Álex Palou is back on top of the IndyCar world. Team Penske continues to find new ways to lose races. Red Bull pulled a page out of the Mercedes playbook. Gene Haas took some time off from his disappointing team in the United States to visit his disappointing team in France. Things looked familiar in Germany. Formula E visited a new venue in Mexico. The NASCAR Cup Series visited a new venue in Tennessee. SRX had its first dirt race. Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters had its first race weekend under GT3-specs. There was a first-time winner in Super Formula. Here is a rundown of what got me thinking.
Plug It In, Plug It In
A week ago, IndyCar was coming off a thrilling and yet displeasing weekend at Belle Isle. While two races produced two stunning winners, the surrounding circumstances took over the conversation afterward and the finish of Saturday's race was still a live wire days later.
IndyCar's decision to red flag the race to ensure an attempt at a green flag finish brought the field to pit lane with five laps to go. When it came time to restart the race, the leader Will Power was unable to re-fire. Out of the lead he fell and Marcus Ericsson made the easiest pass for victory in his career. Ericsson led the final five laps and Power wound up 20th.
While speculation heat caused Power's car to fail to restart, it was actual an improper shut down sequence that confused the ECU and prevented the car from re-firing when it was time for the race to resume. With only two crew members allowed to be at the car under a red flag, Power's team was not able to have a Chevrolet engine technician plug into the car and work out the technical error.
This error also caused Alexander Rossi, Graham Rahal and Ryan Hunter-Reay to stall on the grid for the 2020 season opener at Texas and forced all three to serve penalties on the opening lap for receiving unapproved assistance on the grid.
It was an inconvenient error, but from the sounds of it one that can be easily rectified with the allowance of engine technicians to be at each car during a red flag. Each team has an engine technician provided from the manufactures. Everyone would have equal opportunity to make sure their cars properly restart and it is an amendment IndyCar should make, especially if it is red flagging races for the sake of a finish.
If IndyCar wants to ensure an attempt at a green flag finish then it should also ensure all the cars properly restart because of its decision.
The difference in how IndyCar and pretty much every North America series regulate a red flag and Formula One is notable. In North America, once a red flag is out, no one is allowed to work on the cars, and work is a pretty broad term. Inadvertently touching the car could be ruled an infraction. Officials are strict when it comes to it. In Formula One, a red flag comes out and every crew member is rushing to the car.
A Formula One car is a complex machine and it needs all that attention to make sure it will properly run when the race restarts. Those cars cannot idle for long before it overheats and it is race over. Formula One allows the teams to keep the car operational. An IndyCar is not the same level of technological wizardry, but it is not as simple as flicking a switch. IndyCar does not have on-board starters. Outside assistance is always necessary, and if it is always necessary, why prevent essential personnel from servicing the car?
IndyCar does not need to adopt Formula One's level of freedom when it comes to the red flag, but with the introduction of the aeroscreen and this possible shut down error that can cause the ECU to become unresponsive, IndyCar should adjust its red flag policies.
I think the red flag rules are a little out of date. These aren't the 1960s or 1970s, and the introduction of the aeroscreen only makes the current IndyCar a more complex car than its predecessor. Heat is a greater obstacle now, and with hotter cockpit temperatures, the drivers should get more attention under a red flag. Drivers should not be broiling sitting still while IndyCar cleans up an accident. The teams should be able to aid the drivers and make sure they are in the best conditions for when a race resumes.
But it brings me back to the question that has always flummoxed me, why is no one allowed to work on a race car under a red flag? I can understand the rule in NASCAR because they have on-board starters and can park on the back straightaway under a red flag away from the pit crews. If the field is on the back straightaway and two or three cars are on pit lane, two or three cars would have an unfair advantage. But in IndyCar, everyone has to come to pit lane. Everyone would have equal opportunity to work on their cars. If everyone has equal opportunity to work on their cars, why not let them?
Again, it doesn't have to be the level of Formula One freedom where teams are allowed to change tires, but why can't IndyCar allow teams to make minor adjustments and tweaks? If a team wants to make a front wing angle change, or fix a suspension piece, clean out their radiator inlets, just let them. All the teams are on pit lane and have equal access to their cars. It doesn't make any sense to prevent them all from doing anything.
There are certain things that can be disallowed. No tire changes, no re-fueling, even no replacing wings, but I don't think the current red flag rules fit IndyCar in 2021.
Devil's advocate to all this is of all the cars that stopped under the first red flag for Felix Rosenqvist's accident and the second red flag for Romain Grosjean's accident, only one failed to restart, and that was Will Power. Out of 40-plus re-fires, there was only one error. It just happened to be the race leader with five laps to go.
If Power had been 12th, he likely would have still be frustrated and disappointed, but we likely don't notice it or give it the time of day. When it is the leader though, then a discussion has to take place.
I don't think a driver should lose a race because he or she shut down the car too quickly when going under the red flag. Drivers make errors but confusing a computer should not be devastating to a race result even if only one driver did it.
There are plenty of adjustments that can be made to IndyCar's red flag procedures, but one is obvious and should have already been made: Allow the engine technicians to plug in to the cars under red flag conditions. Let's ensure all these cars can rejoin the race, especially if IndyCar is stopping it for the sake of a green flag finish.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Álex Palou, but did you know...
Max Verstappen won the French Grand Prix, his third victory of the season.
Aleksandr Smolyar, Arthur Leclerc and Jack Doohan split the Formula Three races from Circuit Paul Ricard.
Marc Márquez won MotoGP's German Grand Prix, his first victory since the 2019 finale at Valencia and his 11th consecutive victory at the Sachensenring. Remy Gardner won the Moto2 race, his third consecutive victory. Pedro Acosta won the Moto3 race, his fourth victory of the season.
Kyle Kirkwood and David Malukas split the Indy Lights races from Road America. Manuel Sulaimán and Christian Rasmussen split the Indy Pro 2000 races. Kiko Porto and Thomas Nepveu split the U.S. F2000 races.
Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Cup race from Nashville, his third consecutive victory. Kyle Busch won the Grand National Series race, his 100th victory in NASCAR's second division. Ryan Preece won on his Truck Series debut.
Liam Lawson and Kelvin van der Linde split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from Monza.
Nirei Fukuzumi won the Super Formula race from Sportland SUGO, his first career Super Formula victory.
Lucas di Grassi and Edoardo Mortara split the Formula E races from Puebla. It was both of their first victories of the season.
Chaz Mostert won the first Supercars race from Darwin and Shane van Gisbergern winning the two Sunday races. Van Gisbergern has won eight of 14 races this season.
The #14 Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini of Ricardo Feller and Alex Fontana and the #163 Emil Frey Racing Lamborghini of Norbert Siedler and Albert Costa split the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup races from Zandvoort.
Tony Stewart won the SRX race from Knoxville.
Coming Up This Weekend
Formula One will have a second annual Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.
The Dutch TT returns to the MotoGP calendar.
IMSA has its third endurance race of the season with the 6 Hours of the Glen.
NASCAR has its only doubleheader at Pocono.
The World Touring Car Cup will be at Estoril for round two of its season.
The Safari Rally returns to the World Rally Championship for the first time since 2002.
