Romain Grosjean has committed to a multi-year deal with Andretti Autosport that will see the 35-year-old remain in the NTT IndyCar Series for the foreseeable future.

As RACER has reported since July, Grosjean’s been the most coveted free agent in the series. Despite proclamations and posturing elsewhere that suggested he was not destined for the team owned by 1991 CART IndyCar Series champion Michael Andretti, the securing of Grosjean’s services has been in the works for quite some time.

“I’m delighted to be joining Andretti Autosport and driving the No. 28 DHL Honda for next season,” said Grosjean. “It’s a big honor to be joining such a great team as Andretti – anyone in the motorsport world knows the name Andretti. I’m super happy and proud to be racing with the team. I’m also very proud to be representing with DHL. I’ve known the DHL colors on racing cars for a very long time. I couldn’t be more proud to represent such a great company in IndyCar. I’m hoping that we are going to be very successful together, which is our aim on every side.

“I would like also to thank Dale Coyne Racing for giving me the opportunity to join IndyCar. I’ve enjoyed the racing so much and it’s given me the chance today to be racing with one of the most competitive and best teams in the world.”

Grosjean will step into the entry currently driven by Ryan Hunter-Reay, joining Colton Herta and Alexander Rossi as a powerful new trio tasked with earning the team’s first championship since Hunter-Reay was crowned in 2012. The outgoing Hunter-Reay is exploring multiple options to remain in IndyCar.

Although he was not part of the Grosjean confirmation, Canada’s Devlin DeFrancesco – a member of Andretti’s Indy Lights team – is set to complete their IndyCar effort next season in a multi-year deal of his own to campaign the entry currently piloted by Hinchcliffe.

Like Hunter-Reay, Hinchcliffe is not a part of Andretti’s IndyCar plans beyond this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

“We are thrilled to welcome Romain to the Andretti Autosport family,” said team CEO and Chairman Michael Andretti. “He already had an impressive resume before coming to IndyCar, and watching what he’s been able to do in his rookie season here has been exciting to say the least. His vast motorsport experience will be beneficial to the team alongside our already-strong 2022 driver lineup. We also couldn’t be more excited to continue our strong partnership with DHL. The DHL sponsorship is one of the longest and most successful in the paddock, and we look forward to continued success on and off the track.”

Grosjean departs Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, which gave the Swiss-born Frenchman a new chapter to explore in America after spending the entirety of his career in European open-wheel competition. With 10 years of Formula 1 experience to build upon, Grosjean was instantly effective with the modestly-sized Coyne team, producing three podiums and a pole position so far in 2021.

Through its youngest drivers, the Andretti team has earned third-place finishes in the championship in 2019 (Rossi) and 2020 (Herta), and generated five wins, but as a whole, the four-car operation has been a step behind IndyCar champions and rivals Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing, who’ve taken the last eight titles in a row.

Although three Indianapolis 500 wins since 2014 have tempered the ongoing championship losses to Penske and CGR, Grosjean’s acquisition comes at a time when Andretti Autosport – long hailed as one of IndyCar’s “Big 3” teams – is under threat from Arrow McLaren SP to maintain its place within the leading trio. Through the infusion of Grosjean’s technical, procedural, and operational knowledge gained in F1, the potential exists for Andretti Autosport to incorporate the veteran’s on- and off-track skill and return next season in a stronger competitive position.

Separate from the agreement with the Honda-powered Andretti team, Grosjean is tipped to join the manufacturer’s stable for January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona with the defending race winners at Wayne Taylor Racing the No. 10 Acura ARX-05 DPi.

Could Toyota make its return to compete in the NTT IndyCar Series when the open-wheel championship shifts to new hybrid engines?

Ongoing rumors have positioned the Japanese brand that won the 2002 CART title with Cristiano da Matta and 2003 Indianapolis 500 with Gil de Ferran as having an interest in joining the fight with Chevy and Honda when the series moves to 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6 engine format utilizing kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS).

Adding to the intrigue, French IndyCar commentators mentioned the possibility of Toyota joining IndyCar during Sunday’s broadcast of the Long Beach Grand Prix, which took the subject into the public domain.

Speaking with Toyota Racing Development president Dave Wilson on Wednesday, the manufacturer’s American open-wheel interest was not confirmed or denied.

