Opinions Differ on INDYCAR Hybrid Package

Photo Credit: Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment

20 drivers put INDYCAR’s new hybrid unit through its paces Tuesday at The Milwaukee Mile as part of an open test. And there were probably 20 different opinions as to how the new unit will perform, or be utilized, when it makes its NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition debut at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course July 5 - 7.

Two-time and reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden felt good about the way the unit in his No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet operated.

“For me it was a pretty seamless day. It seemed like an easygoing day for most people.

“The system, certainly from the last time I ran it, it operates pretty seamlessly. Just not having a lot of hiccups with it. We've definitely had a lot of miles on it now. It seems to work really well. Pretty robust.

“I think it's impossible to say we're not going to have any issues. It's like any new part, if there's a new part, there's always going to be some risk of something still needing to be developed.

“Up to this point, I think we've seen the system is fairly robust. It's ready to drive I think in a race condition. I'm excited to see this new chapter for the rest of the year.”

Newgarden’s Team Penske teammate, Will Power, has the most testing miles with the hybrid unit which is a collaboration between Honda and Chevrolet.

According to Power “You do feel it’s probably going to assist in passing. If you’ve got a run on someone, I think it will work.”

For Graham Rahal, driver of the No. 15 Hendrickson Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, deploying the extra horsepower with the hybrid assist may not be as beneficial at the Milwaukee Mile as it will be on road and street courses.

“It's a major challenge here to utilize it because of the fact you're so busy already with all the other things going on that it kind of becomes an afterthought as a driver, I think.

“Until the team said, Hybrid, hybrid. Oh, okay, got to hit it, got to hit it.

“But you're so focused on the driving aspect on a short oval like this that I think it makes it difficult to maximize the effect of the hybrid.

“However, on the simulated restarts we were doing, when you utilize it, it's a clear boost. I would also say in traffic when you get really bogged down, it was nice to be able to pull the deploy and really feel a lot of gain.

“That can make racing quite interesting, I think. As challenging as it is to remind yourself of it all the time, I think the net effect is going to be positive.”

But for Rahal, it’s not yet second nature to deploy the extra boost from the hybrid unit.

“Not by any means. I think when you're up in high rpms and stuff, that's not where it's efficient. Same in the street car. When you're up doing a qualifying lap, high in rpms, the feeling is really nominal. But, as I said, coming off the corner, low rpms, race running, things like that, it's quite a large effect, which is cool.”

Like many others at the test, Marcus Ericsson, driver of Andretti Global’s No. 28 Delaware Life Honda, spent his first laps of the morning just getting acquainted with the Milwaukee Mile.

“We started off just trying to obviously figure out the car, have a good baseline car because we haven't been here for such a long time. And, obviously, I've never been here. So, first few rounds was all about that. And then after that we started exploring the hybrid system, trying different settings on it and different techniques. So, it's been a lot of learning this morning, but everything has been working really well.”

Teams and drivers are free to use “regen” options as they see fit: Automatic via braking or throttle position, or manual via selected steering wheel paddles or buttons.

For Ericsson, how and when a driver utilizes the hybrid system, has the potential to make the racing more interesting.

“Yeah, the hope that I have is that we don't end up that everyone is doing the same thing, right? Like everyone is finding the optimal strategy. I think the way the system is quite manually, it's good for that because then you can do differently to other drivers out there. So we will have to see a bit more.

“This is still very early days, but I'm hoping it's going to make the racing even more interesting because you're going to have people doing it better than others. I'm doing it different to others and that should make it interesting to watch.

“I think the drivers that has stellar brain capacity is gonna be the ones that comes out on top because even here and on short oval,” continued Ericsson. “You have, obviously, your weight jacker, you have your front and rear bar to play with and now we have the hybrid unit and different settings on that and deploy and regen.

“So a lot of things going on there behind the wheel and to do all that with tire wear with you know, car side by side with you. It's gonna be tough and it's going to be tricky and you know, some drivers like to jump in and just drive and don't think about anything. I think that's not going to work very well in these cars with the hybrid.”

It also increases the opportunity for a driver to make a mistake, according to Ericsson.

“Yeah, I think so. I think it's going to be easier to make mistakes with this. It's going to be a bit more difficult. But you know, that's why we're we're here. You know, we're some of the best drivers in the world driving this car. So, if it will be easy, everyone could do it.

