Will Power slams the competition in Formula 1. In contrast to the current IndyCar season, the Formula 1 championship is looking to be a runaway campaign for Max Verstappen. IndyCar on the other hand has seen five different winners in seven races and has seen quite some action packed races.
“It’s so tough, an amazing field, the toughest field in the world, and people need to know it, especially compared to Formula 1!”
The reigning champion told NBC Sports he feels IndyCar doesn’t gets the credit it deserves, especially from Formula 1-regulars. However, it isn’t a jab the drivers in the so-called ‘pinnacle of motorsports’.
“Formula 1’s a joke as far as competition, but not as far as drivers. They have amazing drivers. And I feel sorry for them that they don’t get to experience the satisfaction we do with our racing because that is the top level of open-wheel motorsport.”
The Australian driver, who gained a new number 1 fan in hip-hop legend Flava Flav, added that he’d love to see Formula 1 to get a similar formula to IndyCar.
“I think Formula 1 would be so much better if they had a formula like IndyCar. I love the technology and the manufacturer side of it. I think that’s awesome. But from a spectator watching, man, how cool would it be if everyone had a Red Bull?
“You simply know Max is going to win every race if something doesn’t go wrong. Imagine being a guy coming out as a rookie, and you probably could win a race. It would be really cool to see. But you know that would never happen with the politics over there.”
Now ex-IndyCar driver Conor Daly was a bit more blunt with his assessment on the difference between Formula 1 and IndyCar in the latest episode of the ‘Speed Street’ podcast, stating that the Spanish Grand Prix was “awful”.
“Yet again the Formula 1 race was awful. I didn’t even watch it. I don’t know how they can consider that entertainment. We were entertaining.”
2021 Champion and Detroit Grand Prix Winner Alex Palou was more in line with Power, saying: “Racing-wise, [IndyCar] is the best you can get. That’s pure racing, having chances to win each weekend.”
The championship leader enjoys Formula 1, but he feels that there is a lack of action which people do get in IndyCar.
“I don’t think the beauty of F1 is the race itself, I’d say the beauty is more the development that they have and everything around the races, and that they go different places. But when we talk about pure spectacle, you cannot get better than [IndyCar].”
And also on the competition side of IndyCar Palou knows what he’s talking about, steering his Dale Coyne entered Dallara to a podium in his debut season.
“You can feel it as a driver here when you first come and jump in a car. When I was in Dale Coyne [Racing], we got a podium my rookie year. It wasn’t the best team, but we were able to achieve one of the best cars at Road America. It’s not that I was driving a slow car. I was driving a really fast car. I think we can see that across all the teams and the drivers.”
