A look at why Indycar’s biggest race beats F1’s most famous one.

Here are my thoughts:
I sat myself down recently to enjoy a day of motorsport. I had the “jewel in the F1 crown”, the Monaco Grand Prix, followed by the 101st running of the Indy 500.
I should say from the outset that I have a vested interest in IndyCar as I managed former F1 driver Max Chilton for 5 years, he now races for the four car Chip Ganassi team in the Verizon IndyCar Series. Despite the additional interest of having a close relationship with Max, it did not sway me one way or the other in terms of looking forward to both races equally. Max was obviously not the only driver with F1 experience in the race, Fernando Alonso’s well publicised appearance was also a major draw. As a side note, anyone else wonder why we saw the real Fernando in the lead up to, during and after the Indy 500? He was cheery, funny and charming in equal measures. The US took an immediate liking to him and we saw a side to his personality that F1 has not revealed. It was a shame that he was once again let down by a Honda engine but he still had time to show us why he’s one of the greatest drivers we’ve ever seen with an impressive run, leading 27 laps before having to retire on lap 179. It was the first time an active Formula One driver contested the Indy 500 since Teo Fabi 33 years before.
So, I took my usual seat in my living room and tuned into Channel 4’s excellent coverage to watch the Formula One. Incidentally I think Whisper have done a fantastic job producing a light hearted, enthusiastic but still very well informed production. I was fortunate enough to attend a conference last year where Sunil Patel, MD of Whisper Films, spoke openly about their slightly more unique take on the coverage and I think he and the rest of the team have done a lovely job. I should point out that Sky’s coverage is also world class and a pleasure to watch.
Let’s start with the positives. It was the first Ferrari front row lock out at Monaco since 2001 and it’s great to see the prancing horse back at the front and taking advantage of the apparent problems at Mercedes. Some felt that team orders were at play? Whether that’s true is for the judgement of those more well informed than me. It was a joy to have Jenson Button back in, albeit for one race (I can’t see him racing again)….Jolyon Palmer had a solid race and I’m pleased for him, but, going much further beyond this, I’m struggling to come up with more positives.
I followed the race on TV and through social media, there was a lot of negative Tweets around the lack of excitement. Yes I know this is a stunning race circuit, it has bags of history and it’s a track with hundreds of stories. There is no room for driver error or you’ll end up in the wall, but for sheer drama and overtakes it missed the mark for me, one car followed another and that’s how it stayed. Strategy was the order of the day. Now with the wider cars, the passing, or lack of it, was compounded further. I’m sure motorsport enthusiasts and the people who were actually in Monaco will disagree, but I wasn’t exactly gripped, to the point that my wife had to nudge me when I nodded off for a moment.
Compare that with the Indy 500. It was full of drama, risk, crazy speeds, overtaking all over the place and multiple leaders, 15 to be exact…15!!!! The event was a real show that was captured well through the screen.
Now you wouldn’t think that driving 200 laps around an oval would be interesting, but it was. Very. I was gripped from lap 1 and my eyes never left the screen, save for the slightly annoying ad breaks the US broadcasters like to throw in.
There were 33 cars on track at the start, including 4 Brits, 19 brave souls finished. Scott Dixon had a huge crash on lap 48 when he met Jay Howard and subsequently took off, I mean he flew, and somehow he walked away. Hat tip to the safety cell in the cars. Sébastien Bourdais attended the race on crutches after his massive shunt before the race and Max Chilton led for 50 laps, more than any other driver, his car wasn’t able to quite get it done and with just 5 laps to go he lost the lead and ended P4. Still a terrific effort. Another former F1 driver, Takumo Sato, in his Andretti Autosport Honda, was a hugely popular winner after coming close in 2012, he held off Castroneves by just 0.2011 of a second with Indy Lights graduate and first year rookie Ed Jones coming in 3rd. He’s a star in the making.
The Indy 500 is regarded by many as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, on this showing, it’s hard to disagree.
Having said all of this, I still love F1. One slightly boring race does not constitute a bad series. It remains the greatest motorsport championship in the world and in the hands of Liberty Media, the future burns brightly, furthermore, if you take the Brickyard race out of the IndyCar calendar, my Stateside interest would surely dwindle.
Well done IndyCar for a fabulous event and let’s hope the next few F1 races provide a little more drama.