Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver James Hinchcliffe says he is confused by his crash at Phoenix Raceway while testing IndyCar’s 2018 universal aerokit. Hinchcliffe and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon were testing on Wednesday as part of Honda’s allocated running for manufacturers.

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears says Helio Castroneves can equal his record at Indy in 2018, despite no longer being a full-time IndyCar racer. Though initially reluctant to leave IndyCar, Castroneves has been placed in Penske’s new Acura IMSA SportsCar

IndyCar has abandoned its plan to return to Mexico in the 2018 season, but talks are continuing for a race at Formula 1 venue Mexico City in ’19. The proposed date of August 5 would have made Mexico the 14th round in an 18-race series, but instead the 2018 schedule will remain at 17 races

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Tony Kanaan says he was disappointed with his IndyCar spell at Chip Ganassi Racing and needed the chance to build a team around himself in 2018 with AJ Foyt. Kanaan won one race in his four years with Ganassi, coming at

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Long-time IndyCar race director Brian Barnhart is leaving the organisation to become president of new team Harding Racing. Mike Harding’s team is intending to enter IndyCar full-time in 2018, having made its debut in a partial programme with Gabby Chaves this

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. One-time CART runner-up Adrian Fernandez says IndyCar is “hoping for a miracle” and will end up disappointed if its planned 2018 Mexico City race happens without a full-time Mexican driver. IndyCar is currently negotiating a deal to race at Formula 1

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. IndyCar has revealed that two 2018 aerokits will be given to each full-season entry for free, bringing costs down by $180,000 for a two-car team. The new aerokit currently costs $90,000 and IndyCar has fixed its price until 2020, meaning IndyCar

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Michael Shank Racing could run a part-time 2018 IndyCar season in partnership with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and fielding 2012 British Formula 3 champion Jack Harvey. Harvey made his IndyCar debut in 2017 at the Indianapolis 500 with a Shank co-entry run

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Matheus Leist, the 2016 BRDC British Formula 3 champion, has signed for AJ Foyt Racing and will partner fellow Brazilian Tony Kanaan for the 2018 IndyCar season. Leist will become the youngest driver in the series when he makes his debut,

Upgrade for free today You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver James Hinchcliffe says the new 2018 IndyCar universal aerokit will remove a “band-aid” of downforce that helped weaker teams compete. The new kit will replace the outgoing manufacturer-built spec and will lead to an overall reduction in

Ed Jones says his surprise Chip Ganassi Racing switch was due to delays in re-signing with Dale Coyne Racing for the 2018 IndyCar season without his Indy Lights scholarship funds. Jones had been expected to undertake a second season with Coyne after a successful first year in which he became the unexpected team leader, following

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports has signed leading IndyCar race engineer Todd Malloy to be the team’s new technical director in its first year as an enhanced Honda partner for 2018. SPM had identified its reliance on James Hinchliffe as a weakness, targeting and signing Mercedes DTM driver Robert Wickens for the second car, two months after

IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden believes Penske’s recent dominance of the championship can continue in 2018 and that it could make the new aerokit its advantage by adapting quickly. The championship will have a radically different new universal aerokit next year, replacing the engine manufacturer designed builds, and drivers believe it will reset the playing field.

One-time Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon says IndyCar’s new universal aerokit for 2018 could make qualifying for next year’s race “super-easy”. Dixon tested at Indianapolis and Texas Motor Speedway for Chip Ganassi in the second of four manufacturer-led tests before teams begin their own running in 2018. After completing the test Dixon, who has taken

Brendon Hartley’s provisional 2018 Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar contract had a caveat in case a Formula 1 team approached him, Autosport understands. Hartley made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso at the United States Grand Prix as Pierre Gasly made a failed attempt to win the Super Formula championship. Toro Rosso then dropped Daniil Kvyat

A deal for IndyCar to race at the Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix venue in August 2018 is 99% complete, according to sources close to the race organisers. Mexico City was listed as a provisional host venue on the 2018 IndyCar calendar as it had not been able to secure the date before calendar reveal

