F1: Computer Sim shows IndyCars on average 12s per lap slower than F1 (and growing) (Update)

F1 is going to overwhelm IndyCar in the USA. It’s already happening. F1 cable TV ratings are better than IndyCar’s network (NBC) TV ratings. American open wheel fans now prefer F1 to IndyCar. IndyCar is old school, slow to react and behind the times.

F1 has come into IndyCar’s backyard and eaten their lunch with glamour, sensationally fast and modern race cars, and dramatic TV. F1 has stolen all the big USA company sponsorship money and left IndyCar fighting over the crumbs.

It’s clear from Roger Penske and Jay Frye’s recent statements, IndyCar:

1. Has zero desire to race overseas.  It only has plans to race domestically. Both Roger Penske and Mark Miles have made that quite clear on a number of occasions. They cannot even get a race going in neighboring Mexico, let alone doing it successfully overseas like F1 has done in IndyCar’s backyard.
2. Based on Jay Frye’s comments below, IndyCar has zero plans to roll out a new car.  Instead, they plan to piecemeal and bastardize their antiquated 2012 chassis.

Let’s not forget that Liberty media wanted to buy both F1 and IndyCar. Imagine how huge IndyCar would be today had the Hulman George family agreed to sell to Liberty instead of Roger Penske!

Don’t get us wrong, Penske has done some good things for IndyCar, like getting most of its races on NBC and off of cable.  However, Roger is not a Liberty Media.  Liberty understands media and glamour and how to use it to grow a sports property.  Roger is an 85-year-old ‘car guy’, and a great one at that. But he’s just a car guy.

Graham Rahal has challenged IndyCar to take on F1 on their own turf.

Good luck with that, Graham.  We admire your tenacity, but that is not going to happen under the current regime.

How to solve this problem?  Many a fan has written us saying they were hoping our April Fool’s article was real.

Autosport did a thorough analysis to come up with comparable lap times of the various cars used in motorsports.

You can find the complete article and table of lap times here.

• F1 cars are of course that fastest by a wide margin.
• Japan’s Super Formula Cars are the 2nd fastest, easily beating IndyCars
• Overweight IndyCars are third fastest, about 2 seconds per lap faster than an F2 car
• F2 and Japan’s Super GT cars round out the top-5 from a list of about 50 cars

IndyCar has no plans to replace its antiquated car according to President Jay Frye, and it underscores why IndyCar will continue to suck F1’s fumes in terms of popularity and speed.

He told Forbes, “There has been conversation of a new car, but what is the new car?” Frye asked. “Is it where we continue to work on what we have and update it to make it better, lighter, that type of thing?

“There are 100 things we are working on. The first part is the engine and hybrid piece, how it is going to fit in an existing car and how it is going to work moving forward.

“Our racing product has been very good. Why would a new car make what we are currently doing better?”

“When we went from the 2017 OEM aero kit to the 2018 car, from a fan perspective, did it look like a different car?” Frye asked. “Of course it did.

“We could have a new tub tomorrow and it could be lighter and have no effect or look to that car. There are many parts and pieces to this equation.”

“When we do this plan, the worst thing we can do from an economic standpoint to a team is obsolete parts and pieces without them being aware,” Frye said. “Any time we do something like that, unless it’s for a safety thing, we try to give them 24 months’ notice.

“For example, if we are changing brakes, you have 24 months to go through your current inventory, manage your inventory like in 24 months those parts are going way.

“Anything we do has that kind of lead time on it. That is why when we do these plans, it will be built four or five years out.

“It evolves,” Frye continued. “When people talk about a new car, that means lots of different things. Right now, we know in 2024 we are doing a new engine with a hybrid. What does that look like and what does that take?”

Frye has informed IndyCar teams of its plans through “Black” and “Red” topics.

“Black means it’s locked in, something we have confirmed we are doing,” Frye explained. “Red means it’s something we are looking at and are evaluating.

“The teams have input on all of this. The hybrid and the engine part, there are certain things we had to do, it was just part of that equation. Other things that are more ancillary to the car, we get lots of input on it and it evolves all the time.”