The Olympics began. It rained. Then it was sunny. Elsewhere, it rained at Spa-Francorchamps. Then it was sunny there as well. George Russell used a one-stop strategy to hold off Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri to be first to the checkered flag, but Russell’s car was underweight post-race, leading to a disqualification and Hamilton inheriting the victory. Sergio Perez’s summer break could be indefinite. France had success outside of Paris. Ferrari is not coming to IMSA anytime soon. Some Formula E driver changes are happening. Dinner with Racers has a new documentary series out. That’s all nice, but with so little happening on track, this is a good time to have a discussion about a recently heated topic.
Rookie Picking
It might seem like an odd time to bring up Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year at the end of July, but we have some space from this year's race, we had time to think about it, and there is nothing else going on. If there was ever a time to revisit it, this lull in the calendar is a good point to go over what has become a contentious thing over the last decade.
This year's Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year famously went to Kyle Larson. The driver attempting The Double, who would have weather scuttle any chance of him completing 1,100 miles, didn't quite have the most outstanding Indianapolis 500. It was a fine race. Larson completed all 200 laps, he led a few laps through a pit cycle, and he finished 18th, but he had two moments that cost him dearly. On the first restart, Larson had trouble going through the gears and immediately lost a handful of positions. Later in the race, he sped entering the pit lane.
Larson was never a threat for victory, but he was running well enough to finish in the top ten. However, his pit lane speeding penalty kept him from being the best finishing rookie.
Christian Rasmussen was the best finishing rookie, ending up 12th after starting 24th. Rasmussen had some notable passes, and spent a fair number of laps in the top ten before settling into 12th at the checkered flag.
Despite the result, Larson was awarded Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, and it led to a fair amount of anger when it was announced.
This was the second time in three years that the best finishing rookie was not awarded Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, but only the third time in the last 14 Indianapolis 500s that it happened. The problem is in each of those three years it has happened, it has been quite a notable name that has been awarded the honor.
In 2017, it was Fernando Alonso, who retired with an engine failure. In 2022, it was Jimmie Johnson, who crashed in turn two with eight laps remaining, but Johnson had spent majority of the race not as the best running rookie. Larson made it to the finish. Though he finished six spots behind Rasmussen, their races were more similar than they appeared and Larson had a slight edge.
Regardless of what the data said, many took exception with the decision to recognize Larson over Rasmussen, and many calls have come for the honor of Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year to go to the best rookie finisher instead of letting journalists and other media members vote on it.
One of the issues brought up is the number of people covering the Indianapolis 500 and voting on rookie of the year are only covering the Indianapolis 500. They aren't going to many other IndyCar races. They are not actively following the series or aware of who is competing. It is voting for a name because it is known more than voting for who was actually the best rookie.
It is too easy to look at two of the last three years, and dwell on Alonso winning it almost a decade ago, and believe this should be a black-and-white award.
It is actually better if there is some interpretation.
Let's take this year. Larson ran well. He had a few errors after starting at the front, but his performance was not terrible. This was a year it could have gone to either Rasmussen or Larson. Larson had the edge of average running position and was ahead of Rasmussen after 112 of 200 laps, but Larson did make those errors that cost him. If I had a vote, I would have given it to Rasmussen but understood if Larson won.
If we go back to the Alonso year in 2017, Alonso spent majority of the race in the top five. He was in the top ten for 173 of 179 laps he completed. He led laps on pure speed and if it wasn't for a handful of cautions that mixed up the strategy, we would have been running closer to the front in the later stages. However, Alonso's race ended due to something out of his control. He lost an engine during a race where Honda engines were dropping out of the race left and right.
Ed Jones ended up being the best rookie finisher in third, an impressive result, especially when you consider he did it with Dale Coyne Racing, but the finishing position doesn't tell the entire story. Jones had spent majority of the race outside the top ten. His first lap in the top ten was lap 137, under caution for Ryan Hunter-Reay losing an engine as other cars made pit stops bht Jones had stopped under the lap 122 caution for Buddy Lazier's accident. Jones then caught a break as he was on pit lane when Charlie Kimball lost his engine on lap 167.
Alonso had an average running position of 4.949 over his 179 laps in the 2017 Indianapolis 500. Jones' average running position over the entire race was 13.525.
Two years ago was a little more ignorant. David Malukas had an average running position of 14.43 in the Indianapolis while Johnson's was 21.32 in his 193 laps run. Malukas spent 31 laps in the top ten. Johnson spent 15. Malukas was outside the top twenty for four laps. Johnson was outside the top twenty for 111 laps.
The reaction to Larson's Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year was rather sharp in the days after the race, but it can be blinded. Too many raged against an outsider taking something from an IndyCar regular. In the three major cases we have seen in the last decade, it appears anything short of winning the race can earn an IndyCar regular Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year when competing against a top driver from another series.
But making it black-and-white has its down sides and will likely cause much frustration down the line as well.
We could make it best rookie finisher but then there will be a year when the best rookie finisher doesn't deserve it.
