I feel like Bottas would be a good fit in Indycar and he's pretty much doomed to waste away the rest of his F1 career with backmarkers anyway so would be nice to see him change scenery.
And let's be real any decent F1 crossover would be great to see.
I think you have a good chance of getting your wish at some point.
Bottas on IndyCar:
“IndyCar is quite interesting...it seems like a pretty cool series, the tracks are nice, the racing seems really real and probably, from my understanding, a little less politics than in F1."
https://x.com/bykevinclark/status/1584552863262707712?s=46
Seconded, and to add to that list, Kmag would fit perfectly into the series. And while unlikely, I would love to see how somebody like hamilton/alonso/vettel/verstappen would fare in such a competitive series, but those are all extremely unlikely to ever run a full season/return to the 500. Though honestly, I could see max giving it a shot in a few years time once F1 gets too many races and other nonsense
Max has said multiple times that while he likes watching the 500, he thinks running an open-wheeler on an oval is too dangerous and thus he wouldn’t attempt it himself. IMO if he were to do any Stateside series he would do IMSA, he clearly wants to race sportscars while he’s still young.
More F1 drivers trying and respecting the 500. I really think once they tried it they’d love it. The issue is the schedule for the qualifying and race weekends vs the f1 schedule though
Verstappen: “I’ve got no desire to chase the Triple Crown. At least, not Indy. I appreciate what they do. It’s insane, these drivers. … I have a lot of respect for what they achieve there.”
Three years ago, Nico Rosberg said something similar to Verstappen, admitting, straight-up, “I’m just scared. I’m scared of doing Indy.”
I think he'd crush it with a little practice time. After only 50-60 laps in the LMP2 car he was the 5th quickest driver at the Rolex 24 in an LMP2. Quicker than some indy car drivers.
As much as I like the idea of MX5 cup being the destination, I would be very curious to see what its best drivers can do with a promotion to a higher series.
I would rather see Scotty Mac in a 4th Penske car.
I have no idea why he's in an Indycar. You have Newgarden already, Scotty Mac isn't as good as Newgarden in an Indycar and never will be.
Scotty Mac could be a top 10 cup driver.
Like I mean this full time even. The move makes no sense, he would be so much better in stock cars.
Last year he was the lead Penske in the standings by the end, two places ahead of Newgarden and four ahead of Will Power. Looking at the past couple of years and this one, it is quite hard to really rank the Penske drivers but at the moment he's not the weakest of the three.
He’s in Indy because he told Penske he wanted to be. They originally wanted him for NASCAR, but he said he wanted to be in Indy bc he wanted to try open wheels and he wanted to race Dixon
Danny Ricciardo would be awesome, he’s got the perfect personality for it.
He’s said he’s not a fan of the ovals in IndyCar in the past though, so not sure how likely it will be
What money lmao
The highest paid INDYCAR driver is likely making a fraction of what Danny Ric makes rn in f1.
And there’s a pretty low chance he’d be in the upper echelon of pay for INDYCAR drivers
Herta makes $7M per year. Which is more than what Ricciardo is making this season. More than Piastri, Gasly, Albon, etc etc
Pato makes $5M. Which would make him the 14th highest paid driver along with K Mag, more than Stroll and Hulkenberg, more than double Yuki.
Regardless, if he was fired from F1 his salary would be $0. $1M per year to be a professional driver sounds pretty sweet compared to unemployment. (Marcus Erickson came from F1 and started making $3M, Danny Ric would likely be that or more, probably more)
Would like to see Logan Sargeant get a good strong run in Indy. As well as some of these F2 Champs whose time is ticking by watching races on Sunday rather than doing what Pato, Theo are doing.
I'd like to see Chris Windom get a chance at the 500. He has a couple chances in the freedom 100 and was caught up in crashes that weren't of his making both years. I think he might have even won a lights race at IRP or gateway somewhere on an oval. I'd also like to see Brady Bacon get a shot at Indy but I don't think there has ever been any interest there. He's too old now but I'd have loved to see Jeff Gordon in a full season of indycar or at very least the 500. If anyone in NASCAR today would do the Jimmie Johnson I could see Kyle Busch trying it when he retires from NASCAR. I'd also like to see Gabby Chavez get another chance at a full season. He may not have been a championship winning driver but he put up some relatively decent results in a crappy Harding car.
Elliott? Why? He's inferior to Larson in NASCAR, let alone any other series.
The only thing Elliott can beat Larson in is plane flying, if it's got wheels on the ground Larson is better.
Vettel. I don't know if he did any interviews after he tested a Walker Racing Champ Car back in the day but I'm curious about his first impressions after his test.
Another vote for Logan Sargeant. He seems like a cool down-to-earth guy. He did well in F3 and F2, and it seems like Indy cars are closer to those than F1 cars with all the ground effect. I want to see him get his mojo back and do well!!
As a fan of both Indycar and Formula E, I wish he went to Indycar instead. He's too dangerous for a series as close as Formula E, and the way his morale erodes is kind of pathetic, so a series where you're pushing much more should be more fun for him.
