"I was being a d**k" - Santino Ferrucci admits mistake for wild fight with Kyle Kirkwood

Indycar driver Santino Ferrucci got into a heated argument with Kyle Kirkwood at the 2024 Detroit Grand Prix which involved the AJ Foyt Racing driver shoving the Andretti driver. Ferrucci was featured in a video recently uploaded on Chase Holden's YouTube channel and admitted his mistake in the brawl with Kirkwood.

Chase Holden brought up the incident with Romain Grosjean and Kyle Kirkwood at the Detroit GP. Santino Ferrucci detailed how the TV made it look a lot worse than it actually was, as he said:

“Stuff like with Grosjean and like, you know, and what happened with Kirkwood at Detroit, like having someone like me and him are good friends." [19:06 onwards]

“Yeah, I actually, I went over there to apologize to him. They were in meetings and stuff because, you know, I felt bad because I, you know, I was being a d**k,” added Santino Ferrucci.

“No, I went over. We grew up go karting against each other. So we've known each other since we were kids. Same with Pato (O’Ward) and all these other guys. So, like, we have, you know, we were all good friends. I was like, it's not worth ruining a friendship over some disagreement on track. But I mean the way that TV made it look, it was fricking hilarious,” he also mentioned.

Santino Ferrucci and Kyle Kirkwood came together during the free practice session at the Detroit GP. Given the street circuit nature of the track, it is natural to have single-car lines into corners, making it incredibly difficult for cars to pass.

Ferrucci decided to pass Kirkwood going into Turn 9 as he dive-bombed the Andretti driver. Kyle Kirkwood didn't expect the same, and the two drivers collided going into the corner as it narrowed into the corner entry.

Kyle Kirkwood’s comments following the incident with Santino Ferrucci at the 2024 Detroit Grand Prix

AUTO: JUN 22 NTT IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey - Source: Getty

After the practice session in Detroit, the No.27 Andretti driver decided to confront Santino Ferrucci and went to his pit box. This is when the AJ Foyt Racing driver shoved Kyle Kirkwood. The Andretti driver spoke with the media after the pit box incident and blamed Ferrucci as he said:

“I don't know what he's doing. His lap was already ruined. He just ruined his next lap too. It's just dumb. It's dangerous. He drove right into me purposely, tried to drive me into the wall, and then I went up and tried to talk to him about it and then he grabs me. He's like shaking me. I’m like, what are you getting mad at me for? It's insane. But we've seen it before with him.” [via Motorsport]

However, Santino Ferrucci did realize his mistake following the heated arguments and apologized to Kyle Kirkwood once things cooled down.