With a few races in the books for IndyCar’s new hybrid powertrain, the series’ drivers are finally getting a chance to evaluate how the system can work in the heat of an event weekend.
Unlike other racing series, deployment of the system’s roughly 60 horsepower boost is done manually, and regeneration of the supercapacitor can be accomplished through software during braking or through manual controls on the steering wheel.
Regardless of which option drivers choose for controlling the system, there are a now considerably more things to manage inside the cockpit as they are travelling down the track at nearly 200 MPH.
As drivers get used to the new duties with each race weekend, they are able to have gain more comfort through repetition.
“I think it is [fun] when it becomes muscle memory, which in Mid-Ohio it was finally getting to that point,” Felix Rosenqvist told Motorsportweek.com during the Iowa weekend. “The simulator helps a lot to play with that stuff as well.
“Early on, it was annoying because you were like ‘I don’t want to do this stuff.’ Then when it becomes second nature, it’s actually quite fun. You do it without really thinking about it.
“That’s why they pay us the big bucks,” he continued, joking about how busy he is in the cockpit. “[We use the tools] a lot. There are a lot of things going on. You gotta use all your fingers. There’s five on each hand.”
Some drivers have chosen to have the hybrid controls linked to buttons on the front of the steering wheel, and some have added a button on the back of the wheel to be activated by their fingers.
The main consideration is driver preference, but practical limitations are also in play. Drivers do not want to be pressing the deployment button with the same finger that would control the upshift paddle, for instance, because both may need to be pressed at the same moment coming out of a corner.
The system is used in a completely different manner during oval races as well, which demand even more manual regeneration when there is little or no braking zones.
For part-time drivers, the challenge is more apparent. Conor Daly, while substituting for Jack Harvey in Iowa, ran his first race with the hybrid and did not have the same comfort level with the system as those around him.
The same is true of Katherine Legge, who is only contesting oval rounds with Dale Coyne Racing this season and only had a couple test sessions to try out the new system before the races last weekend.
“No, I’m still thinking about it,” said Legge, candid in her own lack of comfort with the controls.
“I still need to ask what the best strategy is and stuff like that. Because while you get some feel for it and you start to be able to do it instinctively, you’re still thinking about it. You’re still trying to work out state of charge, decel rates, and stuff. We’ll get there.”
For those drivers that have had the most testing time, the new addition is much more enjoyable at this stage.
The largest teams [Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing, and Arrow McLaren in particular] helped IndyCar test the prototype hybrid components on track, and thus have had the most time with their drivers behind the wheel.
Even though the details of the control scheme was in flux during testing, just as the electrical power unit was itself, the additional time still allowed those drivers to commit the basics of the new system to muscle memory.
With only two race weekends having been completed so far, some drivers are enjoying the new system already and can focus on strategically using the hybrid boost instead of the basic mechanics of remembering how to use it in the first place.
“It’s great!” said Alex Palou. “It’s fun, ton of fun. Even on those laps that get to be boring because there’s a stage when nobody is catching you, you don’t pull away, or you have traffic. There was still a lot do, driving wise. As a driver, I thought it was amazing.
“It’s very busy, but I mean, we’re racing. We’re not chilling around. It was good. It was not way too much that I couldn’t concentrate. It was right at the edge of ‘don’t give me more stuff’ because then probably I would be overwhelmed. But it was fun.”
As more races are run with the new system, the novelty will fade and the additional skills will simply become part of the skills needed to be a driver in IndyCar.
For now, it is very much a new challenge that is keeping the field of 27 drivers quite busy behind the wheel.