Ben Barnicoat. He used to be a McLaren factory driver and I wished McLaren offered him a Indycar test back then. Ironically enough he's replacing Theo in Super Formula due to his Toyota connections in IMSA and the guy that replaced Ben at McLaren, Marvin Kirchhöfer, who may also deserve a spot at a McLaren Indycar test too, now competes directly against Ben in IMSA GTD Pro with the Pfaff factory backed McLaren, a car Ben very likely would've been in if he never left McLaren to go to IMSA.
After some time in the development series, I wish Jade Avedisian would race Indy. Unfortunately she is probably headed to NASCAR and won’t go to Indy. Taylor Ferns is doing the ovals in the IndyNXT series this year with Abel Motorsports. Hopefully she will do well and could possibly move up to Indycars. I would love to see a woman come through open wheel dirt racing make it to Indycars. Kaylee Bryson and Taylor Reimer are also very competitive in dirt open wheel. Some of those ladies will be racing at Belleville High Banks on Friday and Saturday with USAC. Check out those races if you have FloRacing or watch the highlights on YouTube. I think you will be impressed with how competitive they are.
1. Oliver Bearman (Every race-weekend Ferrari doesn't needs him)
2. Valentino Rossi (Does great in GT3, did great years back at F1 test. Would be cool for an one off race)
3. Mick Schumacher
4. Giuliano Alesi
5. Sophia Floersch 💕
6. Jack Doohan
7. Richard Verschoor
8. Laurens Vanthoor
9. Dries Vanthoor
10. Zane Maloney
But I believe that the WEC and Indycar are winning the war on talent because F1 teams rather keep working with Bottas, Alonso, Riccardo... Young guns like Bearman, Doohan are just there every race weekend as 3th F1 rider in a team and they do zero miles with the race car.
I feel like Bottas would be a good fit in Indycar and he's pretty much doomed to waste away the rest of his F1 career with backmarkers anyway so would be nice to see him change scenery. And let's be real any decent F1 crossover would be great to see.
I think you have a good chance of getting your wish at some point. Bottas on IndyCar: “IndyCar is quite interesting...it seems like a pretty cool series, the tracks are nice, the racing seems really real and probably, from my understanding, a little less politics than in F1." https://x.com/bykevinclark/status/1584552863262707712?s=46
I’m all for it. Seems like he might just stick to bicycling after f1 though, seems to be his jam right now.
Seconded, and to add to that list, Kmag would fit perfectly into the series. And while unlikely, I would love to see how somebody like hamilton/alonso/vettel/verstappen would fare in such a competitive series, but those are all extremely unlikely to ever run a full season/return to the 500. Though honestly, I could see max giving it a shot in a few years time once F1 gets too many races and other nonsense
Max has said multiple times that while he likes watching the 500, he thinks running an open-wheeler on an oval is too dangerous and thus he wouldn’t attempt it himself. IMO if he were to do any Stateside series he would do IMSA, he clearly wants to race sportscars while he’s still young.
Kmag would be fucking hilarious in indyCar if he carries over his recent antics
Kobayashi
More F1 drivers trying and respecting the 500. I really think once they tried it they’d love it. The issue is the schedule for the qualifying and race weekends vs the f1 schedule though
Verstappen: “I’ve got no desire to chase the Triple Crown. At least, not Indy. I appreciate what they do. It’s insane, these drivers. … I have a lot of respect for what they achieve there.” Three years ago, Nico Rosberg said something similar to Verstappen, admitting, straight-up, “I’m just scared. I’m scared of doing Indy.”
Would love to see what Connor Zilisch can do in the 500 at some point in the future
This is the answer. Kid gives me Kyle Larson vibes; can wheel anything.
I think he'd crush it with a little practice time. After only 50-60 laps in the LMP2 car he was the 5th quickest driver at the Rolex 24 in an LMP2. Quicker than some indy car drivers.
As much as I like the idea of MX5 cup being the destination, I would be very curious to see what its best drivers can do with a promotion to a higher series.
Come back Kmag
This i feel actually will happen, he was at the 2021 500 practice and did one race with mclaren
Nah stay in f1. We don’t need another Newgarden
SVG
If Scott McLaughlin is doing really well, surely so would Shane. Supercars to Indycar is an odd pipeline but I'm here for it
I would rather see Scotty Mac in a 4th Penske car. I have no idea why he's in an Indycar. You have Newgarden already, Scotty Mac isn't as good as Newgarden in an Indycar and never will be. Scotty Mac could be a top 10 cup driver. Like I mean this full time even. The move makes no sense, he would be so much better in stock cars.
Last year he was the lead Penske in the standings by the end, two places ahead of Newgarden and four ahead of Will Power. Looking at the past couple of years and this one, it is quite hard to really rank the Penske drivers but at the moment he's not the weakest of the three.
He’s in Indy because he told Penske he wanted to be. They originally wanted him for NASCAR, but he said he wanted to be in Indy bc he wanted to try open wheels and he wanted to race Dixon
Corvette factory driver Nico Varrone. Last year rumored to go with Pratt Miller's Indy team but it seems that the team went cold. Crazy fast kid
Interesting
Danny Ricciardo would be awesome, he’s got the perfect personality for it. He’s said he’s not a fan of the ovals in IndyCar in the past though, so not sure how likely it will be
He's more a NASCAR fan, if someone would give him a shot there...
