Among the highlights of the Children’s GP of Alabama was definitely the battle between pole sitter Romain Grosjean and Scott McLaughlin for the race win, which saw the Team Penske driver prevail in the end.
McLaughlin is the fourth different winner in four races completed so far in 2023, and moved up from his starting P4 also thanks to his aggressive three-stop strategy to second place, just behind Grosjean on a fuel saving two-stopper.
At the last round of pit stops, the Kiwi performed the overcut. However, Grosjean managed to get by with an incredible pass into turn 16 as McLaughlin was still trying to get temperature in his alternate on lap 64.
The actual move that secured his fourth IndyCar race win came on Lap 72.
The Frenchman at that moment was still in the lead, but ran wide at turn 5 and McLaughlin didn’t waste any time in passing him for his first win at Barber.
The duels on track between the friends had been under the spotlight in St Petersburg already, when McLaughlin had taken out of the race Grosjean by mistake.
“I thought if I hit him this time, it would be bad,” said the Team Penske driver in the post race press conference with a smile.
McLaughlin went on to recall what happened in the race, explaining how he eventually managed to complete the move for the win, which involved strategical thinking and fuel saving:
“Racing him like we normally do, very clean. I knew it was going to be hard passing him. It was a matter of me biding my time. I asked the guys, where are we at on fuel? I had a bit more than him. Allowed me to pressure him a bit more, use a bit more to overtake, whatever. I had a lot more overtake up my sleeve.
“Ultimately that’s what helped me pass him. I think the way I got the run up into turn eight was purely by push to pass. I was able to save that. Once we got out in front, it was just a matter of managing it till the end.”
He also recalled the moment in which he had been shortly in the lead after his last stop, but eventually had to concede to the French driver, who had pitted three laps before him:
“When Grosjean got me out of the pits, didn’t catch me by surprise. Well, he caught me napping. It was a great move by him. To reset, go again, then pass him back with the pace that we had, that’s a proud drive for me personally, but from a team perspective, really proud.”
The 2021 Rookie of the Year had been quite confident to make the move given the advantage he had on his fresher tyres and more fuel to his advantage as well:
“I thought I’d be on the safe side when I had the reds on. Thought I might have been able to get him back. But he had great pace.
“I knew I couldn’t sit behind him too long. I had to pressure him. Yeah, that’s what we did, managed to get the pass.”
Asked if him and Grosjean had touched again while racing eachother, McLaughlin was a bit unsure:
“I think we touched when he passed me a little bit. But it was fair game. It was awesome racing, man. It was exactly what INDYCAR was. Yeah, ain’t no procession here, that’s for sure. It was a lot of fun.”
The Andretti driver was instead more decisive in affirming that they had actually come into small contact: “We kissed each other — a touch (smiling).”
Asked if he had approached duelling with McLaughlin in a different way after being crashed out in St Petersburg, Grosjean denied it, highlighting how much respect he has for his fellow driver:
“No, I know with Scott, a few guys out there that I’m really not worried about racing. Scott made a mistake in St. Pete. I know he doesn’t race that way. It was all clean.”
“It’s quite funny. He reminded me on the podium that last year I got him at the same spot. Next year I probably won’t get him there if he’s in front.”
The two-time pole sitter in 2023 is yet to win a race in IndyCar, but he is now a runner-up in five races. Grosjean discussed how he manage to pass McLaughlin on Lap 64: “The beauty of INDYCAR is the track evolves a lot during the race. You never really know what the grip is.
“Scott saw I wanted to go on the inside in 15, 16. He closed the door. I thought my only option is to go on the outside, roll some speed, see if the grip is there. The grip was there. I managed to get side by side in the apex.
“Same thing with turn five. The grip came on the very outside of the end of the race for some reason. It’s the beauty of it. You have to adapt a lot during the race, your driving style. Those races are tough. They’re very tough, demanding. That’s the way it goes. I was hoping for grip and I got the grip,” he concluded.
