IndyCar Open Test Press Conference

Herta and Alonso

Drivers
Takuma Sato
Colton Herta
Fernando Alonso

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Takuma Sato. Takuma, a very start-and-stop kind of day.

TAKUMA SATO: Yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Any day where you have delays is a little challenging. How do you and the team handle a day like today?

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]TAKUMA SATO: It is unfortunate today by weather, so the program was interrupted and stopped a few times.

Having said that, today is meant to be shakedown the car, just check all the functions okay, feel it out. From that point of view, I think it was a very smooth day. I think Indianapolis Motor Speedway did a great job in terms of, what do we say, new coating?

THE MODERATOR: The sealing.

TAKUMA SATO: The sealing was a little smoother, as well. Felt all around the grip level was very consistent. I think we're happy.

In terms of the car, I mean, the condition is far from different from the end of May. I think it might be a lot hotter, of course. Today is a little bit artificial. We have more downforce because it's cooler condition, the engine pulls really well with getting cool air. I think it was a very fast day.

From that, I think we brought the new package over the course of the winter, engineers really go through all the details. Of course, every single team does. I think the Rahal Letterman Lanigan team did an amazing job for the preparation of the car.

The car performed out of the box, so I was very happy and enjoyed a few laps.

THE MODERATOR: Over the off season, IndyCar made a few small adjustments to the superspeedway package. Were you able to feel those out or will time tell?

TAKUMA SATO: I think honestly we have to wait a little bit more because I think IndyCar did some experimental front wings and stuff back in last October, right? My teammate Graham joined that test. He was positive.

We already briefed from the technical side, what it's going to be. Ideally, I think it's less balance shift in traffic, out of traffic. Hopefully, that works out.

But today, I mean, I got a big tow. The air was falling all around, but I'm not particularly following very close. The car is getting understeer when you get to the tow. Other than that, I don't feel massively different from last year. I think it's a bit too early to say.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Takuma.

Q. How were the new tires? Were the conditions too bad to tell?
TAKUMA SATO: Again, I think these conditions like new tire a lot. Obviously cooler temperature, more downforce. From the tire's point of view, they having happy time.

But I say the tire also helping for the balance, as well. I mean, today the car worked extremely well. The tire wear also much longer than expected, because usually very fast day, green track, bits of rain, so not really rubber down. This can be like within 20 laps, it's going to be worn out the tires. I think we did more than the 20. We did 20, 25 laps, and still feels very positive. I think Firestone brought a really good tire.

Q. Did the AFP impair your visibility at all?
TAKUMA SATO: I must say just safety is first. I think all the R&Ds, experiments, over quite long time now, I think IndyCar made a great progress. Might not be the perfect scenario today, but I think at least in a week or something, very strong one before come to the superspeedway, which is very important for all of the drivers.

Of course, it is distracting from the visibility point of view. Better not to have anything, of course. I think things you just get used to.

First time jumping in the car, I wasn't sure how is going to be. Out-lap, first few laps, sometimes it was difficult. Imagine, basically you block one eye. Then you go watching an apex on your strong side of the eye, which is broken. So now the brain has to shift to the left eye to see it.

At the same time, you go into the wall, close to the wall, you are usually watching on the right-hand side, but supporting the left-hand eye. Now left-hand eye completely broken by this.

Eventually, we will get used to, but this is a necessary modification. Compared to the halo in Europe, I think it's junior formula here, I think still there is a steps we need to move on. I think INDYCAR did a great job for that.

Q. Do you think it's enough?
TAKUMA SATO: I mean, I don't know honestly. I think nothing is enough in this world, right? In this situation, it's very difficult to predict. But at least it's supposed to be obviously doing a great job when you have a heavy debris coming to the cockpit. I'm sure it's going to work better, of course.

Not only for that, but it is interesting today because a lot of driver feels different airflow coming into the cockpit. I could feel that, too. Some driver having a little bit helmet lifting or things that come into the cockpit. You can feel the airflow, it's very different from last year, which is quite interesting.

But, again, in a worst-case scenario, if something happened in front, if debris comes, for sure this definitely protect us.