“Toyota and TRD are always having discussions within the garages that we currently compete as well as with other sanctioning bodies to ensure we keep up relationships and maintain a finger on the pulse of U.S. motorsports,” he told RACER.

“We enjoyed previous experience with CART and IndyCar and trust that under Roger Penske’s stewardship, IndyCar will continue to prosper. Right now, however, our focus is on our competition in NASCAR, IMSA, SRO, NHRA, Formula Drift, USAC, POWRi and Championship Off Road Racing.”

With its dominance of IMSA’s GTP class completed in 1993, Toyota’s next North American road racing act came via the CART IndyCar Series in 1996. Its time in open-wheel continued through the 2005 IndyCar Series season, and in recent years, Toyota’s luxury and performance brand Lexus has carried on the road racing tradition in IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the front-running Vasser Sullivan team based out of North Carolina.

On the international stage, Toyota has made use of small-displacement turbocharged V6 engines mated to KERS units to capture the last four overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its LMP1 and Hypercar prototypes.

The last time IndyCar had three manufacturers in the paddock was 2012, when Lotus joined Chevy and Honda in the debut of the series’ new 2.2-liter turbo V6 regulations. The British marque left at the end of the year, and since then, Chevy and Honda have repeatedly called for another automotive brand to join the growing series.

The test day’s purpose is for teams to give rookies a run, or to evaluate potential new drivers, no matter how experienced.

Yet in Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet’s case, as reported here yesterday, the test will be more for Hulkenberg to try out an IndyCar for the first time.

The German has more than 179 Formula 1 starts to his name, and continues to be the Aston Martin F1 team’s test and reserve drive. But at 34, he has seen potential opportunities for grand prix racing in 2022 disappear.

The former 24 Hours of Le Mans winner will get a chance to test at sinuous road course in Birmingham, AL., where Pato O’Ward put his AMSP IndyCar on pole in April.

A press release this morning re-emphasized that “the team continues to evaluate a future third car program, however its focus for 2022 remains on the #5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet driven by Pato O’Ward and the #7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet driven by Felix Rosenqvist.”

Nico Hülkenberg said: “I am pleased to try out an Indy car and see what it’s all about. I want to thank Arrow McLaren SP and Chevy for the opportunity at relatively short notice. It will be great to drive a car for the first time and get a feel for the series.”

Taylor Kiel, President, Arrow McLaren SP added: “We’re looking forward to welcoming Nico and giving him his first taste of IndyCar in an Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. Barber will be a great track for him to get his first laps and gain some miles in a new form of open-wheel racing.”

The test will also see Logan Sargeant in an AJ Foyt Racing-Chevy, Devlin DeFrancesco and Kyle Kirkwood in Andretti Autosport-Hondas. Although yet to be confirmed, it’s believed 2012 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay will wheel the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevy and 2021 Indy Lights runner-up David Malukas will get a run in the Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan-Honda.

“I love to watch (IndyCar),” Verstappen told NBC Sports. “It’s of course a little bit different to F1, but I think that’s also nice and makes it very interesting to watch. And from my side, I’m of course happy to be in Formula One, because I’m not personally a big fan of ovals. The street tracks and road courses are good, but nah, I would not be a big fan of oval racing myself.

“It’s just the risk of a big crash is big, and of course I know in Formula One there also is risk of an impact, but when you hit a certain wall with 200-plus mph, it’s not enjoyable. And that risk is higher in IndyCar, and especially if you would hit someone else and you go into the fence, there are plenty of examples where it doesn’t end well or you end up being really hurt. So for me, I love to watch it. I have a lot of respect for the drivers who do it, but I’m happy where I am.”

Although Hulkenberg ended the day slowest of the five entries on track at Barber Motorsports Park, Kiel said that his adaptation to the demands of an IndyCar were impressive.

“For one thing, it was a tough thing to do to turn 108 laps today as Nico did,” Kiel told Motorsport.com. “I think it was a testament to his training regimen because he’s been out of an open-wheel car for some time and to hop in here is certainly a challenge.

“But it’s a challenge he accepted and he did a really good job, everything we asked him to do and didn’t put a wheel wrong all day. So a good day. We just went step by step through our program and he was a pleasure to work with.

“All the feedback I got from him throughout the day and listening to him on the intercom and the debriefs, he enjoyed the car, enjoyed the style of driving and how physical it is.

