Written by Dan Jones
As as been a familiar theme through 2024 and years past, it was Álex Palou at the top of the timesheets after a rain-affected first practice session at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the first official weekend session with the new hybrid unit.
The Spaniard topped the session with a 1:07.0650, a 0.443 second gap to Alexander Rossi, who was announced to be leaving Arrow McLaren this week, replaced by Rahal Letterman Lanigan's, Christian Lundgaard.
"Yeah, it was short. Not much running." The words of Palou to describe an interrupted practice session, when light rain became heavier toward sessions end, leaving very few cars to attempt the wet forecast, which is not scheduled for the rest of the weekend.
This meant that all the field did not have the opportunity to use the red alternate tyre - the tyre that will be used in qualifying tomorrow. With usage of the alternate tyre not permitted in the second practice session, drivers will go into qualifying blind somewhat as they test the grip levels of the newly re-paved Mid-Ohio. Their only opportunity to get race running on the tyre prior to Sunday's 80 lap race will be the morning warm-up. The unpredictability could throw in another factor this weekend.
Palou topped the session from Rossi, with Marcus Armstrong in third, despite a spin at Turn 7 mid-way through the session. Armstrong attempted to re-start his stalled car with the hybrid unit - a new feature of the hybrid system allowing drivers to restart their cars without the need of the AMR Safety Team, however, the Kiwi was unable to.
Colton Herta continued his run of form in fourth, ahead of Scott McLaughlin, home hero, Graham Rahal, Pato O'Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Kyle Kirkwood and Will Power.
The other red flag of the session would be caused by Agustín Canapino, when smoke and flames poured out the back of his Juncos Hollinger Racing machine. It was confirmed to be a loose oil line which wasn't tightened, rather than a hybrid issue. Jack Harvey and Josef Newgarden also suffered spins in the session but went away unharmed.
Hybrid adaptation
The introduction of the hybrid system is undoubtedly the talking point of the weekend - with Álex Palou and Pato O'Ward being quizzed on their thoughts on the system.
When asked if he could feel the hybrid, O'Ward stated: "You can feel it. You can definitely feel it when you engage the deploy. It's obviously not as big as I think people are thinking in terms of lap time. It's less than two tenths I would say with a perfectly optimized usage of deployment strategy."
"I think the system is capable of so much more, so I would like to see that evolve into let's really push this system and see how much it can actually give us in terms of lap time because if it gives us four, five, six tenths over the lap, I think that's when we'll really see it getting optimized by all the teams and just trying to perfect it as much as possible because now it won't be as -- it'll usually overthrow a little balance difference in the car exactly."
O'Ward's comments are significant - only two tenths isn't too significant in the grand scheme of things but could be instrumental in some small aspects- especially come qualifying: "I've been left out of the Fast Six for half a tenth a couple times this year. If someone uses it that half a tenth better than you do, they'll transfer and you won't if you're right on the throw-out line."
When asked if O'Ward had learned anything in the session he said: "Nothing we already know from the tests that we've done. The balance of the car has changed. I think it's an accumulation of both the new tarmac and the 100 pounds at the rear of the car that have shuffled the mechanical balance of the car rearwards, but I think you'll see teams and drivers get creative for the race. I think that's where you're going to see a massive shift in, like, effect on the tire or stuff like that."
Palou further echoed O'Ward's comments by saying 'not much surprises,' but was surprised at the 'amount of deploy we had each lap,' more than the Spaniard was expecting.
The hybrid is just yet another tool that the drivers will have to balance in their cars, amongst the push-to-pass systems as well as differential and other key components. It's a crucial learning curve for the drivers to establish in their rhythm.
When asked if it would be second-nature soon, Palou commented: "I don't know, but I think we're going to talk about more than I expected. Like you see IMSA that they spoke about it for two weeks and that's it. Everybody forgot. I think with the system, it's more like Push-to-Pass. Everybody talks about OT every race weekend, how we use it. I think it's going to be the same." O'Ward agreed with Palou's comments.
The hybrid has been tested since August last year, giving drivers plenty of time to think about implementation. O'Ward said "the more you think, the worse you're going to use it, you're just going to get confused." Palou, however, disagreed saying: "It's a tool that doesn't gain you a lot, but it gains you enough to make the difference."
Hybrid testing has been prominent throughout the season, particularly for the top teams of Penske, Ganassi, McLaren and Andretti who have had extreme testing time away from the on-track sessions. However, both O'Ward and Palou are looking forward to just having to one one unit: "Yeah, it's nice that we're just going to have this for the rest of the year. You would expect it to throw curveballs to I'd say multiple teams, multiple drivers"
"Yeah, I think it's good that we're now in the hybrid. Like we were testing the end of last season with the hybrid, and you had stuff in your mind, and then you start all over with the 2023 car, let's say. Yeah, it's good that we keep it that way. Let's see how it goes."
The hybrid is only going to be a bigger story throughout the rest of the weekend as drivers adapt to using the additional tool in the cockpit, as well as adjusting to the new track....
