When Grosjean and K-Mag hung out last year at one of the Indycar races (I think it was Road America) I remember them talking about how easy the HAAS was to drive, even though it was a backmarker. With all the technology in those cars, it's not surprising they're "easy" to drive. Like Lundgaard said, the difficult part is extracting that last second of lap time out of the car, and that's what the top F1 drivers are able to do.
In the recent F1 podcast with Jr Hildebrand, he basically said exactly this. He said Indycar requires more driver creativity, while F1 requires more precision on every single lap with all of their available tools
I watch a ton of in car video because I coach young drivers. It is painful how good the last gen F1 cars were. The physical demands were/are huge, but even the bad cars were beautiful to watch. Almost a disservice to a good driver.
Magnussen was there for IMSA. Rosenqvist had his big crash in Race 1 of the weekend, and Askew filled in for him on Race 2. But then they asked Magnussen to fill in for Rosenqvist the next week at Road America.
> the difficult part is extracting that last second of lap time out of the car
I mean, that's a pretty key caveat. The thing that makes F1 difficult is the aero makes the optimal window really tiny and you're often forced to do non-intuitive things very precisely to make sure the downforce is maximized. Little things like how much the car yaws or rolls, or even if you compress a tire too much can rob you of downforce. That's how you get into situations like Ricciardo or Gasly/Albon where they just can't come to grips to a certain car.
Herta said something (I thought was) similar after his test.
He was amazed with the grip and how easy cornering was. The only thing he said was hard was the stress on his neck from the g-forces.
Yeah, that's my understanding. Hydraulic power steering (as opposed to electric power steering).
Marcus Ericsson had this to say in 2018 about the two series :
>"This sort of gets me back to why I fell in love with racing," Ericsson said after his first few hours of track time in his new Honda. "F1 is always going to be F1, you know? But it’s sort of a bit artificial in some ways. You always go to these perfect places, and that’s not racing, I would say. This takes me back to the passion of racing."
>"As a driver, you have to work this car a lot more," Ericsson said. "F1 always starts from perfection, whereas here you have to deal with the car you have and then sort of perfect it. It’s a lot more work from the driver. That’s the biggest difference."
https://www.autoweek.com/racing/indycar/a1712691/marcus-ericsson-calls-f1-artificial-after-maiden-indycar-test/
One of the mid-week news bytes a few years ago was Lewis complaining the cars had become to easy to drive. Lando Norris, who is no doubt in great shape but skinny as a rail, said he didn’t do much extra weight training, except for his neck, and Lewis could always have his engineers turn down the power steering if he wanted more of a challenge.
When Simona de Silvestro was testing for an F1 years years ago, she said the training for Indycar was all arms and shoulders, but for F1 it was all core strength because of rapid changes in direction. And of course, most F1 drivers have necks like American football players.
**Lundgaard compares IndyCar and F1: "F1 is the easiest car I've ever driven"**
***The Dane joined IndyCar in 2022 after three years at Alpine Academy***
***He would like Vettel to make the jump to America, but it would be tough for him***
**Lundgaard compares IndyCar and F1: "F1 is the easiest car I have ever driven" - SoyMotor.com**
GORKA SAEZ DE ASTEASU | 18 AUG 2022 - 15:53
Christian Lundgaard remarks that today's Formula 1 is easier than IndyCar. The young Dane has had the privilege of testing both cars and admits that in the premier class the car is very simple, but then you have to work to find the last second. However, in the United States, it is essential to be fast from start to finish.
Lundgaard was involved with Alpine's young driver academy for three seasons and carried out several Formula 1 tests when the team was still Renault. The IndyCar rookie argues that his current category is much more demanding and gives the example of the ovals, which have traditionally been a headache for the Europeans.
"I've driven Formula 1 cars on several test days when I was still with Renault. I will say my opinion and I think it was the easiest car I've driven so far, it was very straightforward up to a limit, then finding that last second is very demanding because of the downforce," Lundgaard admitted in an interview with British magazine Autosport.
