On lap 211 of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 in August, Josef Newgarden slid into the turn 2 wall attempting a desperate move on Devlin DeFrancesco. His thin championship hopes damaged like the right rear toe-link on his car, Newgarden limped to the pits, out of the running, and out of the championship picture.
Having won the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500, the race that he had always dreamed of winning, Josef Newgarden should have loved 2023. And yet, when facing the media on January 10th, he admitted that ‘I just want to get back to loving this’.
Having finished as runner-up in three of the last five championships, falling short of his ambitions has taken its toll on Team Penske’s superstar.
‘I think getting back to some simplicity would be good for me.’
He was not alone in his admission.
Pato O’Ward was similarly outspoken about the mental strain of the 2023 season. He spent the offseason attempting to ‘just calm down the pace of…life in general a bit’.
A refresh over the winter has made drivers hungrier than ever, prepared to right the wrongs of 2023 and prove their worth over eighteen gruellingly tough races.
Marcus Ericsson has repeatedly stressed the importance he places on taking care of his mental health and strength. The hiring of a psychological coach has given him new methods of dealing with setbacks, channelling his own thoughts, and focusing only on controllable variables.
So why the emphasis on psychological strength? In 2023, the drivers were defeated by the supreme talent and speed of Alex Palou.
The 2021 series champion went on an unrelenting mid-season run which spanned four wins in five races, a supreme pole position at the Indianapolis 500, second place in Toronto with his front wing so damaged it was held in place only by the livery wrap, and a remarkable comeback drive in ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’, from 28th and out of the running on lap 103, to fourth at the chequered flag.
It was simply too much for any of his competitors. Each one arrived at the track unable to break the Spaniard, who finished inside the top eight in every single round of the season, breezing to the championship with a win in Portland, his sixth of the season.
Palou is by no means arrogant about his chances in 2024, and talked modestly about defending his title this season. ‘I think it’s more of a shock if we see a champion repeating than if we don’t see him repeating’.
When asked from where the challenge would come, Palou mentioned teammate and six time champion Scott Dixon, perhaps the only driver unphased by his dominance in 2023. Dixon won three of the last four rounds last season, denied a record equalling seventh championship by the brilliance of Palou. Dixon will be hoping to upstage his young Spanish teammate in 2024.
Palou mentioned the omnipresent Newgarden, but also Scott McLaughlin. The Kiwi driver finished highest of the three Team Penske drivers, third in the championship with a solitary victory, seeing the chequered flag first at Barber back in April.
‘It is hard to find that last little bit. Somehow, some way, you find it.’ McLaughlin will see 2024 as the perfect opportunity to grab his first championship title, now fully equipped with the tools to bring home the Astor Cup.
The 2022 champion Will Power must not be discounted either. A stressful 2023 saw racing take a back seat in his life, when his wife Liz suffering with serious illness. ‘Not having that stress, the constant thought in the back of your mind of what’s going on there frees up a bit of space.’ The Australian is back at 100% for 2024.
Full psychological focus is imperative if a driver is to win the title. Gaining that mental edge over competitors makes the job significantly easier.
So what of the rest?
For the aforementioned Marcus Ericsson and Pato O’Ward, the maximisation of every race weekend is essential in order to launch a championship challenge. Their respective teams at Andretti and McLaren are capable of challenging on a weekly basis, but struggle to put together meaningful championship runs that cause Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing to lose sleep.
Both will return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May to avenge the events of May 2023. Ericsson wants retribution after a second Indianapolis 500 win was snatched from his grasp on the final lap. O’Ward seeks revenge on Ericsson having come off worse in late-race duels with the Swede in both 2022 and 2023.
Ericsson joins Andretti Global with a point to prove – Chip Ganassi did not see enough from Ericsson to grant him a paid contract, despite an Indy500 win and three other victories, instead only employing him should his sponsors bring enough money for the car. The switch to Andretti will see Ericsson paid lucratively for his services.
Teammates Kyle Kirkwood and Colton Herta also have doubters to suppress. Herta is winless since his 2022 GMR Grand Prix masterclass, and Kirkwood is desperate to add consistent performances to last season’s pair of wins.