“On the flipside, the physicality of it was also probably a bit shocking to him at the beginning and probably led to some inconsistencies at the end of the day. It’s 74 even when we were packing up, it was at a high of 80 when the sun was on the track, and at the start of the day it was only 65, so he got to experience lots of different track conditions.

“It actually gave me flashbacks to the beginning of the aeroscreen era last year. At first he was saying, ‘Man, it’s so hot. How do we move some air in here?’ And we were like, ‘We are! This is the spec we’ve raced this year. He was like, ‘You’re kidding me?!’ “But he was fine, he acclimated to it and we got through it. There weren’t any issues, any overheating. And bear in mind this circuit in particular is one of the toughest we race at during the year, so I give him a ton of credit to hop in and do what he did.”

Pato O’Ward, who attended the U.S. Grand Prix with the McLaren Formula 1 team, after getting his seat fitting in the UK for his F1 test in Abu Dhabi, flew up to Birmingham, AL. with Hulkenberg and attended the first half of the test to help him through the early learning stages.

Said Kiel: “It’s funny when you get a guy like Nico in one of your racecars – raced internationally at a very high level for a very long time – and you’re still having to walk him through the basics of our style of pitstop, how to drive the thing, the controls, and so on . But with someone like him, you only need to explain it once and he memorizes it and gets on with it, which is what you expect from a driver of his caliber.

“Nico got to experience in-laps on worn tires, out-laps on cold tires, quali sims, long runs, full tanks, low tanks… We went through the whole deal, so it was about him understanding what these cars are like to drive, understanding us as a team, and the general vibe of the series. And it gave us a chance to understand Nico as a driver.

“I wasn’t even looking at the laptimes because everyone’s running their own program so you can’t ever make direct comparisons. I was focusing on his interaction with the team, the feedback that he was giving, his reactions to some of the changes we were making to the car. All that was at a very high level, as you’d expect.”

Asked if he expected Arrow McLaren SP to be granted another evaluation day with Hulkenberg during the offseason, Kiel responded, “I doubt it, honestly. The IndyCar model is get the guy in the car, acclimate yourself with him, and make a decision. And I think that’s probably fair.

“To ask for another day, I think we’d need to be taking him to an oval and whet his appetite at a Texas or Gateway. I think we now know what type of driver Nico is, what type of talent he has. And honestly, for us, we didn’t need a whole day to realize, ‘OK, this guy is good!’ Ultimately, the day is what we said it was beforehand – a chance for him to learn about IndyCar. He’ll now have a lot to think about, a lot to digest, and we’ll go from there.”

Arrow McLaren SP has stressed that it is highly unlikely to start the 2022 season with three cars, but may run three later in the season, ahead of a three-prong attack the following year. Kiel emphasized that point today.

“We’ve got to make some decisions here soon-ish,” he said, “but the luxury we have is that we haven’t planned on a fulltime entry until 2023.

“So now we’ve got some time to evaluate personnel for that third car, and we’ve got a lot of driver interest, too. It’s just up to us to put all the pieces together in a way that makes our team stronger for having three cars come 2023.”

Hulkenberg himself commented: “First time in an Indy car, first time at Barber Motorsports Park and overall I think it was a good and successful day.

"I definitely can confirm that these steering monsters are very physical cars and it took a while in the morning to feel comfortable, but in the afternoon the lap times and the performance started to come in and it was great fun.

"Big thanks to Arrow McLaren SP for this opportunity today and their very professional work on track.”

It’s going to be a busy start to the new year for NTT IndyCar Series teams and engine manufacturers as the start of testing with the new-for-2023 hybrid 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6 motors will coincide with the early rounds of the 2022 championship.

“The end of the first quarter next year is when we expect our OEM partners to get out and start testing with the new engines,” IndyCar president Jay Frye told RACER. “We’re still working with Chevy and Honda on the exact specifics, but we’re close on having the testing guidelines agreed upon and put in place.”

In the absence of full factory teams to conduct track tests with Chevy- and Honda-owned cars, IndyCar teams have been relied upon to help both brands with on-track engine development work throughout the current 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6 formula. The same routine is expected to continue next year as teams aligned with each manufacturer fit their cars with the 2023 powerplants for road course and oval testing done on behalf of Chevy Racing/Ilmor Engineering and Honda Performance Development.