Repaving challenges
There has been much talk about repaves in IndyCar world in recent weeks - particularly due to the single-lane repave done at Iowa Speedway - which has increased speeds by up to 8mph and reduced tyre degradation significantly. Both Road America and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca repaved last year - and both were significantly treacherous if you went off-line.
Those repaves were done just a few weeks before the races, however Mid-Ohio completed it's repave in October, meaning that the surface has already been used for nine months. There were little incidents - Newgarden had a spin entering Thunder Valley, but that was more the fact he went wide. Jack Harvey lost the rear into keyhole, sending the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing into a spin, whilst Marcus Armstrong had a bigger moment into Turn 7, but avoided the barrier.
O'Ward, along with Kyle Kirkwood and Colton Herta braved the wet conditions late on in the session, to get more of a feel for the wet conditions that the series does not regularly run in - O'Ward in particular after his elimination in the Fast 12 in the drying conditions at Road America. It was clear that a combination of the weather and the tarmac made it difficult to drive. O'Ward was understeering particularly significantly, coasting through the corners.
Kirkwood would equally struggle, he saved a huge slide coming into the final corner, before attempting the fourth-gear Turn 1 in second. The lack of grip and establishment of a true racing line made the surface very difficult to drive.
Despite the changes, O'Ward expects Sunday's action to be similar to that in previous years: "I don't expect this race to be any different to the last few years. It's going to be a track position race, very sensitive to where you qualify"
Palou seemed like he was still trying to get the car in the correct window with a combination of the hybrid and the repave.
It doesn't initially seem as treacherous as Laguna Seca or Road America was, but when drivers attempt the reds for the first time tomorrow, it could well be a different story.
Rain, rain, go away
It was a frustratingly quiet session with drizzle getting progressively heavier in the session, leading to the three mentioned cars being the only ones on circuit for the last half-an-hour.
The significance is that half-an-hour is the period where drivers will try qualifying runs on the red tyre ahead of qualifying tomorrow. However, the rain meant no driver had the opportunity to go onto the red tyre leaving a question mark ahead of tomorrow.
Palou still believed it would not be correct to use the reds at the start of the session, despite the rain: "We knew that there was chances of the wet coming, but it doesn't really make much sense also to run it at the beginning and be like, I don't know, imagine it doesn't rain and we're like a second slower and then you don't know if it was the track improving or the driving or the car, whatever. That's why I think I'm happy that nobody did."
However, with a repave, the emphasis is laying down as much rubber as possible: "Yeah, I think it's a track that always wants more rubber, and even though it's a new tarmac, it still wants more rubber. I think we saw a bit of evolution from the timings at the beginning and at the end."
Palou would only do nine laps on Friday saying 'everyone wanted more' and he 'didn't get all the learnings we wanted.' O'Ward said: "We would have liked to get a few more laps. We truly only kind of got one. But at least we got one in, a decent lap in, that we can kind of look over and really see what we need. I know what we need from the car, so that's the most important thing."
Practice 2 seems critical in the context of the weekend: "I think for everybody just to get through all the hybrid systems that we want to get reads on all the stages and also to get the car where we want because with the repave, everything changed quite a lot. It's going to be exciting tomorrow." O'Ward followed saying it will 'obviously be the most important going into qualifying.'
It was not an ideal outcome for those looking to get a representation of the hybrid. Feel for debutant, Toby Sowery, who's never driven a hybrid before this event, and hasn't driven an IndyCar in over twelve months. That said, Sowery finished a respectable 21st, ahead of teammate and compatriot, Jack Harvey.
The latest domino in the driver market
After Alexander Rossi's move away from Arrow McLaren, after the two could not agree terms, the team opted for Christian Lundgaard. Arrow McLaren team principal, Gavin Ward, said he was looking at several options at the end of 2023, after Palou opted not to honour his McLaren contract, Lundgaard being one of them. Lundgaard was not available at the time, but the team were quick to snap his services up when a space came available.
O'Ward reflected on his time in the team with Rossi: "He was a great addition to the team. He brought a lot that we can kind of fall back on, learn from, analyze. He definitely brought a different direction that obviously I haven't experienced in my IndyCar career. I haven't been with truly another top team. For us, for me, it's kind of normal of where we've been, but it's been very useful to have people that have been elsewhere for multiple years and really kind of compare the two and just to obviously strive and get better."
He followed on his thoughts on Lundgaard: "I like the guy. He's good. He's quick. It's the same as when Felix joined, same as when Alex joined. All I hope for and what we all want as a team is just to work together and take the team to the next level because we're obviously not there yet."
The team have not won on-track since the Iowa Salute to the Farmers 300 in 2022, O'Ward only benefitting from Josef Newgarden's disqualification to claim victory on the Streets of St. Petersburg, two months after the race.
Rossi has had a very strong season to date, and only lies 10 points off his teammate. The McLaren dynamic could be an interesting one for the remainder of the year.
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