IndyCar has been going in the right direction for years, so this is no surprise to me. But I'm very delighted that you all like it! That tells me that they nailed it, since F1 fans are *the* most skeptical and hard to please...and numerous. Some will never watch because it's perceived as an "oval" series (more on that later), but it's really not. It's the only series that test drivers' on ovals, road courses, and tough street circuits. Detroit looks as brutal as any race all year, but hardly anyone watches! lol.
Let me plead (to the oval skeptics) my case regarding ovals. I have been to so many IndyCar oval races I can't count, and many road courses too. I have been a fan since 1992, watched Nigel Mansell come over (live at Nazareth) and win the whole damn thing! And then saw the heart-breaking split, Champ Car bankruptcy, re-unification, then early struggles. It has not been easy. I was the biggest critic of the IRL, as was Robin Miller and initially most of the owners, but then Indy, being the cash cow that it is, muted the competition and setup an inevitable quandary...how do we get road course fans (the vast majority of IndyCar fans, I believe) back?
They had no other choice, really, because the talent was watered down and there were too many races (but, in reality, the split was pretty good for fans because you had two decent open wheel series' going at the same time in the same country) to keep track of. And fans knew -- what makes IndyCar IndyCar is the variety of the tracks; a true test of any driver and the best one on the market.
About ovals -- think of it this way...ever feel like you just know everything about a sport and you can practically predict the outcome? Football is that way for me. Soccer too. lol. The key to watching ovals is to not just rely on the T.V. You have to try it. Go get your rigs out and join a 30 car race at any oval track. There is so much going on behind the wheel and in the drivers' head, that you can't ever "get it" unless you drive it IRL or virtually in a SIM, or go to many live. Watch the drivers when they get out of the car after an oval at the end...it's like they are on uppers. Even seasoned drivers are a bit giddy, and some angry. Fights happen more at ovals. For a good reason. The focus and intensity (it never lets up and is almost completely aero driven, unlike a road course) it takes is immense. They have hooked up vital sign monitors to drivers and found that heart rate, respiration, lack of blinking, etc., is far greater on an oval, which means that it's tougher...but sadly doesn't appear that way. So, I get the lack of love from T.V. alone, but once you learn about it and live it, nothing, and I mean nothing, beats a good oval race. Texas has been the best race in the entire world for 2-3 years now, IMO.
Otherwise, great article and wonderful car. They have some interesting safety features (IndyCar, believe it or not, has been ahead of F1 in this department because they can't afford not to be) now, and the whole "we can't do this because of passing" argument is a red herring...and always has been. Racing is racing...no gimmicks, no fear, and no quarter. The bumpers on the read were hideous, and now that they are gone, the true car can shine through. Even this year, the road course version is very handsome. I expect the 2018 road course version will be stunning.
But I agree with you all...if Mercedes is throwing $1B at their car, and Penske is throwing $1M at theirs, IndyCar is living proof that the FIA (and all giant bureaucracies) need to get out of the way. Liberty can't help but be influenced by IndyCar because of where they are incorporated and who they are led by, and you see this influence already, with the fan-a-pa-loozas at the F1 tracks. But have faith...the FIA will not prevail in this endeavor. There would be no FIA except for the monopolistic power they hold. But that's also a liability, since if world competition is what they crave, they are fixing to get a really big dose. IndyCar has plans to go to China,
Europe, and Mexico, so the FIA and F1 need to get a move on. But I think they will because of Liberty and because of fans like you...who remember what greatness is/was.
Mark Miles, head of IndyCar now...is a genius.
My first thought when I saw this was "wow, Fernando must be *dying* to run in a car like this, and *dying* to come back to an oval (take it from him, not me, if you must re: ovals) because they are so intense for the driver (and either casual or advanced fan, but not in between, lol). So, a few more predictions:
1. Fernando leaves F1 next year and joins an IndyCar team.
2. At least one other current world champion joins IndyCar before their career is over.
3. In five years, IndyCar will be 1/2 as big as F1 and be racing on
at least two other continents.