After Monday’s (AEST) wild IndyCar Series race in Toronto, Scott McLaughlin made a controversial post-script in which he questioned Will Power’s abilities as a teammate.
With nine laps remaining, Australian great Power attempted to pass New Zealand star McLaughlin for fourth place but instead made wheel-to-wheel contact and crashed him into a concrete wall.
McLaughlin’s race was ended by the incident, while Power was given a drive-through penalty. After that, he would come in 12th place behind American winner Colton Herta.
When Power came around on the following lap, McLaughlin stepped out of his car and applauded his car, probably in a mocking manner.
“It’s a low-percentage move when we were both probably going to have a good day,” an enraged McLaughlin remarked afterwards on Stan Sport as the coverage continued.
“I get that we’re racing for a championship but when we’re both ahead of (Alex) Palou, it’s just the low percentage ones that are a little disappointing.”
McLaughlin fell to sixth in the championship standings, but Power is still in second place.
“Everyone at Team Penske is disappointed,” McLaughlin remarked.
“Today, we weren’t the fastest. Well done, Colton. He drove a very fast car all weekend, but I thought we could win some really important points today and get back into the race for the championship. It will now be a little more difficult, and you don’t want to witness it since it involves touch with a teammate.”
Six restarts were required during the race. On the 73rd lap, Pato O’Ward spun out into a wall, causing his car’s nose to protrude onto the track, resulting in a multi-car incident that prompted the red flag.
After Marcus Ericsson jammed up on the wall behind O’Ward, O’Ward’s nose was clipped by three more racers: Pietro Fittipaldi, Santino Ferrucci, and Nolan Siegel.
After Ferrucci’s car went airborne and landed upside down, the American quickly stepped out of his car and gave his teammates a signal that he was alright.
“First off, I’m very, very thankful to the IndyCar medical team,” Ferrucci stated.
“Cars are really safe, you know. To be in such a terrifying accident and yet escape unharmed… Pato was never someone I saw. In fact, I was trying to avoid Pato at the beginning of the race, so I had the steering wheel bent, and we were basically left hand up, right hand down.
“So, I never saw Pietro clip him and there was nothing on the spotters when I passed by there. Nothing, no yellows, was present. It’s bad that I was attempting to take care of the equipment and enjoy a recuperation day when I realized I needed to check in.
IndyCar officials, according to O’Ward, reacted too slowly.
The Mexican driver stated, “I had rear locking, spun, and that’s pretty much the end of that.”
“I can’t believe IndyCar didn’t issue a yellow card. As though all you’re asking for is a big shunt. They had a whole five seconds to sound the warning and let everyone know that help was on the way. I’m relieved that everyone else who attended is alright.
I apologize to the team. We were obviously enjoying a better race than we had all weekend. It has truly been awful.”
Herta, who started from pole position and stayed in control the entire time at Exhibition Place, was much happier following his first victory in over two years.
With the quickest laps in practice, qualifying, and the warm-up, the 24-year-old recorded the first weekend sweep in IndyCar history and went on to win the race for the eighth time in his career.
It’s fantastic. Wow, “explained Herta.
“For whatever reason, things haven’t worked out for us. There have been many podiums, top five finishes, pole positions, and moments of speed, but no victories. Therefore, it’s wonderful to have one back at last.”
With the quickest laps in practice, qualifying, and the warm-up, the 24-year-old recorded the first weekend sweep in IndyCar history and went on to win the race for the eighth time in his career.
It’s fantastic. Wow, “explained Herta.
“For whatever reason, things haven’t worked out for us. There have been many podiums, top five finishes, pole positions, and moments of speed, but no victories. Therefore, it’s wonderful to have one back at last.”
Herta placed a great deal of extra strain on the engine by spinning his car in triumphant doughnuts during the race, which was the first street event for the hybrid powertrains that were launched two weeks ago on the Mid-Ohio road course.
Herta said, “I love making doughnuts.”
“And after this race, I’m going to tear this engine out so I can wreck it as much as I want. I detest missing out on doughnuts, so this was the ideal race to win.”
Four-time Toronto champion Scott Dixon of New Zealand came in second, 0.3469 seconds behind his Andretti Global teammate Kyle Kirkwood.
“Super happy with second, especially when a teammate wins,” added Kirkwood.
“That was today’s objective. We intended to complete 1-2, therefore we started 1-2. Naturally, I would have wanted to win, but I also wasn’t going to take any chances.”
Palou, the series leader for Chip Ganassi Racing, started 18th in qualifying and finished fourth after being penalized for interfering.
He pulled ahead of Power by 49 points.
Theo Pourchaire, a Frenchman filling in for the injured Alexander Rossi, finished 14th for Arrow McLaren.
During practice, Rossi’s car crashed into a concrete wall and struck a tire barrier, breaking his right thumb.