There is bound to be a year where one rookie qualifies in the top six while the other two rookies in the race qualify 28th and 32nd. The rookie starting in the top six will spend most of the first 100 laps in the top five, possibly even leading laps, until an engine failure ends that driver's race and is 32nd in the box score. Meanwhile the two rookies that started on the back two rows end up finishing 23rd and 29th respectably, both off the lead lap, and one of them spun into their pit stall and lost significant time. Who really should be rookie of the year in that case?
Would a rookie run like Tomas Scheckter’s in 2002 really lose out if the best finishing rookie was in 19th and had never spent a lap in top 15?
You can make it black-and-white, but then you are giving the award to a driver most people didn't even realize was in the race while the best rookie who had an unfortunate mechanical issue goes unrecognized. The day that happens, people will be screaming to reverse it to a vote. Why change anything if that will be the case?
Let's leave it as it is because it generally awards the best finishing rookie anyway. Again, 11 of the last 14 Indianapolis 500s have seen the best finishing rookie awarded rookie of the year. The exceptions are just three of the most notable non-IndyCar drivers to run the race in the last decade-and-a-half. Prior to that, the most recent non-best finishing rookie to win the award was Simona de Silvestro and I don’t hear anyone scream for justice for Mario Romancini.
Need I remain you Romancini finished 13th while de Silvestro was 14th, but Romancini started 27th while de Silvestro started 22nd? Not many people are taking up the fight for Romancini. Prior to that, the last time outright Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year did not go to the best finishing rookie was in 1996. Tony Stewart got it after leading 44 laps despite finishing 24th due to an engine failure with only 82 laps complete. Again, no one was taking up the cause for Richie Hearn as the top finishing rookie in third, the final car on the lead lap.
That is five times in the last 29 Indianapolis 500s that the best finishing rookie has not been recognized as Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. Is this really a problem requiring a change? I would say a few too many jealous folk feel entitled to make this an “us- versus-them” kind of thing.
A few things can be done differently to perhaps help the best finishing rookie.
One, the best finishing rookie should be brought to the press conference room post-race. If the issue is the voters do not know who the best rookie finisher was, put him or her on the stage. I don't know if that would have changed the Larson/Rasmussen decision, but if the voters had a chance to speak to Rasmussen and hear about his day driving from 24th to 12th while running a bit in the top ten and making some passes, they might have voted differently.
Two, maybe we look at who is voting and emphasize those who regularly cover the series. I was surprised to hear that this was the first year NBC analyst Townsend Bell got a vote, which Bell shared during a Detroit practice session.
I don't know if only one of the television broadcasters get a vote. I don't know if the pit reporters get a vote. I don't know if the IMS Radio broadcasters get a vote. All those people are regularly at IndyCar races. They know what they are watching. You would think those voices would get a say. I am not sure we need everyone on the television and radio broadcasts included, but I would have imagined that a handful of those people would regularly be in the voting process for Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year.
Another thing that also crossed my mind in the days after this year's race was do the veteran drivers that are competing in the Indianapolis 500 get to vote on Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year? If they aren't, I think that is a miss. The veterans on track are racing against these rookies. They know how the rookies are doing and who was challenging and who wasn't. In this year's race there were 27 veterans in this race. They should all get a vote.
If you are worried about teammates voting for their teammate, then we could exclude those teammates. In that case, the Chip Ganassi Racing veterans, Ed Carpenter Racing veterans, Arrow McLaren veterans and Felix Rosenqvist would have been excluded from the vote, but that would have still left 19 veterans to vote. I am ok with teammates getting a vote, but either way the veterans in the race should get a say if they aren't getting one now.
I don't think we need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. As much as people want to make this black-and-white and just give it to the best finishing rookie by default, that will not be any better. The beauty is there is some interpretation and sometimes the best finisher didn't have the best performance. It is ok to leave it up to a panel, but more could be done to ensure all the contenders are properly acknowledged and made known to those deciding. We should also make sure the most informed minds are included in the decision process.
The Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year is a meager honor in the grand procedure that is the month of May. It is a nice $50,000 bonus to one driver that quickly becomes a footnote in the history book. The track will likely not change how it awards the honor, but there are a few adjustments that could be made that would keep it in the spirit of how it has always been determined.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Lewis Hamilton, but did you know...
Zak O’Sullivan (sprint) and Isack Hadjar (feature) split the Formula Two races from Spa-Francorchamps. Dino Beganovic (sprint) and Callum Voisin (feature) split the Formula Three races.
The #163 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini of Marco Mapelli, Jordan Pepper and Franck Perera won the 3 Hours of Nürburgring.
On Wednesday last week, the European Le Mans Series reversed its decision to penalize the #65 Panis Racing Oreca for premature acceleration at the end of a full course caution at the 4 Hours of Imola. The #65 Oreca of Arthur Leclerc, Manuel Maldonado and Charles Milesi was reinstated as the winner of the Imola round.
Coming Up This Weekend
MotoGP is back from its summer break with the British Grand Prix from Silverstone.
IMSA is at Road America.
Super GT has a race at Fuji.
Rally Finland takes place.
