There will be more buttons to press in this new universe.
Large-scale test runs on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course were conducted on Thursday and Friday as part of the ongoing development of the hybrid engine for the IndyCar Series, which is anticipated to make its racing debut later this season.
On the 2.4-mile IMS road circuit, six IndyCar teams completed hundreds of laps with the new engine. Over 20,000 on-track miles have been completed by the hybrid package throughout its development and adjustment phase.
Driver Rinus VeeKay of Ed Carpenter Racing commented, “There’s a lot of new stuff for all of us as a team to digest and run through.” “It is pretty similar; I just have to go through a lot more stuff and press a lot more buttons.” I usually know roughly what we’re doing, but because this is all new to me, I’m constantly learning.
With the new engine, drivers will be able to restart engines and have access to additional push-to-pass choices. There will be a fresh environment to discover.
Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing remarked, “It’s a whole new ball of wax for me.” To comprehend how you perform the (hybrid) regeneration—automatic, manual, or braking—is fascinating because, in my opinion, each person will play it a little bit differently. It’s a component we’ll need to watch frequently.
The hybrid was characterized by Romain Grosjean as “a complex system.” It will require a significant amount of what we saw this morning. We have a lot of possibilities to choose from; the work is to figure them out. It is really dissimilar. Numerous buttons need to be pushed. Once more, this is just the start.
The restart capabilities, according to Sting Ray Robb, add a noticeable new element.
He remarked, “That’s really good to see because we have a way to restart instead of waiting for a safety crew to get to us if we go long in a brake zone, stall your car, and spin around.” “It’s encouraging to observe the series’ inventiveness. I believe that the 20,000+ miles we’ve put on the car are merely a testimonial to the fact that the entire package appears to be functioning rather effectively.
There has been debate regarding the hybrid system’s added weight and how it may affect setups.
The arrangement will need to be altered significantly because it is hefty and in the back of the vehicle, according to Grosjean.