“That’s the part we’re still working on,” Frye added. “It’s not completely defined yet. Do we do it like we did with the aero kits with specific teams? That’s one approach. Or do we leave it up to the manufacturers to choose the teams? That’s another approach. How we do it in the beginning could be based on limitations of the amount of parts and pieces we have with the hybrid system.

“So it might be limited to a couple teams just based on that to start out with. And then, when more systems start coming in, it can be expanded to more teams. We’re still working that side out. The main thing with the engine manufacturers is just getting them to where they can start rolling on testing, learning and diagnosing things, and then ramp it up from there.”

Nico Hulkenberg will not be making the move to IndyCar following his test with Arrow McLaren SP at Barber last week.

The German completed over 100 laps during a test day on the Monday after the United States Grand Prix as he evaluated a switch to IndyCar, with McLaren similarly looking at his potential to drive a third car in 2022. While Hulkenberg enjoyed the physical challenge of the Dallara DW12-Chevy, both sides agreed it wasn’t the right move for them at this point in time.

Confirming the news on Twitter, Hulkenberg wrote: “Quick update regarding IndyCar: It was exciting to test an IndyCar two weeks ago and I am grateful to Arrow McLaren SP for this opportunity. However for personal reasons I decided not to go ahead with it. Keep you posted on my future plans.”

RACER understands that Hulkenberg will not pursue opportunities with other IndyCar teams at this point in his career, instead remaining in Europe; having become a father for the first time at the end of September. With no prospects of a Formula 1 race seat for 2022, his most likely destination is remaining with Aston Martin as reserve driver.

McLaren hopes to test Stoffel Vandoorne in its IndyCar at some stage this winter, while Kyle Kirkwood is also understood to be interesting the team but there remains uncertainty over whether it will run a third car for a significant portion of the 2022 season.

LED panels will be making a return to the NTT IndyCar Series in 2022, but the colorful light displays won’t be attached to the cars like they were from 2015-2020.

In a significant investment to give its race control team an enhanced set of session management tools, IndyCar is bringing the EM Motorsports Marshalling System to the series with large 20×20 inch light panels that will be affixed at every corner and can replace the need for corner workers to wave signaling flags by hand.

With the system connected to a local network that feeds directly to race control, the activation of a light panel will reach race director Kyle Novak and his team in an instant, displayed on a monitor showing the location of the activation and the type of flagging display that was used.

“EM already provides us with our ADR — the accident data recorder — technology and also the earpiece accelerometers the drivers use, so we’re expanding our relationship one more step in a big way,” Novak told RACER. “That includes their light fixtures that are fundamentally the same as what you see at Formula 1 races. These light panels are designed to supplement the cloth flags, and sometimes replace them, depending on the circumstance at the marshal post.

“So those panels will be operated by the local volunteer marshals, and they’ll display the exact same IndyCar flagging codes as before. So waving yellow, full-course yellow, surface conditions, blue flag, etc. They’ll be operated by the marshals via consoles at each corner. We think that this will enhance visibility and it’ll enhance our tools in race control.”

Under the traditional flagging process, one corner marshal would wave a flag while another used a radio headset to call in an incident to race control. With the new light panels, triggering the system serves both needs.

“Let’s use Turn 4 at St. Petersburg for example, because it’s always one of our busiest in the runoff area with local yellows,” Novak explained. “A marshal presses local yellow as a car goes into the runoff and tries to get turned around.

“As soon as the marshal hits that button, we have a live visualization map in race control that illuminates that sector, kind of like what you see on the Formula 1 broadcast, but obviously with a lot more detail. Anytime we get a sector that has a flag code, we’ll get an automatic visualization of that, and that’s something we’ve never had before.”

Novak is confident the new LED flagging system will be easy for drivers to see while offering the series a number of other benefits in race administration. And just as marshals at each corner can activate the panels as desired for local needs, race control will trigger the panels when any course-wide yellow or red needs arise.

“I think it’s no secret that since we’ve had the upgraded aero kits since 2018, one of the things we’ve been trying to do is emphasize green-flag racing and have more emphasis on local yellow conditions that might lead us to be able to do a local recovery, try to keep the race green, right,” he continued.

“And that starts first and foremost with having a system in place with marshaling that allows the drivers to see exactly what they’re up against. We feel like with the speed of the cars, the technology that’s available, and the drivers getting the information they need, that comes with making these flags more visible. You can see these panels from outer space.