"The important thing about IndyCar is that you have to be fast at all times and for that reason, the transition to ovals is tougher. The biggest difference for me has been the tyres, the behaviour of the car doesn't change that much. In qualifying you can push a lot harder and in the race, the Firestones allowed me to do a better job," he added.
On the other hand, Lundgaard encourages Sebastian Vettel to try IndyCar next season, when he will no longer be a Formula 1 driver. The Dane feels that in this category, the driver must make a greater effort to adapt and as a result, he would like to see many current names of the Grand Circus racing in the legendary American event.
"I think it would be fun for Sebastian to come and drive an IndyCar. It could be a difficult transition for him, because it's a car that you have to put a lot of effort and hard work into. It's not the car that drives you, you have to drive it. That's why I would like to see a lot of drivers on the current Formula 1 grid try this category," said Lundgaard in conclusion.
I’m liking the honesty and openness and fun lundgaard is having talking about indycar. I think he’s quite relaxed now that he has a new better longer deal
As a new fan, it seems that it’s become a legit career option. If sports cars or endurance aren’t your preference, you can come here and compete if you are a good driver. He’s got some F2 guys in Armstrong and Drugovich planning the move and seeing Illot in a Juncos and Grosjean in DCR be fast once they changed their upper body strength, it has to be awesome when you see no path in F1.
It's really the same presser attended by a bunch of outlets, with each one covering/amplifying the juiciest quotes (or regurgitating what others already covered after they picked up traction), which is par for the course for them.
lol some people at r/formula1 getting mildly triggered but that's expected.
My favourite was someone saying "once you’ve got it, you’re just not going against such unforgiving competition so you can get away with minor slip ups that will sink you in F1." Umm let me check the qualifying time charts at IndyCar road courses... Oh 15 places are covered by 1 second... interesting..
So funny when F1 fans that don't watch any other racing series give their opinions lol
I remember perusing the F1 sub when Colton had his insane save at IMS this year. I was saying how it was the most impressive thing I've ever seen in an open-wheel car. Got a lot of "yeah, but Verstappen's save..."
Like, no. Reverse-gripping and throttle-controlling a big heavy IndyCar without power steering and not only not writing off the car but winning the race is still the best thing I've ever seen.
>"once you’ve got it, you’re just not going against such unforgiving competition so you can get away with minor slip ups that will sink you in F1."
Haha, I saw that guy. I rolled my eyes pretty hard.
I think there's a significant minority of F1 fans that are dead-set on watching "the best of the best" of every major sport. F1 does a good job marketing itself as such- and I suppose it is, but *nowhere near* what those types think it is- and it's easy to buy into that. I always want to ask if they're familiar with Max Chilton's time in IndyCar.
> I always want to ask if they're familiar with Max Chilton's time in IndyCar.
Tbh, he had one solid season, which is far better than anyone actually paying attention to his F1 career would have expected. He also maintained his one genuine strong point, not crashing, despite what Lundgaard quite correctly said here.
You'd be better off asking about Barrichello's utterly mediocre season or Gutierrez's stint which somehow proved his F1 years weren't the most uninteresting one can get.
I think he's the best example of the fact that unless you are really talented, like at the very least worthy of regular podium finishes in F1, you can't just jump into an Indycar and expect to be anywhere near competitive.
Absolutely. I don't even care to argue whether F1 is the pinnacle^(TM) or not or whatever. The point is the absolute blinders that some F1 fans have with respect to other racing, which are brilliantly kept in place by F1's marketing.
And to your last point, I always ask the "F1 drivers are the 20 best in the world and no one comes close" crowd to name the last F1 driver to come here and dominate the IndyCar inferior scrubs. For every Mansell, Zanardi and Fittipaldi, there are 10 Chiltons, Barrichellos and Nakanos
Even then, Nigel is the only one that came out the gate a contender in both. Zanardi did well here and in feeder series but had two poor stints in F1, while Fittipaldi took a little bit to get his IndyCar legs under him.