Alexander Rossi had a decent 2023, but knows that having now settled into Arrow McLaren, wins and podiums are an expectation this year. One of the series’ fastest drivers needs to rediscover his winning mojo, having only experienced victory lane once in the aeroscreen era.
He will be joined at Arrow McLaren (broken wrist aside) by David Malukas. The young prodigy proved his worth on ovals in 2023, with top 5 finishes at Worldwide Technology Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway, but will now have to face the pressures of a winning environment.
Rookie of the Year in 2023 Marcus Armstrong will need to kick on in 2024, as he attempts ovals for the first time in his career. Chip Ganassi Racing have also acquired the services of Linus Lundqvist and teenager Kyffin Simpson.
Lundqvist wowed the paddock with a string of eye-catching performances at Meyer Shank Racing, filling in for Simon Pagenaud, and Simpson showed strong pace at the pre-season test at Sebring.
For RLL, their comeback on ovals will be heavily scrutinised in 2024. All four of their cars made up the final five spots in qualifying, with Jack Harvey dramatically bumping Graham Rahal from the field in the dying seconds of last chance qualifying.
Having restructured their engineering team, and rectified the ‘low hanging fruit’ that hampered their oval campaigns in 2024, much will be expected of Christian Lundgaard, as RLL seek to retain his services beyond 2024. Pietro Fittipaldi joins for his first full season in the series, and Graham Rahal remains a constant presence in the team.
Romain Grosjean’s Indycar career has been thrown a lifeline – two torrid seasons at Andretti with consecutive 13th place finishes in the championship meant Grosjean was seatless for the upcoming season, until Ricardo Juncos saw the benefit of employing the popular Frenchman.
Juncos will be hoping for better in 2024, their car improved thanks to technical links with McLaren, and Canapino has a full season of single seater experience under his belt. No excuses for stagnation anymore, Juncos must progress.
Ed Carpenter Racing will be desperate for improvement in 2024. Rinus Veekay has shown faith in the team that gave him his big break in Indycar, but has since recorded just one win with the team. He will be joined by rookie Christian Rasmussen, with Ed Carpenter stepping into Rasmussen’s car on all ovals except the Indianapolis 500.
Likewise, Meyer Shank Racing need improvement. The signings of Felix Rosenqvist from Arrow McLaren and Tom Blomqvist are statement choices, with both drivers sporting relatively successful careers until this point.
More consistent ventures towards the front of the field will be the target in 2024, and Helio Castroneves will continue to undertake his drive for a fifth Indianapolis 500 victory in May.
Dale Coyne Racing only finalised their drivers early this week, but Jack Harvey has also been thrown one more opportunity to revitalise his career. Following an early dismissal from RLL, Harvey will join the grid in 2024 attempting to prove this was the wrong decision, as he pilots Dale Coyne’s flagship car for fourteen of the eighteen rounds.
Nolan Siegel will run the other four races alongside his Indy NXT program, and Colin Braun has been signed to the first 2 races in the car partnered with Rick Ware Racing.
Finally, AJ Foyt will be hoping for significant leaps in performance for 2024. Comfortably the slowest team last year, with the lowlight being both drivers finishing over nine laps off the pace in Iowa.
Despite this, there was reasonable success at the Indy500 – Pedersen earnt the rookie of the year honours and Santino Ferrucci finished third. Ferrucci continues with the team, but will be joined by the outgoing Pedersen’s wooden spoon sparring partner from 2023, Sting Ray Robb. Having endured a tough rookie season, Robb must elevate his performances in 2024.
There will be twists and turns throughout 2024, as every driver who pilots an Indycar this year will be faced with an intense battle on track, and with themselves. Indycar is about finding that extra edge over the competition, that final 1%, those final thousands of a second which can be championship defining.
Should a driver gain the psychological advantage over the competition like Alex Palou did in 2023, their momentum will be hard to stop. But in Indycar, nothing is for certain. 18 bitterly intense races await. May the best driver win.
Single Seater Space 