IndyCar's Conor Daly recalls his time racing Carlos Sainz and Valtteri Bottas in the F1 ladder

IndyCar star Conor Daly has recalled his experience racing in the F1 ladder in Europe in the early 2010s. Born to an F1 driver, Derek Daly, he moved to Europe in 2011 to race in the GP3 (now F3) series, where his peers were the F1 stars of today, Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas, Pierre Gasly, and more.

Daly started competing in F3 after winning the 2010 Pro Mazda Championship in America with Juncos Racing (now Juncos Hollinger Racing), with whom he currently races in IndyCar. In his first F3 season in 2011, he raced with Carlin Motorsport and could only manage to finish 17th in the standings, while Valtteri Bottas won the championship with Lotus ART.

In a recent interview with FanAmp, Conor Daly spoke about his half a decade worth of experience in the F1 ladder, saying:

"I got to win some races in F3 and compete in F2 as well. That was the era of Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas, all those guys coming through... Pierre Gasly, Daniil Kvyat. That was my era. A lot of good drivers, learned a lot over there. Got to drive some F1 cars, which is really cool, and then ended up back over here. I love IndyCar, have always loved IndyCar, but definitely always wanted to give that (F1) route a shot. Happy that I ended up back here."

Daly was also a reserve driver for the Force India team for two years, which is now Aston Martin. He drove the team's F1 car, the VJM-05, for the first time during an aero-test for the team in 2012.

His then-peers are currently in a relatively challenging place in F1. Carlos Sainz is driving for a midfield team, Williams, after being axed by Ferrari. Bottas is a reserve driver for Mercedes, having found no seat after Sauber dropped him.

IndyCar analyst Will Buxton compares Conor Daly to Pierre Gasly

Will Buxton with Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, and Lawrence Barretto at the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi - Previews - Source: Getty

Renowned F1 presenter Will Buxton left the pinnacle of motorsport for IndyCar in 2025 to become a play-by-play commentator for FOX. In a video comparing IndyCar drivers to F1 drivers, he likened Conor Daly to Alpine's Pierre Gasly.

He said (via an Instagram post):

"Conor Daly! Oh man, he's going to kill me if I get the wrong person. Pierre Gasly. Is that because of the facial hair? Probably. Great guys! Like, really fun guys, but proper hard racers."

Conor Daly is in his first full-time season with Juncos Hollinger Racing. In the latter half of the 2024 IndyCar season, he was called up by the team for a part-time role. He gave the team its first IndyCar podium by finishing P3 at Milwaukee, and sealed a guaranteed promotion to a full-time seat. So far in 2025, Daly has yet to impress with a best result of only P16 to show in three races.