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| James Hinchcliffe got to experience all ends of the emotional spectrum in 2019 |
The Canadian started the season shot out of a cannon and then he joined an established but fretted list in the middle of May, one he likely thought he would never join. From there it became a difficult season to get out of the shadow of his greatest failure and the dream season paired with his childhood friend ended in a bit of a nightmare.
What objectively was his best race?
He won at Iowa! And it was a race he took from Josef Newgarden. Newgarden let his guard down. For over 75% of this race Newgarden had no pressure on him. He was lapping the field and it appeared he would win by a full lap but Hinchcliffe was on the move from the start. He started 11th and he worked his way to the front. He was fifth on lap 18. He was fourth on lap 32. He was up to third on lap 38 and he was up to second position two laps later.
Hinchcliffe held the second position and the one caution gave Hinchcliffe a shot but Newgarden pulled away again. Through lapped traffic Hinchcliffe was able to get the lead and in the final 45 laps he ran away from Newgarden. He turned one of the most dominant performances in IndyCar history into an embarrassment for Team Penske.
What subjectively was his best race?
Iowa was the best. This is a place for honorable mentions and we will start with his only other podium finish, a third at Barber. At Toronto, Hinchcliffe drove from ninth to fourth and at Texas Hinchcliffe started 15th and finished fourth in what was a competitive night for the Canadian.
What objectively was his worst race?
Portland. He was in the infamous first lap accident that Scott Dixon escaped from but Hinchcliffe was not as fortunate. The crew was able to get the car repaired and get Hinchcliffe to complete 76 laps but the damage was done and 22nd was the best he could scrape from the weekend.
What subjectively was his worst race?
We have said everything we could about Hinchcliffe's failure to qualify from the Indianapolis 500. I am not sure what else could be said that wasn't in those dying days of May and early days of June.
It is definitely the biggest blemish of his season but when looking at the races he participated in I think we have to tackle a worrying trend for Hinchcliffe and his sluggish finishes to seasons. He did not have a top ten finish in the final five races this season. Last year, he had one top ten finish and three finishes of 20th, 21st and 22nd in the final five races. It has been bad since the 2016 Texas race, which was the antepenultimate round that season after the rain delay to August. He finished second but was docked 25 points for a dome skid wear violation and he hasn't finished in the top five in one of the final five races of the season since. The race after that Hinchcliffe was in contention for a podium before he ran out of fuel and fell to 18th at Watkins Glen.
This has to be improved on because in his three full seasons with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Hinchcliffe has suffered falls in the championship from seventh to 13th, tenth to 13th and while he only dropped from ninth to tenth in 2018, he was never higher than eighth in the championship after being fifth entering the Indianapolis 500 and this is despite finishing the year tied for the seventh most top five finishes and the ninth most top ten finishes.
It is definitely the biggest blemish of his season but when looking at the races he participated in I think we have to tackle a worrying trend for Hinchcliffe and his sluggish finishes to seasons. He did not have a top ten finish in the final five races this season. Last year, he had one top ten finish and three finishes of 20th, 21st and 22nd in the final five races. It has been bad since the 2016 Texas race, which was the antepenultimate round that season after the rain delay to August. He finished second but was docked 25 points for a dome skid wear violation and he hasn't finished in the top five in one of the final five races of the season since. The race after that Hinchcliffe was in contention for a podium before he ran out of fuel and fell to 18th at Watkins Glen.
This has to be improved on because in his three full seasons with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Hinchcliffe has suffered falls in the championship from seventh to 13th, tenth to 13th and while he only dropped from ninth to tenth in 2018, he was never higher than eighth in the championship after being fifth entering the Indianapolis 500 and this is despite finishing the year tied for the seventh most top five finishes and the ninth most top ten finishes.
James Hinchcliffe's 2018 Statistics
Championship Position: 10th (391 points)
Wins: 1
Podiums: 2
Top Fives: 5
Top Tens: 9
Laps Led: 65
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 7
Average Start: 9.0667
Average Finish: 10.0625
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| Robert Wickens had a special 2018 season and we didn't even get to see the best of it |
After six years in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Wickens left Mercedes-Benz for IndyCar and the uncertain jump back to single-seaters gave the IndyCar fan base, nay, the motorsports world an exciting rookie season that comes around only so often. He stole the spotlight and a victory seemed inevitable. His season was a reminder that the sun is a star and it can burn out in a flash when it never seemed brighter.
What objectively was his best race?
Wickens had two runner-up finishes, first at Phoenix in his first oval start and then at Mid-Ohio in his penultimate start of the season. Phoenix was not a showy race for Wickens but through mistakes from Sébastien Bourdais and Alexander Rossi it elevated Wickens into a position for a podium and to content for the race victory. He stayed out under the final caution and inherited the lead. He did all he could to hold Newgarden off but fell four laps short.
Rossi dominated Mid-Ohio but Wickens out ran the Team Penske entries of Will Power and Newgarden on the three stop strategy. He might not have been close to winning but he was the best of the rest.
What subjectively was his best race?
This is a bit harder because there are a lot of contenders. Is this a case where the first time is the best? He was stout at St. Petersburg: Pole position on debut, most laps led on debut and it appeared he was going to win on debut but we remember the final restart and the contact with Rossi and the dream start went from top step of the podium to 18th. It was the race that calmed all doubts over hiring a driver from Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters who had been out of single-seater racing for six years.
