Graham Rahal admits RLL kept him in the dark about Takuma Sato's Indy 500 return

Takuma Sato will head Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's planned fourth IndyCar for the Indy 500, a decision that the team's star driver, Graham Rahal, was unaware of until the announcement was made public. The 36-year-old revealed in a recent interview how he was not given a heads-up about Sato's return, despite his father's status within the squad.

Sato's intent to keep racing in the Indy 500 field was made clear by his sole entry in the 33-car field last year with RLL. Though he finished a disappointing 14th, he had been a previous winner for the Ohio-based team, as he won the 2020 Indy 500.

Despite this, there was no confirmation regarding the Japanese driver's return to the grid available at the start of the year. Team co-owner Bobby Rahal's son, Graham Rahal, also suffered from the lack of information and awaited a result on Takuma Sato's plight within the team.

However, without any prior notice to Rahal, Sato had been announced as RLL's fourth entry at the 2025 Indy 500. The 36-year-old later revealed this at the Indy 500 open test, and said (via IndyCar):

"Well I didn't know we were doing four cars till I read the announcement on social media; true statement." (2:22 onwards)

While Takuma Sato has won the Indy 500 twice in his career, Graham Rahal has not been so fortunate despite more starts at the fabled race and is yet to taste victory at the track.

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Graham Rahal explains the intricate nature of the Indy 500

Graham Rahal at the NTT INDYCAR Series Gallagher Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Though many might interpret these results as the 36-year-old's inability to claim the elusive victory, a bigger picture lies behind the statistics. Rahal has recorded two podium finishes at the Indy 500, and in a bid to better the team's chances, RLL hired engineers from the F1 sphere.

However, due to the complexity of the Indy 500, the F1 personnel's addition essentially went in vain, as Rahal said (via IndyCar):

"A few years ago, we had a change in the engineering core. [We] brought in several guys from Formula 1, and unfortunately, they really didn't have a good grasp on what Indianapolis is. I think people often don't understand how difficult this sport is; it's a game of millimeters, if not smaller particularly around Indy." (1:22 onwards)

"And the methodology that they brought really put us on the back foot. So we've had to kind of unearth ourselves from that a little bit, but there's also just a lot more that it continuously evolves all the time."

On the other hand, Graham Rahal has not scored a top-10 result in the three rounds held so far. He will be hoping to break the top-10 barrier in the two rounds before the Indy 500 to help induce confidence in his pitcrew.