Q. For a test like this, every team will have a checklist that they'll want to work on, try different things. Because it was interrupted today, the shakedown, from this morning you would have a big change in the afternoon, how many items were you able to check off and how many are left?
TAKUMA SATO: Well, I would say probably 50% today. I think we've done half the checklist. I mean, we didn't expect tons of the work. I think all the program based on today's work. I think everything is domino effect. Everything going to be bigger later on.

Today, like I say, meant to be shakedown day. We shake down the car, everything function well. Some sweeps, we did it. It all worked well. Items on back-to-back week, we couldn't do it because of the weather. That's a shame.

Like I said, 50% is done. Things went very smooth considering the weather was like today.

THE MODERATOR: Takuma, thank you very much.

TAKUMA SATO: Thank you.

Harding-Steinbrenner Racing

THE MODERATOR: We'll welcome in Colton Herta, completing his Rookie Orientatation Program here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Colton, congratulations on completing all the phases. Take us through that process and ultimately how you worked up through all of those levels to prepare you for practice here in a couple weeks.

COLTON HERTA: Yeah, it's definitely a slow process to get into it at first, get situated. You have a lot of time to do it, 15 laps for pretty much every stage. Plenty of time to get comfortable.

That's what it was about today, getting comfortable with the car and that type of speed and moving forward from there.

THE MODERATOR: What was the first feeling like when you got on track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in an Indy car?

COLTON HERTA: It was pretty cool. The first few laps was the same speed as an Indy Lights car, so it wasn't too impressive. But once they kind of let me run at 215 plus on the third stage, it was pretty awesome. Definitely a dream of mine for a long time to be able to run an Indy car here. Even though it's just testing, it's still really sentimental.

THE MODERATOR: Each stage has its purpose. Is that hard for you from a patience standpoint as a racecar driver to immediately want to go as fast as can you around this historic track?

COLTON HERTA: Yeah, especially because our out-lap was already a 217 going into Turn 3, so we had to slow down quite a bit. Obviously, we were very comfortable right away. The car was super stable, which was the reason I was able to do that time so quickly. Yeah, there's a ton of factors that went into it.

But it is, like you said, very important to start slow and kind of build up to it. Yeah, obviously I haven't gotten anywhere near the speed I've gone today, so it was a big step up.

THE MODERATOR: Following your win at the INDYCAR Classic in Austin, Texas, you and your team owner George (Steinbrenner IV) mentioned, Sure, we won our first race. When asked what's next, you said, The Indy 500. Does today feel like the start of that journey for you?

COLTON HERTA: For sure. I always wanted to not only compete in the Indy 500, but win. It's such a nostalgic event, it's hard to put into words what it means to me and to a lot of the people that come to the race.

Obviously, a bunch of history involved. If we can put our names into the history of the Indy 500, it would be incredible.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Colton.

Q. You've grown up in a racing family, known race drivers, friends of your dad. You probably don't get wowed very much. When you're sitting next to Fernando Alonso, do you sit there and go, This is pretty cool?
COLTON HERTA: Yeah, it's cool, but I don't see it that way just because I have to beat him. I don't see it that way, no. Maybe if I was at a Grand Prix weekend, maybe a bit more. Not on these weekends, especially because he's kind of coming into my playground now, coming into our playground in America. If I was over in Rockingham, yes, it would be pretty cool, but it's different here.

Q. What did the AFP do to your driving?
COLTON HERTA: The AFP?

Q. The device in front of you.
COLTON HERTA: Is that what it's called? I've been calling it the head protector all the time.

I heard some guys said it diverted the wind differently. Kind of moving around people's heads, so they had to change up the wickers on the helmet. I had a little bit of that problem, so probably change it a little for the next time we come here.

On a sight thing, you could see perfectly fine. Not that big of a deal. Maybe takes a while to adjust. The biggest thing I heard from other guys, coming into the box, it's a little different because you're kind of looking forward instead of looking off to the left like when you're on track. I didn't feel like it was a problem at all.

Q. To get this exercise out of the way, now you can come back in two weeks, go for it, how big a relief is that?
COLTON HERTA: It's nice. Obviously, we're kind of looking at it today, it was raining a lot, we weren't sure if we were going to be able to get it done, which would cut into our practice time once we got into May.

That's what this day was all about, getting the program done, getting comfortable, getting above 215, to complete it, go from there. If we ended the day just finishing it or super quick, it wouldn't matter, we still have the same mindset and focus going into May.