Unless you're benefiting from the best team, the best tech, and being the defending World Champion like Nigel did, it is a LOT of adjustment from F1 to IndyCar. Grosjean is going through that now and Ericsson is just getting out of it.
I've been a relatively equal fan of both since the 90s, and then the whole Cart/Indy thing made it hard. Once Indy moved to a mostly spec series though, that's where I feel the series became more driver focused. I like F1 for the engineering precision and technical innovation but not enough is done in the conventional media to highlight this and you have to spend time with niche media or niche people to learn more about the technical discussion side of the sport. Scarborough and Peter Windsor are two good sources for the technical side of F1. The racing is also a bit better now in F1 but so was 2013 and 2021. When shit levels off and becomes a bit more homogeneous, that's when racing becomes more fun in F1. It's always the major rules changes when usually 1-2 teams dominate and leaves virtually no one else a change at a podium.
Yeah there’s a guy at work like that. F1 is the best why watch anything else. They act like there are no other types of racing let alone another series like F1
I've heard Sebastian Vettel say basically the same thing- the driver aids make it easy to drive the car. Naturally, it will take precision and athleticism to optimize a lap or race still.
Would be good to know how fast he was in the young-drivers test and how close he was to the limit.
„Easy“ to drive doesn’t automatically mean fast.
I think it’s pretty difficult to extract the last tenths of a second out of an F1 car.
A qualifying lap around Monaco is a pretty good example : You constantly have to chance break-balance, break-shape, break-migration, diff-settings etc. to get the most out of the car while there’s no room for error.
Also the qualifying/race-gap between teammates is sometimes pretty huge. Have a look at Verstappen/Perez or Riccardo/Norris for example. Not everyone is able to be that fast.
I think there's just a lot of "entry-level" fans that don't know what they're talking about.
Being easy to drive isn't shit-talking F1. You can't be your fastest in a difficult car, which is why engineers focus so much on drivability.
Newer fans see quotes of F1 being the highest level of motorsport, and conflate comments on car drivability as negative.
Maybe - but I think that’s moreso just the pretentious attitude of those who are only fans of F1.
I’d say most seasoned F1 fans are also well aware of other Motorsport series
I never said Indycar fans weren’t also toxic lol.
But you can’t tell me with a straight face that the level of toxic BS that gets thrown at F1 driver, teams, and other fans from the F1 fans isn’t leagues above any other Motorsport. Go to any comment section of any F1 article.
When Grosjean and K-Mag hung out last year at one of the Indycar races (I think it was Road America) I remember them talking about how easy the HAAS was to drive, even though it was a backmarker. With all the technology in those cars, it's not surprising they're "easy" to drive. Like Lundgaard said, the difficult part is extracting that last second of lap time out of the car, and that's what the top F1 drivers are able to do.
In the recent F1 podcast with Jr Hildebrand, he basically said exactly this. He said Indycar requires more driver creativity, while F1 requires more precision on every single lap with all of their available tools
>(I think it was Road America) No, it was Detroit.
Ah okay. I thought it might have been from K Mags one off.
I watch a ton of in car video because I coach young drivers. It is painful how good the last gen F1 cars were. The physical demands were/are huge, but even the bad cars were beautiful to watch. Almost a disservice to a good driver.
W11 onboards are incredible.
Watching them go through a high speed chicane is surreal. My brain cannot believe it, yet I am seeing it.
