The 2024 season of IndyCar starting this Sunday in St. Petersburg (Florida) with important news in its calendar and many equalities and putting on the table many candidates for the title defended by a Alex Palou already focused on the United States after closing the door on the siren songs of Formula One.
The Spanish driver starts as the number one favorite, but the fact that there are more ovals and his favorite circuits have changed calendar dates, gives options to others like the North American Josef Newgarden, king of oval, or the New Zealander Scott Dixon, whose performance at 43 years old continues to be extraordinary.
Palou and Dixon, the threat to the house
Dixon is a great threat for Palou: as a teammate with Chip Ganassi they share technology and adjustments, but they don’t give an inch on the track.
Both drivers are looking to become champions: Palou is looking for his third crown and Dixon is aiming for his seventh.
“Strange and difficult. I can’t beat him for material or developments because all the work goes to the team. “Obviously it’s a headache to have him at home, and at the same time it’s a unique opportunity to have the biggest rival here, see what he does, how he thinks and get so much information from one of the best driver ever. in the history of IndyCar,” said Palou in a recent interview with EFE.
The 2023 champion against the runner-up but also Palou’s consistency against Dixon’s ability to revive, as the New Zealander returns with three victories in the last four races last year to enter the fight .
Team Penske, the best team on the grid?
A valid question despite the fact that Chip Ganassi climbed into the team box nine times compared to Team Penske’s five. To discuss this rivalry is to discuss what Honda also represents in the former and Chevrolet in the latter.
In Team Penske There are three candidate drivers and they very well balance the chances of winning on circuits, ovals and urban circuits. New Zealander Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden are the ones to fight Chip Ganassi in 2023 and have the calendar in their favor. In fact, the American won all the ovals in the last edition.
The case of Australian Will Power is a mystery: no one doubts his greatness and quality as a driver (he is the 2022 champion) but his personal problems keep him from his level last year. Due to the serious illness of his wife, he is not focused, but in 2024 he can return to the big stage.
O’Ward and Canapino, Hispanic American representation
2023 is not a good year for the Mexican Duck O’Ward. At the helm of his McLaren he showed that he was ready for great things and in every race he had a leading role, but he never finished victorious. The balance was four second places and three third places, but there was the feeling that because of mechanics or poor use of strategy they always lost to him.
A year on from experience and integrated into the British team, O’Ward is Zak Brown’s right eye and the prime candidate for important things. American David Malukas, signed for this season after leaving Dale Coyne, as well as veteran Alexander Rossi complete the McLaren trio.
Discuss Agustín Canapino is to do it from a fairy tale: driving as a ‘rookie’ at 33 years old and for the first time in single-seaters and having a very positive role by scoring points in all championship races.
He already has a year of experience, but although Juncos Hollinger has limitations, the challenge is to go to the next level and get into the ‘top 10’ in some races.
The Argentine has changed allies: goodbye to British Callum Ilott and hello to a veteran like Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman bounced back from Andretti with two second-place finishes at Long Beach and Alabama but did not compete as expected.
A very different calendar
The big news of the 2024 IndyCar season is the calendar, which has 17 scoring grand prizes and one, in March, for the exhibition in Thermal (California), whose only attraction is the financial prize.
This course is from four oval races to fivebut the fifth with a lot of weight in the fight for the championship, because the tradition of closing the season at Laguna Seca ends (they will visit it in June) and the champion will be crowned in Nashville.
This improves the options of specialists like Newgarden and four of the five oval circuits are run in the last six races. A lot of extra ammunition for the kings of these circuits and difficulties for the current champion, a Palou whose re-reigning clearly requires improvement on these tracks where he has never won.
The jewel in the crown is once again the Indianapolis 500: May 26 is marked in red on the calendar because victory on the big oval fetches almost the same amount as winning the title.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