THE MODERATOR: Colton, thank you very much. Congratulations.

COLTON HERTA: Thank you.

McLaren Racing

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Fernando Alonso. Weather conditions changing a bit today. How does it feel to be back here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway?

FERNANDO ALONSO: It's good to be back, yeah, to feel again the magic of the place. The facilities when you come in the morning, you see the size of everything again, doing the medical checks in the morning, preparing for the running in the afternoon. It felt good.

Unfortunately, the weather was not stable enough to follow the times that we had in terms of practice. Yeah, at the end it was not enough laps and not enough time on the car to get the proper feeling.

Yeah, I guess is the same for everyone.

THE MODERATOR: Regardless of the abbreviated session, not being able to complete the full refresher program, how important is it to get this track time even if you figured out things you might need to work on when we get back for practice during the 500?

FERNANDO ALONSO: It's always important. Any track time you have, you may discover issues on the car, you may discover things you can improve as a driver. Learning for us, it's a brand-new car. We need to check many things.

Yeah, as I said, today has been a difficult day for the weather and for, yeah, the time that they gave to the rookies. Nothing we can do. Hopefully we can take over this time.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Fernando.

Q. Was it a frustrating day because all the waiting around because of the weather, then you couldn't get out because the issue with the car? In your other series, in Formula 1 or sports cars, the show goes on whether it rains or not.
FERNANDO ALONSO: It was frustrating for everyone, I guess. For us, obviously, yeah, we lost a little bit of time at the beginning. This was more or less expected because, as I said, it was a brand-new chassis, brand-new car. Everything fit in the last week. We expect to run slowly, step by step, short runs at the beginning. It's what we did.

So, yeah, if we could probably have the laps at midday, maybe you discover these issues, then you have hours to work in the car, be ready for the afternoon. The weather delays everything. You do the lap at 5:30 p.m., and there is no room to get back on track on time.

Q. What was the issue with the car?
FERNANDO ALONSO: Some electrical issue. Yeah, not clear what yet.

Q. You still sound encouraged even though you're still working through an awful lot. You sound genuinely happy to be back.
FERNANDO ALONSO: Yeah, I'm happy. I'm happy to be back here because this place is great. At the end, it's going to be amazing, you know, the two weeks here. Yesterday, as I said, we were slow because the weather, some of the decisions that people made in terms of running time and things like that. Yeah, not enough laps.

Q. Fernando, this is a full McLaren effort this year vs. Andretti last time. What has been the biggest challenge or difference this time around?
FERNANDO ALONSO: Well, basically I think is a bit of challenge, no doubt. I think we have to do everything by ourselves, not only in terms of setup-wise, on the technical side. It's also on the operational side, also on the strategy, tire management, the comfort side in terms of precision, steering wheel grip, basic things that they were ready with Andretti. You save a lot of time.

Yeah, basically it's a bigger challenge. But it could be a bigger reward, as well. I think some of the, yeah, philosophy or directions that McLaren may go in the next month, maybe now is a little bit different. With Andretti we just follow what we knew what was working. In a way it was easier. But maybe now we can discover new things. That's our hopes.

Q. You came here in 2017. You were viewed as a Formula 1 world champion trying to win the Indy 500. Do you return feeling more a little bit like an IndyCar driver?
FERNANDO ALONSO: Now I'm coming back as a Formula 1 world champion and 24 Hour Le Mans champ.

Q. Does this feel a little easier to you than it did?
FERNANDO ALONSO: And I'm 24 Hours Daytona. You have 48 Hour of Daytona at this table now.

Q. When you come here preparing for the oval, do you have to take a moment to reset your brain a little bit in terms of how you handle the car here versus Le Mans or 24 Hours of Daytona or anything like that? Is there a complete mindset change?
FERNANDO ALONSO: Yes, absolutely. It requires a complete reset on your driving style and your mindset. Yeah, being ready to turn left for two weeks and to be brave on some occasions because it's all about that.

Yeah, I had the test in Texas two weeks ago, so that more or less prepare yourself to oval racing again. Couple of good sessions on the simulator, as well, in Charlotte. It was not too difficult today because of all that preparation. So, yeah, should be okay.

THE MODERATOR: Fernando, thank you very much for your time.

FERNANDO ALONSO: Thank you.