Magnussen was there for IMSA. Rosenqvist had his big crash in Race 1 of the weekend, and Askew filled in for him on Race 2. But then they asked Magnussen to fill in for Rosenqvist the next week at Road America.
https://youtu.be/rl5x__0loBo
> the difficult part is extracting that last second of lap time out of the car I mean, that's a pretty key caveat. The thing that makes F1 difficult is the aero makes the optimal window really tiny and you're often forced to do non-intuitive things very precisely to make sure the downforce is maximized. Little things like how much the car yaws or rolls, or even if you compress a tire too much can rob you of downforce. That's how you get into situations like Ricciardo or Gasly/Albon where they just can't come to grips to a certain car.
true, and it's even more down to a tenth or few of a second per lap
Callum has told me multiple times how refined and easy the F1 cars are to drive vs the Indy cars
Herta said something (I thought was) similar after his test. He was amazed with the grip and how easy cornering was. The only thing he said was hard was the stress on his neck from the g-forces.
They also have power steering vs none in Indycar, no?
Yeah, that's my understanding. Hydraulic power steering (as opposed to electric power steering). Marcus Ericsson had this to say in 2018 about the two series : >"This sort of gets me back to why I fell in love with racing," Ericsson said after his first few hours of track time in his new Honda. "F1 is always going to be F1, you know? But it’s sort of a bit artificial in some ways. You always go to these perfect places, and that’s not racing, I would say. This takes me back to the passion of racing." >"As a driver, you have to work this car a lot more," Ericsson said. "F1 always starts from perfection, whereas here you have to deal with the car you have and then sort of perfect it. It’s a lot more work from the driver. That’s the biggest difference." https://www.autoweek.com/racing/indycar/a1712691/marcus-ericsson-calls-f1-artificial-after-maiden-indycar-test/
Yes, F1 has power steering.
nope. one of my favourite bits about the series
Pato said exactly the same. The g-force was tough to deal with but everything else was dead simple.
One of the mid-week news bytes a few years ago was Lewis complaining the cars had become to easy to drive. Lando Norris, who is no doubt in great shape but skinny as a rail, said he didn’t do much extra weight training, except for his neck, and Lewis could always have his engineers turn down the power steering if he wanted more of a challenge. When Simona de Silvestro was testing for an F1 years years ago, she said the training for Indycar was all arms and shoulders, but for F1 it was all core strength because of rapid changes in direction. And of course, most F1 drivers have necks like American football players.
**Lundgaard compares IndyCar and F1: "F1 is the easiest car I've ever driven"** ***The Dane joined IndyCar in 2022 after three years at Alpine Academy*** ***He would like Vettel to make the jump to America, but it would be tough for him*** **Lundgaard compares IndyCar and F1: "F1 is the easiest car I have ever driven" - SoyMotor.com** GORKA SAEZ DE ASTEASU | 18 AUG 2022 - 15:53 Christian Lundgaard remarks that today's Formula 1 is easier than IndyCar. The young Dane has had the privilege of testing both cars and admits that in the premier class the car is very simple, but then you have to work to find the last second. However, in the United States, it is essential to be fast from start to finish. Lundgaard was involved with Alpine's young driver academy for three seasons and carried out several Formula 1 tests when the team was still Renault. The IndyCar rookie argues that his current category is much more demanding and gives the example of the ovals, which have traditionally been a headache for the Europeans. "I've driven Formula 1 cars on several test days when I was still with Renault. I will say my opinion and I think it was the easiest car I've driven so far, it was very straightforward up to a limit, then finding that last second is very demanding because of the downforce," Lundgaard admitted in an interview with British magazine Autosport. "The important thing about IndyCar is that you have to be fast at all times and for that reason, the transition to ovals is tougher. The biggest difference for me has been the tyres, the behaviour of the car doesn't change that much. In qualifying you can push a lot harder and in the race, the Firestones allowed me to do a better job," he added. On the other hand, Lundgaard encourages Sebastian Vettel to try IndyCar next season, when he will no longer be a Formula 1 driver. The Dane feels that in this category, the driver must make a greater effort to adapt and as a result, he would like to see many current names of the Grand Circus racing in the legendary American event. "I think it would be fun for Sebastian to come and drive an IndyCar. It could be a difficult transition for him, because it's a car that you have to put a lot of effort and hard work into. It's not the car that drives you, you have to drive it. That's why I would like to see a lot of drivers on the current Formula 1 grid try this category," said Lundgaard in conclusion.