Chip Ganassi Racing has signed IndyCar rookie of the year Ed Jones for the 2018 season. Jones made his IndyCar debut with Dale Coyne Racing this year after graduating from Indy Lights and led the team in the absence of Sebastien Bourdais following his Indianapolis 500 qualifying crash. Dale Coyne had been keen to retain

IndyCar could scrap its push-to-pass system because the new-for-2018 universal aerokit should allow cars to follow more closely, although it is unlikely to be dropped for next year. The push-to-pass overtaking aid was added by IndyCar in 2012 for Toronto’s street race and utilised a turbocharger boost to allow cars to overtake more easily with

IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden has backed the series’ decision to reject the adoption of a Formula 1-style halo and pursue its own cockpit protection system instead. The single-seater series plans to test its own “windshield” cockpit protection device in the coming months after rejecting the halo as a viable solution. Newgarden told reporters at the

IndyCar wants to end the “random” elements of its races for 2018 and ensure “purity” by changing the rules regarding pitting under full-course yellow cautions. Until now IndyCar has closed the pits under a full-course yellow and drivers who had stopped just before can vault to the front when the leaders pit after the caution

IndyCar wants to test its version of a cockpit protection system within the next two months to decide if it will be implemented for the 2018 season. The championship had ruled out using a system similar to Formula 1’s halo due to the lack of visibility for drivers on ovals and has since worked on

Juncos Racing will field its Indy Lights champion Kyle Kaiser in IndyCar on a part-time schedule in 2018. Kaiser won the Lights title this season in his third year in the category, and received a $1million scholarship from Mazda to assemble a partial IndyCar programme. The 21-year-old has now been confirmed for a four-race programme

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports IndyCar team has held talks with ex-Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya about running him at the Indianapolis 500. Montoya had been hoping to make a second consecutive appearance at the Indy 500 with Penske after he was replaced by Josef Newgarden full-time for 2017. Penske has switched Montoya to its new

James Hinchcliffe will continue with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports next season, having signed a new multi-year extension to partner new driver Robert Wickens. Hinchcliffe had been expected to remain at the team for 2018, with SPM enhancing its relationship with Honda ahead of the new season. He says that the team’s new status with Honda in

Robert Wickens will leave the Mercedes DTM team to race for Schmidt Peterson Motorsport in IndyCar for the 2018 season. Wickens had been looking to move to IndyCar after Mercedes confirmed it would quit the DTM at the end of 2018. He had been on the radar for Schmidt Peterson for some time, having undertaken

IndyCar has explained its decision to replace Watkins Glen with Portland on its 2018 calendar, and has left the door open for the outgoing venue to return in the future. Watkins Glen returned to the IndyCar schedule in 2016 after a street race in Boston collapsed, but it suffered low attendance in its two-year spell

Michael Andretti says he hopes his IndyCar outfit will be able to partner with the McLaren Formula 1 team for a second attempt at the Indianapolis 500 in 2018.
 McLaren raced at this year’s Indy 500 for the first time since 1979, offering Fernando Alonso an attempt to complete the second leg of motorsport’s triple

IndyCar is targeting an early August race at Mexico City, replacing the now vacant World Endurance Championship slot, and believes it’s “possible” for the race to happen in 2018. Autosport has learned that IndyCar was in discussions to add a race at the Mexican Grand Prix venue, after previously considering an oval race at Puebla

IndyCar has dropped Watkins Glen for its 2018 season with the championship set to return to Portland, while Autosport understands Mexico City could yet be added to the calendar. The removal of Watkins Glen for Portland is the only change to last year’s schedule. Watkins Glen had been added to the 2016 calendar when a

Honda and Chevrolet have begun their manufacturer testing of the new 2018 IndyCar aerokit, with the engine builders conducting running at Mid-Ohio and Road America respectively. Chevrolet ran Penske driver and 2016 IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud alongside Ed Carpenter Racing’s Spencer Pigot at Road America yesterday, in the first of five days allocated to the