“I can’t tell you how many times when there’s been situations where a flag came out late, the driver said they didn’t see it, or it was halfway out, or it was still furled up as it was falling, and that 50 to 100 feet makes a difference. What we’re talking about an electric panel that’s incredibly bright versus a cloth flag that could get lost in the background.”

Officiating should become easier for IndyCar’s race control team with the new influx of LED flagging and onboard GPS data streaming to the tower.

“On the race control side, fundamentally, we’ll still get the landline communication from the marshal (to explain what happened), but if you think about what we do, one of the hardest things we have to deal with in our local yellow situations is compliance and enforcement,” Novak said.

“Just because of all the steps are involved identifying the car that caused it, getting the vocalization of that call from the marshal. Now, if the landline is busy and there’s multiple incidents going on, all that can be illuminated on the map. And as it relates to the GPS, this system also comes with an upgraded GPS system on the car, and we can essentially create virtual marshaling zones.

“So via GPS technology, every light has a GPS fixed position, so that when a car arrives at that light, we know — down to a few feet — whether that car was in the zone when the yellow came out, or when that car was approaching the zone. And then we get automated reports to the performance to that zone. Was there a pass? Who went through it? This is all versus having to go back and reconstruct that with video and handwritten things that we’ve been doing in the past.”

Beyond using the LED flagging system to manage local and full-course yellows, Novak anticipates having the volunteer corner workers work the control panels to manage blue passing flags and all the other signaling needs that were previously done with cloth flags. The new system also gives IndyCar the ability to have those local electronic signals sent to the cockpit of each car and displayed directly to the drivers.

“They will be able to show either a flashing blue, which is your ‘Imminently about to be passed’ alert, or the ‘There’s a car approaching,’ which would be just the standard blue; the marshals can do either one, depending on the button press that they give the console,” Novak said.

“This does give us more ability to advise. So right now, we go red or full course yellow, we flip the switch, the attenuator light flashes and they get a flashing light inside the cockpit, depending on how they want to place their lights on the wheel or behind on the dash. This also gives us more flexibility to give them more notifications. ‘Hey, there’s a local yellow somewhere on course,’ or ‘You’ve been given a blue flag.’ Those types of developments are to be determined, but it gives us more depth on the in-car notification system as well.”

With its migration to LED flagging, using the new system to create virtual safety car zones is not among IndyCar’s current plans.

“As far as virtual safety cars and things like that, we’ve done a normal number of internal reports of what a system like that would look like, and the bottom line is we’re not there yet,” Novak said. “There’s no imminent plans for it. But I would say that this kind of technology gives us flexibility to explore those things in the coming years where realistically, we never could have properly executed anything like that without this. So it gives us options to grow if that’s where the series stakeholders, drivers, owners, everyone wants to go with it.

“What it does give us the ability to do though, is automate the standard functions. For example, when we go full-course yellow, they will no longer have to do a full course yellow flag condition physically, because we can flip the lights on or eliminate them to end a FCY. Same with the red flag condition. Or a trialing green after a local yellow.

“We’ve spent so much time between the aeroscreen, sidepod reinforcements, tethers, and everything else over the past decades of trying to make these cars safer through technology, and we’re making them in substantial, big investments in race control technology. And now that we’re at that point, we’re all really excited about it.”

The Long Beach City Council unanimously approved Jan. 4 a new agreement with the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach that will allow the company to continue running the annual Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach through 2028, Grand Prix Association of Long Beach officials announced.

The new agreement, which will start with the 2022 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, sustains a relationship between the city and the Grand Prix Association which has spanned the last 46 years.

“The Grand Prix extension that has been approved by the City Council is the result of extensive discussions with city leadership that we believe has resulted in benefits to all parties concerned,” said Jim Michaelian, Grand Prix Association of Long Beach president and CEO. “The Grand Prix has always been a very strong community event, and this agreement just amplifies the unique relationship with the City of Long Beach going forward. Our thanks to all those who assisted in getting this done.”

The 2022 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, scheduled for April 8-10, will be headlined by the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

Tatiana Calderon will race a third AJ Foyt Racing-Chevrolet at all of IndyCar’s road and street races in 2022 and, together with Kyle Kirkwood, will be sponsored by ROKiT.