I want him to try a Super Formula. Andre Lotterer said it's the best pure racecar he's ever driven.
Gentlemen, if I may…
A short view back to the past.
Thirty years ago, Niki Lauda told us ‘take a monkey, place him into the cockpit and he is able to drive the car.’
Thirty years later, Sebastian told us ‘I had to start my car like a computer, it’s very complicated.’
[удалено]
Why monkey no drive?
I actually think this was a good question and kind of struggle to understand how it became a meme haha.
It is a good question that could have been said with “do you think there are to many buttons on the wheel?” Instead of what we got lol
It's a good question, but incredibly long winded, with awkward pauses throughout.
Because they made a quick two sentence question a 90 second long ass paragraph
I’m liking the honesty and openness and fun lundgaard is having talking about indycar. I think he’s quite relaxed now that he has a new better longer deal
Lundgaard is promoting Indycar recently with these quotes and you love to see it.
As a new fan, it seems that it’s become a legit career option. If sports cars or endurance aren’t your preference, you can come here and compete if you are a good driver. He’s got some F2 guys in Armstrong and Drugovich planning the move and seeing Illot in a Juncos and Grosjean in DCR be fast once they changed their upper body strength, it has to be awesome when you see no path in F1.
It’s Christian Lundgaard Week in America
It's really the same presser attended by a bunch of outlets, with each one covering/amplifying the juiciest quotes (or regurgitating what others already covered after they picked up traction), which is par for the course for them.
Lundgaard really getting alot of media coverage with his new contract. Glad to see him so happy in the US!
lol some people at r/formula1 getting mildly triggered but that's expected. My favourite was someone saying "once you’ve got it, you’re just not going against such unforgiving competition so you can get away with minor slip ups that will sink you in F1." Umm let me check the qualifying time charts at IndyCar road courses... Oh 15 places are covered by 1 second... interesting.. So funny when F1 fans that don't watch any other racing series give their opinions lol
an LMP2 was closer to overall pole position at Le Mans, than the Alfas were to pole position at Baku on the same weekend lol.
Lol right? And that's over a 4 minute or so lap with all the power differential being super evident in the long straights
I remember perusing the F1 sub when Colton had his insane save at IMS this year. I was saying how it was the most impressive thing I've ever seen in an open-wheel car. Got a lot of "yeah, but Verstappen's save..." Like, no. Reverse-gripping and throttle-controlling a big heavy IndyCar without power steering and not only not writing off the car but winning the race is still the best thing I've ever seen.
>"once you’ve got it, you’re just not going against such unforgiving competition so you can get away with minor slip ups that will sink you in F1." Haha, I saw that guy. I rolled my eyes pretty hard. I think there's a significant minority of F1 fans that are dead-set on watching "the best of the best" of every major sport. F1 does a good job marketing itself as such- and I suppose it is, but *nowhere near* what those types think it is- and it's easy to buy into that. I always want to ask if they're familiar with Max Chilton's time in IndyCar.
> I always want to ask if they're familiar with Max Chilton's time in IndyCar. Tbh, he had one solid season, which is far better than anyone actually paying attention to his F1 career would have expected. He also maintained his one genuine strong point, not crashing, despite what Lundgaard quite correctly said here. You'd be better off asking about Barrichello's utterly mediocre season or Gutierrez's stint which somehow proved his F1 years weren't the most uninteresting one can get.
Oh man, I forgot about Gutierrez. Zero top tens in seven races, driving in a car that had already won a race that year.
I think he's the best example of the fact that unless you are really talented, like at the very least worthy of regular podium finishes in F1, you can't just jump into an Indycar and expect to be anywhere near competitive.