“I think the biggest thing for me is just gonna be for the driver to be able to do all these things at the same time. We need to drive as fast as possible, you know, driving wise, but you have so many tools now in the car with this added hybrid that it's gonna be tricky. And I think some drivers will be better than others in this new era.”

Newgarden, for one, likes having all the options at his disposal.

“There's definitely optionality with it. There's a learning curve. There's a strategy to it. How do you utilize it? It's not just a set thing for everybody and it's there. You can use it a lot of different ways. There's definitely going to be a learning curve and I think optionality for people to use it differently.”

Christian Lundgaard, driver of the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, had yet to figure out the best way to use the hybrid assist during the morning session.

“No, I don't think anybody has. And I think that's a little bit of a challenge for all of us and for us as a team. We've run the hybrid once before at the Indy GP for a test. This is the second time that we’ve run it and it's an oval. We're trying to figure out how much we really need a “regen” for the amount we are allowed to deploy to not over deploy, and then get into the point where it stops “regening” mid corner because you're suddenly at full state of charge.

“So, that’s the challenge, really, because it all depends on if you want to have it more aggressive, so you have a more consistent balance and so on.

“But, I think the deploy is pretty straightforward. I mean, you press a button that's pretty easy. When? Where? Well, that depends. I mean, it also depends on how much you have left. Because you burn it off pretty quickly.”

Coupled with learning the hybrid system, Lundgaard was another of the drivers also figuring out the fastest way around the Milwaukee Mile. Although it was an added wrinkle to his day, Lundgaard didn’t find it to be information overload.

“I don't think so. I mean you have the possibility to just turn it off, right? I mean, you don't have to use it. So I think it's really up to the driver of what he prefers.

“Of course, we want to get as much information on it as we want. But I also know across the three drivers and in our team, it's very mixed on what we prefer. And I think that comes down to driving style and just how comfortable you are with the tools that you have on the wheel.”

At 48V, the hybrid component is considered low voltage. Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet wasn’t too impressed with the hybrid unit at Milwaukee, feeling that it needed more oomph.

“I would like it to be a bit more of a shift in terms of performance, in terms of just what we get to feel.

“The gains that it gives you aren’t big enough in order for you to shift focus on trying to use it in the most efficient way possible vs. just trying to make a perfect lap with a good setup and everything,” O’Ward said.

“Right now, there is more lap time in making sure your car and your setup is good and perfecting how you get through a corner, vs. oh, I need to engage it here.”

Rahal believes everyone needs to be patient.

“I think it would be nice if it had more juice, for sure. I think it's a start, number one. Number two, I think it works quite well. I think at lower rpms, when you fall out of the power band, you can feel it. It definitely has an effect.

“I think it's early days. Everybody has to be patient with it, too. F1 didn't start with the same power that it delivers today in their first gen. Let's give this thing some time to develop. I think it has big potential.

“For me today it was a bit of a zoo trying to figure it out in a short period of time. There's a lot happening. This is a very low-grip track. You're sliding around so much, too. Not the easiest thing to do to remind yourself constantly to hit the button.

“I think in the end, as it does become second nature, it will be fine. We just got to give it a little bit of time to develop.”

With the first race with the hybrid unit less than three weeks away, how much time will Newgarden spend studying for Mid-Ohio of when to use it, when not to use it?

“We've been studying it. It's not like it's getting dropped in our lap right now. That's what I would say. It's not like we're scrambling right now to think about Mid-Ohio. If we had to go to Mid-Ohio tomorrow, it would be okay.

“We've been working on it. We sort of had our initial feelings about it, strategy or plan. We're going to keep developing that as we get closer to Mid-Ohio, try to hit the ground running a little bit better than everybody.

“I don't think you're going to find people that are, like, way out to bed with it. I think everyone will be pretty close. You might see some people with maybe a touch of a better advantage with it, maybe a different tactic that's helping them.

“You're not going to see anybody, like, light-years ahead because they are using it better. It's pretty simplified in a lot of respects. It's kind of like the push to pass. It's a system that you're going to determine how you want to use it across the lap. Everybody's going to come up with their own method. I don't think you're going to see people way off on a different planet with it.”

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