What objectively was his worst race?
Purely on results, it is Long Beach because he finished 22nd after his gearbox got stuck on a pit stop... oh and that happened after he worked his way from tenth to fifth on the first stint so another stellar day was in store.
What subjectively was his worst race?
The race that broke the man: Pocono. When you fracture your spine, arms, legs and are put in a wheelchair for an uncertain amount of time that is the worst race of your season, career and life.
Robert Wickens' 2018 Statistics
Championship Position: 11th (391 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 4
Top Fives: 7
Top Tens: 10
Laps Led: 187
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 4
Fast Twelves: 7
Average Start: 6.357
Average Finish: 8.928
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| Carlos Muñoz got the call to fill in for Wickens and he did an adequate job |
With Wickens sidelined, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports called on a tried and true IndyCar veteran in Muñoz to finish out the season. Prior to the call, Muñoz's only start in 2018 had come with Andretti Autosport in the Indianapolis 500.
What objectively was his best race?
It is the race where he was not with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports! It was a seventh place finish in the Indianapolis 500! Carlos Muñoz has five top ten finishes in six Indianapolis 500 starts! He has completed 3,000 of a possible 3,000 miles. The man knows how to wheel it at 16th and Georgetown. He is in a special class of driver.
What subjectively was his best race?
When you finish seventh in the Indianapolis 500 and have no other plans to race again that season that is the best race of the year but shout out to Portland, Muñoz's first race substituting for Wickens. He spent a fair bit of the day in the top ten but fell back. He did keep up the pace, scored fastest lap and finished 12th.
What objectively was his worst race?
The finale at Sonoma where he finished 18th after starting 22nd.
What subjectively was his worst race?
It is pretty clear it was Sonoma.
Carlos Muñoz's 2018 Statistics
Championship Position: 25th (95 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 1
Laps Led: 4
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 19.0
Average Finish: 12.333
An Early Look Ahead
The big question is what happens with the #6 Honda?
Wickens is beat up. It is verging on late-October and he is just back minimal mobility in his legs over two months after his accident. Nothing gives me more will to live then the updates coming from Wickens as he goes through physical therapy but let's not cloud reality. We are four and a half months away from the St. Petersburg season opener and in that interim will be a handful of tests.
I have zero expectation Wickens will be back for St. Petersburg. I have zero expectation he will race at all in 2019. He will make strides (mind the pun) but getting back into a race car for a race likely will not be in 2019. He might get back in toward the end of 2019 and start testing but the bigger goal for Wickens is to start walking and completing daily human activities on his own. The race car bit can come later.
Who is in the #6 Honda then?
It is a prime seat. We saw what that car is capable of accomplishing with a proper driver. We don't know how long Wickens will be out. We don't know if Wickens will be allowed to race again. How do you hire a driver with that kind of uncertainty? Forget 2019 but we will not know if 2020 will be possible for a comeback until the middle of next year. First he needs to accomplish walking on his own, cooking on his own, driving a street car on his own and so on. How do you hire a driver?
If you go young and Wickens is set for 2020 then SPM is in a position of either cutting a young driver loose after one year, making what would be the highly unpopular decision and kicking Wickens aside or tackling the challenge of three full-time cars. If you go young and Wickens is still not ready for 2020 then it appears SPM has a new driver.
There are plenty of exciting options for the #6 Honda. Muñoz is good. He should be full-time. Pietro Fittipaldi had a bit of that excitement around him for a rookie. Conor Daly has played the role of super-sub and he has a relationship with SPM and Hinchcliffe. Gabby Chaves is back unemployed, has a relationship with SPM and he gets cars home in one piece. Jordan King was quick but doesn't have oval experience. Charlie Kimball seems to be a potential free agent and we know he can finish in the top ten though isn't the sexy pick. Those are just drivers that raced last year.
The answer could be a driver that has no care about being a full-time IndyCar because he or she has jobs elsewhere. Tristan Vautier comes to mind. He could be in IndyCar for a season and then if Wickens is ready to return in 2020, Vautier would have plenty of sports car opportunities to fall back on. A veteran such as Oriol Servià fits.
This team has a lot of long-term planning to do this offseason but it must take into consideration 2019 and what has to be done to make sure this team can continue to win races. It has to find a way to have the best of both worlds and fill the large vacancy left by the loss of Wickens.
Wickens sparked a fire under SPM last year. After years of underachieving, this was the year SPM lived up to the expectations. He took SPM to the top and made Hinchcliffe a better driver along the way. Then he got hurt, Hinchcliffe's slide continued through the Sonoma finale and the team ended with its two regular drivers tied for tenth in the championship. Wickens deserved better. He was no worse than the sixth best driver in 2018. SPM needs another one of those drivers.
Hinchcliffe is a race winner but this will be his ninth season in IndyCar. He hasn't taken that next step. He has never finished better than eighth in the championship. His tenth place championship finish in 2018 is only the third time he has finished in the top ten of the championship. He needs a rabbit as a teammate, someone to chase. Who will that be in 2019? Because we have learned that will determine how well Hinchcliffe finishes next season.