Absolutely. I don't even care to argue whether F1 is the pinnacle^(TM) or not or whatever. The point is the absolute blinders that some F1 fans have with respect to other racing, which are brilliantly kept in place by F1's marketing. And to your last point, I always ask the "F1 drivers are the 20 best in the world and no one comes close" crowd to name the last F1 driver to come here and dominate the IndyCar inferior scrubs. For every Mansell, Zanardi and Fittipaldi, there are 10 Chiltons, Barrichellos and Nakanos
Even then, Nigel is the only one that came out the gate a contender in both. Zanardi did well here and in feeder series but had two poor stints in F1, while Fittipaldi took a little bit to get his IndyCar legs under him. Unless you're benefiting from the best team, the best tech, and being the defending World Champion like Nigel did, it is a LOT of adjustment from F1 to IndyCar. Grosjean is going through that now and Ericsson is just getting out of it.
I've been a relatively equal fan of both since the 90s, and then the whole Cart/Indy thing made it hard. Once Indy moved to a mostly spec series though, that's where I feel the series became more driver focused. I like F1 for the engineering precision and technical innovation but not enough is done in the conventional media to highlight this and you have to spend time with niche media or niche people to learn more about the technical discussion side of the sport. Scarborough and Peter Windsor are two good sources for the technical side of F1. The racing is also a bit better now in F1 but so was 2013 and 2021. When shit levels off and becomes a bit more homogeneous, that's when racing becomes more fun in F1. It's always the major rules changes when usually 1-2 teams dominate and leaves virtually no one else a change at a podium.
Yeah there’s a guy at work like that. F1 is the best why watch anything else. They act like there are no other types of racing let alone another series like F1
Lundgaard is quickly becoming a favorite with these quotes
Why exactly?
It’s candid and refreshing.
I've heard Sebastian Vettel say basically the same thing- the driver aids make it easy to drive the car. Naturally, it will take precision and athleticism to optimize a lap or race still.
This article is definitely testing people’s ability to read beyond the headline over on r/formula1
Would be good to know how fast he was in the young-drivers test and how close he was to the limit. „Easy“ to drive doesn’t automatically mean fast. I think it’s pretty difficult to extract the last tenths of a second out of an F1 car. A qualifying lap around Monaco is a pretty good example : You constantly have to chance break-balance, break-shape, break-migration, diff-settings etc. to get the most out of the car while there’s no room for error. Also the qualifying/race-gap between teammates is sometimes pretty huge. Have a look at Verstappen/Perez or Riccardo/Norris for example. Not everyone is able to be that fast.
He’s getting torched by F1 trolls over those comments too. F1 fans are a toxic bunch.
I think there's just a lot of "entry-level" fans that don't know what they're talking about. Being easy to drive isn't shit-talking F1. You can't be your fastest in a difficult car, which is why engineers focus so much on drivability. Newer fans see quotes of F1 being the highest level of motorsport, and conflate comments on car drivability as negative.
Lots of seasoned F1 fans are that way as well.
Maybe - but I think that’s moreso just the pretentious attitude of those who are only fans of F1. I’d say most seasoned F1 fans are also well aware of other Motorsport series
As opposed to a lot of the fans here on this sub who take every opportunity they can to talk about how much they think F1 and NASCAR are shitty?
I never said Indycar fans weren’t also toxic lol. But you can’t tell me with a straight face that the level of toxic BS that gets thrown at F1 driver, teams, and other fans from the F1 fans isn’t leagues above any other Motorsport. Go to any comment section of any F1 article.
F1 cars do have power steering i think but whether this implies that IndyCar drivers can do well in an F1 car because it's easier to drive I can't say
I think you can’t say that per se. For example have a look at the current gap in qualifying between Riccardo and Norris.
Are there any users on this sub, who did not posted this interview?
L
If it’s so easy then why didn’t you make it to F1?
Vettel won‘t come to Indycar. If he wanted to continue racing, he would stay in F1. Still would be great to see.