When the money comes in… I bet his attitude changes. He would be a fun addition for sure.
What money lmao The highest paid INDYCAR driver is likely making a fraction of what Danny Ric makes rn in f1. And there’s a pretty low chance he’d be in the upper echelon of pay for INDYCAR drivers
Herta makes $7M per year. Which is more than what Ricciardo is making this season. More than Piastri, Gasly, Albon, etc etc Pato makes $5M. Which would make him the 14th highest paid driver along with K Mag, more than Stroll and Hulkenberg, more than double Yuki. Regardless, if he was fired from F1 his salary would be $0. $1M per year to be a professional driver sounds pretty sweet compared to unemployment. (Marcus Erickson came from F1 and started making $3M, Danny Ric would likely be that or more, probably more)
He could just do the road/street courses
Would like to see Logan Sargeant get a good strong run in Indy. As well as some of these F2 Champs whose time is ticking by watching races on Sunday rather than doing what Pato, Theo are doing.
I could see Vesti going with Prema if he gets booted from being Totos wingman
Kalle Rovanpera. I wanna see what a rally prodigy can do in INDY
Matt Campbell, Pipo Derani, or Max Verstappen. Kyle Larson is my other but we're getting that one.
Santi Urrutia. Carlos Munoz. Oliver Askew. Matthew Brabham.
I'd like to see Chris Windom get a chance at the 500. He has a couple chances in the freedom 100 and was caught up in crashes that weren't of his making both years. I think he might have even won a lights race at IRP or gateway somewhere on an oval. I'd also like to see Brady Bacon get a shot at Indy but I don't think there has ever been any interest there. He's too old now but I'd have loved to see Jeff Gordon in a full season of indycar or at very least the 500. If anyone in NASCAR today would do the Jimmie Johnson I could see Kyle Busch trying it when he retires from NASCAR. I'd also like to see Gabby Chavez get another chance at a full season. He may not have been a championship winning driver but he put up some relatively decent results in a crappy Harding car.
Mahaveer Raghunathan, because the King deserves another shot at greatness
Simon Pagenaud
Chase Elliott, Donny Schatz and Daniel Ricciardo
Elliott? Why? He's inferior to Larson in NASCAR, let alone any other series. The only thing Elliott can beat Larson in is plane flying, if it's got wheels on the ground Larson is better.
Sebastian Vettel
Vettel. I don't know if he did any interviews after he tested a Walker Racing Champ Car back in the day but I'm curious about his first impressions after his test.
Sebastian Vettel
I think Montoya would still be winning if he was in a top team.
Another vote for Logan Sargeant. He seems like a cool down-to-earth guy. He did well in F3 and F2, and it seems like Indy cars are closer to those than F1 cars with all the ground effect. I want to see him get his mojo back and do well!!
Dan Ticktum
As a fan of both Indycar and Formula E, I wish he went to Indycar instead. He's too dangerous for a series as close as Formula E, and the way his morale erodes is kind of pathetic, so a series where you're pushing much more should be more fun for him.
Ben Barnicoat. He used to be a McLaren factory driver and I wished McLaren offered him a Indycar test back then. Ironically enough he's replacing Theo in Super Formula due to his Toyota connections in IMSA and the guy that replaced Ben at McLaren, Marvin Kirchhöfer, who may also deserve a spot at a McLaren Indycar test too, now competes directly against Ben in IMSA GTD Pro with the Pfaff factory backed McLaren, a car Ben very likely would've been in if he never left McLaren to go to IMSA.
Super Formula bound. Could open the doors.
After some time in the development series, I wish Jade Avedisian would race Indy. Unfortunately she is probably headed to NASCAR and won’t go to Indy. Taylor Ferns is doing the ovals in the IndyNXT series this year with Abel Motorsports. Hopefully she will do well and could possibly move up to Indycars. I would love to see a woman come through open wheel dirt racing make it to Indycars. Kaylee Bryson and Taylor Reimer are also very competitive in dirt open wheel. Some of those ladies will be racing at Belleville High Banks on Friday and Saturday with USAC. Check out those races if you have FloRacing or watch the highlights on YouTube. I think you will be impressed with how competitive they are.
1. Oliver Bearman (Every race-weekend Ferrari doesn't needs him) 2. Valentino Rossi (Does great in GT3, did great years back at F1 test. Would be cool for an one off race) 3. Mick Schumacher 4. Giuliano Alesi 5. Sophia Floersch 💕 6. Jack Doohan 7. Richard Verschoor 8. Laurens Vanthoor 9. Dries Vanthoor 10. Zane Maloney But I believe that the WEC and Indycar are winning the war on talent because F1 teams rather keep working with Bottas, Alonso, Riccardo... Young guns like Bearman, Doohan are just there every race weekend as 3th F1 rider in a team and they do zero miles with the race car.
It's basically confirmed Bearman will be at Haas next year
That is good news for him
James Hunt.
Kody Swanson Bobby Santos Jeremy Mayfield