Calderon will thus become the first female driver to race for IndyCar legend AJ Foyt and will join reigning Indy Lights champion Kirkwood and Dalton Kellett to form a three-car team at 12 of the 17 IndyCar rounds in 2022.

ROKiT Group, a global media company which backed Sebastien Bourdais’ Foyt car last year, is expanding its partnership with the team in 2022, with both Kirkwood in the #14 car and Calderon in the #11 being backed by ROKiT, while Kellett’s entry will remain sponsored by K-Line Insulators.

Calderon, who tested for the team at Mid-Ohio last summer, said: “I’m thrilled and very thankful to Jonathan Kendrick [ROKiT’s co-founder and chairman], ROKiT and AJ Foyt Racing for the opportunity to race in the NTT IndyCar Series.

“Ever since I started my single seater career in the United States 11 years ago [in Star Mazda], INDYCAR has been a reference for me and it’s a dream come true to be on the grid this year!

“I can’t wait to get to St. Petersburg for the first race of the season! I’m well aware of the challenge ahead, but this is the chance of a lifetime and I’m keen on making the most of it.”

Calderon, who’s an official test driver for the Alfa Romeo Orlen Formula 1 team and has spent two seasons in Super Formula, will test an IndyCar for the second time this week in Sebring, along with Kirkwood.

Team president Larry Foyt said, “I’m thrilled with the continuation and expansion of the ROKiT AJ Foyt Racing Team. We welcome Tatiana Calderón in car number #11 joining Kyle Kirkwood in car #14, both in the very cool ROKiT liveries. Tatiana showed a lot of potential in her test at Mid-Ohio.

“With Dalton Kellett in the #4 K-Line Insulators Chevrolet, I think our three-car team is in for an exciting season.”

Kendrick, who has supported Calderón's career since 2020 when she competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship and Super Formula in Japan, said: “One of our fundamental principles in the overall marketing of the ROKiT brand worldwide is our support and promotion of women in motorsport and, as part of that principle, we’ve supported Tatiana for a long time now.

"We recognized her talent and charisma early on, which we’ve seen grow and develop, so we’re very excited to be expanding our partnership with Larry and AJ Foyt Racing by having Tatiana drive the #11 ROKiT Chevrolet alongside Kyle Kirkwood in the #14 ROKiT Chevrolet this season.

“We know Tatiana is already a role model to many young female drivers around the world and we think the huge exposure of the NTT IndyCar Series will serve only to increase her reach even further to become an inspiration to many more women to get involved in motorsports.”

No driver has yet been announced to race the #11 car in the five oval races, but 2012 series champion and 2014 Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay would appear to be an obvious pick for AJ Foyt. Hunter-Reay raced for the iconic seven-time Indy car champ and four-time Indy 500 winner in 11 races in 2009.

Foyt also came to the rescue of Hunter-Reay at Indy in 2011 when all the Andretti Autosport cars were struggling for speed. After the future winner was bumped out of the field in qualifying, Michael Andretti reached an agreement with Foyt, whereby Hunter-Reay took over the #41 Foyt car that had been qualified by Bruno Junqueira.

Graham Rahal has stated that he feels he is being directed to more of an ownership role within his family’s Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team, and that he will start thinking more about the direction of the team overall as he enters the later portion of his driving career.

The veteran driver has been around IndyCar for even longer than his 15-year career behind the wheel would suggest, with his father Bobby Rahal starting a team around his own successful driving career.

The younger Rahal, now himself 33 years old, has been driving for his father’s team since 2013, and has always shown that he has intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the team itself.

That RLL team is in the midst of a growth spurt of sorts, with a large new race shop nearing completion in Ohio, and the team taking on a third full time driver this season for the first time.

Rahal has now revealed that it is a bit of an expectation that he is going to take over leadership, and possibly ownership, of his father’s team as it grows, and as he grows out of his role as a driver.

“It never really was my mindset that someday I would be a team owner,” said Rahal. “But the minute that building was built, I got a phone call from Mike [Lanigan] and my dad, and it was very clear that the expectation that I am going to assume that role with Pat Lanigan. So I’m focused on how we can get the team to the next level as well.

