Four senior members of the Team Penske IndyCar team have been suspended by the esteemed team boss Roger Penske.
This includes team president Tim Cindric and managing director Ron Ruzewski. All four members have been suspended for the next two IndyCar rounds including the Indy 500.
Penske said: “I recognise the magnitude of what occurred and the impact it continues to have on the sport to which I’ve dedicated so many decades.”
“Everyone at Team Penske along with our fans and business partners should know that I apologize for the errors that were made and I deeply regret them.”
Both race winner Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin, who finished third, were disqualified from the season opener at St. Petersburg for using push-to-pass outside of the regulations.
Will Power was penalised 10 championship points also had the software available but survived being disqualified from the event in Florida as he didn’t use push-to-pass in an incorrect way.
The Australian, along with his two teammates, were fined $25,000 each and conceded their prize money.
Both Newgarden’s race engineer Luke Mason and Power’s senior data engineer are suspended, meaning the defending Indy 500 will be without the engineer who guided him to victory at the Brickyard last year.
Penske said in a statement: “After a full and comprehensive analysis of the information, Team Penske has determined that there were significant failures in our processes and internal communications.
“As a result, Luke Mason [No. 2 Race Engineer] and Robbie Atkinson [Senior Data Engineer] will be suspended from Team Penske for the next two INDYCAR races including the Indianapolis 500.
“In addition, Ron Ruzewski [Managing Director, Team Penske INDYCAR] will also be suspended for these two races, along with Tim Cindric [President of Team Penske], who has accountability for all of Team Penske’s operations.”
Cindric posted his own statement on Team Penske’s X account, stating: “For Ron and I as leaders of this team, it’s not about what we did, it’s about what we didn’t do.
“It is our responsibility to provide the team and all our drivers with the right processes to ensure something like this can’t happen. For that, I apologize to Roger, our team and everyone that supports us.”
He added: “Our number one job is to protect and enhance the reputation of our brand and that of those that support us. In that regard, as the overall leader, I failed and must raise my hand and be accountable with the others.
“This is a team, and in my position, it’s the right thing to do.”
