple, if there was a wall or gravel there it would have been a lot worse.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
18th April 2021, 2:58
The thing is norris was very competitive even in his q2 lap and he didn’t go wide then!
Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
18th April 2021, 4:49
@skipgamer @esploratore
I’m glad to see so many bemoan the deletion of Norris’ time. It gives me hope that many F1 fans still consider track limits denoted by white lines—which so many have advocated as the easy, simple solution—to be, at a fundamental level, deeply unsatisfying. There is no joy for me in watching the world’s best drivers in the world’s fastest cars compete to see who can most precisely keep their tyre in contact with a white line—not when other open-wheeled series shows that similar cars can indeed safely race on tracks whose limits police themselves, right up against gravel and grass that punish but do not unduly endanger. I find the comparison to Barber especially intriguing, since that circuit was never designed for cars at all, but rather for motorcycles—and we are told so often that tarmac runoff is there for motorcycle racing.
Yes, this weekend at Imola, it is what it is, and there’s no getting around it. But perhaps in the future, it will not be. Maybe in the future, F1 cars and tracks will be built so that white lines are not necessary. At least, I certainly hope so.
SHR Modding
18th April 2021, 5:43
I never got the impression they were advocating for his lap to be kept despite the rule. Norris himself said the rules are the rules. My understanding of this was that they felt it was a shame he made the mistake. Had he kept it within the lines it still probably would have been good enough for third. No one was angry at the rules being inforced. They were just sad that he made the mistake. Because who doesn’t want a mclaren on the 2nd row?
Jere (@jerejj)
18th April 2021, 6:39
@skipgamer @markzastrow @esploratore
Full gravel traps are unneeded. Only a piece of gravel, grass, or something else, like 2 m wide besides curbing, is enough to guarantee that going off is slower than staying on track.
Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
18th April 2021, 7:07
@jerejj Only if all you want is to make it slower to go off track. Watching IndyCar qualifying today reminded me that how much more satisfying it is to watch drivers on the limit when a mistake can end their session (safely in gravel), not simply run onto tarmac and rejoin.
Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
18th April 2021, 7:29
@jerejj But I should say, I fully agree with your point, that a strip of grass would at least make white lines unnecessary and would certainly be a vast improvement at most corners without the more extensive modification of a full gravel trap.
ColdFly (@)
18th April 2021, 7:40
Wouldn’t that be a bit harsh on Norris to disqualify him from this session just because he left the track? :P
Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
18th April 2021, 10:23
@skipgamer
I couldn’t agree more. Norris wasn’t even close of being on the white line in turn 9. Norris himself admitted it was a mistake which cost him three places on the grid and he was very downbeat.
Had he given it a little bit more margin there, he would’ve easily put his car on the 2nd row. Now it makes life much harder for him in the race.
John H (@john-h)
18th April 2021, 11:37
Running a tiny bit wide gained him hardly anything. They are romanticising the lap because *had he* nailed that corner a McLaren would have been almost as fast as a Mercedes, I don’t know why that wouldn’t be big news to be honest @skipgamer.
Kudos to Danny RIC though, he picked up his game in Q3 for sure.
Balue (@balue)
18th April 2021, 12:07
@john-h Yes, such an obvious point that I don’t really understand the original argument.
This showing by McLaren is one of the most exciting things to happen in F1 for a long time IMO. Together with Red Bull’s form it could be a great future ahead, but as is typical F1, there will soon be a rules upheaval to annul all that..
LMB-F1 (@luis)
18th April 2021, 2:12
Tomorrow could be a good day for Mexico, Pato O´Ward starting from pole and Checo starting from P2, both are great drivers, hopefully everything goes well for them in the race, success for them.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
18th April 2021, 2:59
Good job grosjean, he wasn’t a terrible f1 driver, he had some speed and ended up being frustrated due to almost never having a competitive car, on paper indycar is easier and a driver like him can certainly win races, again, sato did.
Don
18th April 2021, 4:32
Romain did a fantastic job in a very exciting qualifying! He’s always been fast, just been stuck in poor equipment at Haas.
Palindnilap (@palindnilap)
18th April 2021, 8:56
Agreed, this is an impressive debut, and at a brutal track as well.
John H (@john-h)
18th April 2021, 11:40
Grosjean wasn’t just stuck at Haas, he had years in the midfield getting mixed results (some great drives and some really poor ones, often being a safety hazard).
GeeMac (@geemac)
18th April 2021, 6:15
@esploratore You clearly didn’t watch the 2013 or 2016 seasons if you think Grosjean was a terrible driver.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
18th April 2021, 13:14
I would say 2013 and 2015 were his best seasons. In 2016, he was excellent in the first two races but was often outpaced by Gutierrez after that. In 2015, he was consistently good, almost always beating Maldonado (who was a very quick driver, even if he was incident-prone), and even took that brilliant podium in Spa.
TFLB (@tflb)
18th April 2021, 6:55
@geemac try reading his comment again…
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
18th April 2021, 4:05
O’Ward is going to be very hard to beat this year. Car and driver look the total package.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
18th April 2021, 5:09
short field spread overall but the lap time is very short as well. Considering testing last year and winter testing this year it looks like the new tyres are the main factor for the tighter field. Hopefully nobody gets on top of this tyre or finds any reason to get it replaced.
Jere (@jerejj)
18th April 2021, 6:34
The last link takes to the Forum.
Balue (@balue)
18th April 2021, 12:14
Keith’s point about Indycar laissez-faire track limits is what I believe Wolff also is for, but that’s too much IMO.
But something has to be done as last race was a joke, and this time to say some chicanes was white line and others was the painted kerb, with endless deletion of laps is almost a farce.