“There’s a lot to think about, a lot go through. Definitely more of a seniority role. We’ve got a lot of changes within the organization, even some as of today. All good things, elevating guys into roles. Guys that deserve the opportunity to go into management roles are getting the opportunity to do so.

“Where I am at in my career is that I have got to be the guy now to try to lead the charge a little bit. When you’re younger you don’t really think about those things, or certainly I wasn’t. I was just focused on me and my car and my team.

“I’ll be quite selfish when I say that I want the #15 car to be winning all the time. At the same time, it’s important we get this team headed down the right path as I creep up in age here a little bit.

“I’m getting closer to the end. I think we all know that. In the position I am at in my career now, I would say I’m definitely focused on winning more than ever before. I’m focused on being a good team-mate. I’m also focused on helping build this team.”

Rahal’s last victory came in 2017, and he is still hoping to rejuvenate some of that success before fully approaching a team management role in the future.

4 time Indy 500 winner Al Unser died earlier this month. I got to meet him and his brother Bobby while I was on a business trip in Birmingham. The hotel I was staying at hosted an awards dinner for some people involved with the Motorsports Hall of Fame. I was standing in the doorway just watching and listening to my childhood racing Heroes. I started talking to someone by the doorway and he asked me why I was there and I told him I was just down for business and was just peeking through the door. He asked me if I was a racing fan and I said I'm actually a driver and showed him this picture. He took the photo from me brought me inside and introduced me to the president of the organization who then took me around the room to meet all sorts famous racers and then sat me down at a table with Parnelli Jones, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Linda Vaughn and Andy Granatelli for dinner and to enjoy the rest of the event as thier guest. I won a mid Atlantic championship in that car

The NTT IndyCar Series is expected to scrap its plans to accommodate its drivers who were meant to compete at IMSA’s 12 Hours of Sebring event in Florida.

Having placed an IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway on the same mid-March weekend where Sebring is traditionally held, IndyCar created a special schedule that would have seen its drivers with Sebring obligations practicing at TMS on Friday, leaving for Sebring to race at the 12-hour contest on Saturday, and returning to qualify and race at the Xpel 375 oval event on Sunday.

But after Chip Ganassi Racing opted to cancel its plans for its IndyCar drivers to pull double duty between Sebring and Texas, only Meyer Shank Racing’s Helio Castroneves and A.J. Foyt Racing rookie Kyle Kirkwood — two of the 26 full-time drivers in the field — were left to consider. Lacking a meaningful number of drivers to justify the Sebring-influenced Texas schedule, RACER understands IndyCar is meant to implement a standard schedule for the 1.5-mile oval, which is currently being finalized.

The decision means IMSA and MSR will not have Castroneves, winner of its big season opener at Daytona, on the grid for Round 2 at Sebring, and the Vasser Sullivan Lexus IMSA team will need to find a replacement for Kirkwood.

You probably didn't need more proof that cockpit protection for open-wheel cars was a good thing. This video is still worth watching, to reinforce the point

During practice for IndyCar's appearance at the fast Texas Motor Speedway last month, driver Jack Harvey crashed while running ahead of rookie Callum Ilott. Debris from Harvey's car flew back towards Ilott far quicker than he could react. A pushrod seems to appear out of nowhere to slam right into the Aeroscreen. Were the Aeroscreen not in place, that pushrod would've almost assuredly struck Ilott directly, likely causing serious injury. Instead, Ilott was totally fine, and according to the young British racer, the Aeroscreen showed virtually no signs of damageEven knowing the outcome, watching video of the incident, which was tweeted by IndyCar president Jay Frye, is harrowing. It's chilling to watch this knowing not long ago, debris like this could fatally strike a driver. Ryan Hunter-Reay, 2012 IndyCar champ and 2014 Indy 500 winner, said the Aeroscreen "likely saved my life" after a pileup at last year's Barber race.

Red Bull Advanced Technologies developed the Aeroscreen as a possible cockpit-protection device for Formula 1, though the series ended up going with the Ferrari-designed "Halo" instead. IndyCar announced in 2019 that it would mandate the Aeroscreen for the 2020 season. The frame is made from five pieces of 3D-printed titanium weighing just under 28 pounds, while the screen is a heated polycarbonate piece supplied by PPG. IndyCar says it can withstand 17 tons of force and a strike from a two-pound object at 220 mph.

