Indy Cars Can Help F1

Indy car racing in the US is always seen as the poor relation to Formula One. It is.


It’s smaller, seems to be struggling financially, and has had more than strained relationships with the CART series in the States.


But it does boast a British champion – Edinburgh-born Dario Franchitti – and it also can claim to be the one top class motorsport which has had a woman as a race winner, Danica Patrick. Can you imagine a woman climbing the heights of F1?


I know F1 has boasted women drivers – five all told since 1958 – but none has succeeded like Patrick who next season will race monster stock cars in the US NASCAR series.


NASCARs are the bruising automobiles which fly round oval tracks at 200-plus mph. Great spectacle.


Indy cars, from memory, are same-spec racers that rely more on the skill of the driver to see them home.


Isn’t that what F1 needs a bit more of? There will always be the debate around who is the best driver while F1 teams compete with such diverse budgets.


The rules are constantly being tweaked and it’s getting better but it’s still more of a pit-stop lottery.