Reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou in the No.10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was fastest on Friday’s final day of the two-day open test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The Spaniard set the fastest speed of 224.342MPH, and speaking following the action, he said:
“It was a good day of testing. “We tried a lot of stuff. Yesterday was Firestone, today was more us, Ganassi and Honda. We’re happy. You want to come here, and even if you’re testing a bunch of stuff, you want to be first.”
In relation to running the hybrid system on the IMS oval, Palou commented saying:
“I think the overtake we get (from the hybrid) is nice. “I think it’s good enough to set up a pass maybe in the middle of the pack. We’ll have to see.”
Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:
How important is track time here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
“It’s huge. We were on top of the board most of this morning. Getting comfortable with the car, the hybrid system. To be honest, we’ve learned a lot this year on the ovals and just kind of reapplying what we’ve learned and the knowledge we have to the speedway. I’m very comfortable already with the car, so we broke early. Made some major over-lunch changes to chase a new direction, and we’ll see how it goes. I’m happy we get an open test day here. This is a proper way of doing things, and I’m excited.”
Have you noticed any differences with the hybrid addition to the car in how the car drives?
“It’s heavy. It feels slower, but it’s expected with that kind of weight. I’m hoping that we can turn up the boost a little bit more to race with, have some more horsepower to race with. I think that’d be a lot of fun, but obviously, we need to see with the manufacturers and with INDYCAR, check reliability. I think also turning the boost would make it better because you’d have more pit stops, which is always fun.”
Do you think the hybrid will change racing here, or everyone will do the same thing?
“I think everybody’s going to be doing the exact same thing. I think you just have to be really strategic with it and catch people off guard. I was able to use it today to complete a pass, and then to defend as well, which is quite interesting. So, I think the biggest thing is it’ll change the dynamic of the racing. The weight will change. Obviously, we’ll need to run more downforce. The cars will be slower, hence why, if you run more horsepower, you’ll run more downforce and then you can have some real racing. Kind of my thoughts right now after having time in the car.”
Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:
“It’s been good. It’s good to work with everybody, to work with Chevy as well. So far, so good. It’s the first day. It’ll feel like the first day for quite a while. I think it’s good that we were able to make it happen. The morning was okay. I’d say it’s a very, very different feel. Some of the differences were something I didn’t really expect, which is how the car not necessarily handles but lays on the ground. It seems more stable which is a lot nicer.”
Is the rear more stable? The whole car more stable?
“The whole car is more stable. I think it’s obvious it’ll bring more confidence, but at the end of the day, we’re not necessarily here to try and be the fastest car. We’re here to try and learn how to work together across all three cars, along with the personnel.”
There’s a lot of experience on this team. Has that made the learning curve a bit easier?
“With the 20 laps I did this morning, it’s difficult to tell. I think everything is moving in the right direction. I think, for me, it’s to get comfortable working with everybody, comfortable in the car. It is a different feel compared to (before). Everything is new. It’s good to have a day like today to get used to all of it and get to know everybody, but it’s probably going to take a little more than a day.”
Do you feel like a rookie again?
“Not really. Because at the end of the day, I understand the fundamentals, which before it was just applying those to a feel which is different.”
Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 23 Dreyer & Reinbold Chevrolet:
Does the car feel significantly different than what was here previously?
“I definitely can feel the weight, the weight difference. I can definitely when you deploy the hybrid system and extra boost it gives. It’s a matter now of getting the balance with the car with the weight distribution being different. That weight has been placed pretty far rearward, and it requires a bit of a workaround on the setup. So that’s what we’re trying step our way through at the moment.”
With the new process, do you feel like a young guy again?
“It’s always great to be back at Indy working on a new project like this, and it’s something that kind of everybody has a clean sheet of paper where they have to figure it out. You have to sort it out. What worked last year setup-wise won’t necessarily work this year because it’s so much different where the weight is placed in the racecar. It requires a bit of a workaround, but that’s what we’re on task for. We’re working on it.”
It’s early, but how different do you think the race will be during the month of May in 2025?
“It’s early, for sure. Obviously, we have the capability of using extra hybrid-electric power as boost. With that said, we also have added weight to the car. So how that goes to kind of mix and what that end product is, I’m not sure. We’ll get a better idea here today when we all run today as a group.”