When the movement to implement cockpit protection for open-wheel cars began, there was much resistance from teams and drivers. But now that both the Halo and Aeroscreen have proven their worth multiple times, everyone has seemingly changed their tune. Videos like this will continue to squash any doubts.
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Alexander Rossi will join Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet from 2023, as he and the team continue their quests for an IndyCar Series championship.

The news follows yesterday’s confirmation that Rossi has decided to leave Andretti Autosport, his home for seven seasons, and will be replaced by Kyle Kirkwood.

Rossi told Motorsport.com two weeks ago, “It’s all about the championship, for me,” and said there were just three teams currently capable of winning the title. When asked if one of those was his current employer, Andretti Autosport, he replied, “We haven’t been for a long time. Just look at the stats.”

Nonetheless, Rossi heads to Arrow McLaren SP with seven wins – including the 2016 Indy 500 – and six poles to his name, and having twice finished a season in the top three of the championship.

He said: “First, I want to thank everyone at Andretti Autosport for an incredible seven years. It has been a great ride with an awesome team, and it has been an honor to race for the Andretti name and for Michael for so long.

“The time has come for a new challenge, with a team that is growing in the sport. I look forward to contributing to the development of Arrow McLaren SP and helping them reach the top. I see the commitment this team has to each other and to me, and I’m looking forward to getting started. It’s time for me to race for another one of motorsport’s biggest names: McLaren.”

Taylor Kiel, AMSP president stated: “As we look forward to 2023, we are looking for a driver that will be a great fit and bring experience to the team. Alex is a driver who knows what it takes to succeed in this sport and will strengthen our talented driver line-up. He shares the same winning mindset that I see every day across Arrow McLaren SP and I think we will find a lot of success together in the years to come.”

“Alex is a proven race winner and an Indianapolis 500 champion, who shares our desire to win,” said McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown. “It is essential that we put the right talent in place, both inside and outside the car, so we can consistently compete for championships and race wins as a team.

“He is someone we have had our eye on for some time and we’re excited to see what he’ll do as a part of Arrow McLaren SP.”

Arrow McLaren SP will run three cars in 2023, and it has not yet confirmed (publicly) whether Rossi is the team’s third driver to supplement Pato O’Ward – confirmed with the team through 2025 – and Felix Rosenqvist, or whether Rossi is replacing Rosenqvist in the #7 AMSP-Chevrolet, and a third driver has not yet been nominated.

Rosenqvist’s form has improved since August last year, to where he now looks like the driver who won in all-but-one category he’s ever raced in, and in terms of pace, a match for O’Ward on most weekends. Continued form such as this would likely see team owners Brown, Kiel, Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson content to go into 2023 with an O’Ward-Rosenqvist-Rossi line-up.

IndyCar announced in February that it was delaying the start of its 2.4-liter hybrid era by a year, due to a supply chain issue with the hybrid components from Mahle. Since then a 2.4-liter engine from each manufacturer, Chevrolet and Honda, has been tested on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with Penske and Ganassi respectively, but not yet with the hybrid system installed.

The increase in size of the engine alone will add 11 pounds to a car already considered overweight, especially since the introduction of the aeroscreen in 2020 added 60lbs. Now, as IndyCar aims to get the 2024 car down to the weight it is now, a next-gen aeroscreen is part of the planned solution.

IndyCar president Jay Frye told Motorsport.com: “We anticipated the changes for 2024 were going to add 160lbs, and right now we’re probably at the high 80s. Delaying the new engine regs until 2024 has given us a chance to sort out things like that.

“The engine manufacturer test with the 2.4-liter cars was exceptional. A test with the hybrid component will be next. But as we go we’ll continue working to take weight off the car, get it back as close as we can to where it is right now.

“We’re working on a Phase 2 of the aeroscreen, where the screen is lighter and the frame is lighter, because Pankl believes it can halve the aeroscreen’s weight and still be as robust as it is now.

“Pankl’s current technology is phenomenal and the new version is going to be off the charts, creating a honeycomb-type structure within the internals of the frame – and you won’t even be able to tell by looking at it that it’s half the weight of what we currently run.

“One of the things we’ll also look at with the next version of the aeroscreen is how we get airflow into the cockpit. The heating issue is a lot better now than it was at the start of 2020, but we can make it better again.

“So the aeroscreen will look like it looks now but with half of the weight and without losing any structural load impact properties.”