James Hinchcliffe discusses why F1 should borrow IndyCar's strategic intensity

Former IndyCar star James Hinchcliffe has shared what F1 lacks compared to IndyCar when it comes to on-track action. The Canadian driver has witnessed the evolution of both racing series' up close.

James Hinchcliffe ran 161 IndyCar races over his 11-year career, winning six of them - three with Andretti Autosport (now Andretti Global) and three with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (now Arrow McLaren). After retiring from racing in 2021, he became a commentator and analyst, most recently working with the F1TV squad for over two years.

The 38-year-old recently appeared on an episode of the Red Flags podcast released on Monday, January 6. In one segment of the conversation, co-host Matt Elisofon questioned him about what IndyCar can borrow from F1 or vice versa. While Hinchcliffe agreed that IndyCar isn't as proficient as F1 in marketing its product, he declared that the American series offers better racing action and strategy battles for fans.

Hinchcliffe used the example of F1's tire warmers versus its absence in IndyCar to put forth his point.

"In IndyCar, everyone's basically driving the same car. So ignoring the inherent differences that are going to come from the fact that everyone's driving a different car (in F1), I think tire warmers are a big detractor of actual racing because when a car leaves the pits after a stop in F1, that's as fast as it's going to go that stint," he began explaining. [16:27 onwards]

"The tires are up to temp and fresh, and as long as you come out physically in front of a guy, you're pretty much staying in front of him. It's kind of boring. In an IndyCar race, you really got to plan out your stop. Outlaps are gnarly, man. Dude, it's hard. It's super f*cking hard. So that's also what separates the great drivers from the good ones."

James Hinchcliffe also explained how the different track types in IndyCar keep the pit-stop strategy variable, but in F1, the undercut strategy wins on most days. Another strategic variable that IndyCar offers is refueling, which F1 banned in 2009.

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James Hinchcliffe describes the most "terrifying" situation an IndyCar driver can face

102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

Though F1 is branded the 'pinnacle of motorsport', even its best on-track action sometimes fails to match that of IndyCar races on ovals. The ovals provide cars constantly going at over 230mph, sometimes three-wide on the track. The dangers are higher, but so is the payoff.

In the Red Flags podcast, James Hinchcliffe also spoke about the predicament of an IndyCar driver when their car is damaged in an incident on an oval.

"The ones where it sucks in IndyCar is when you've had an incident on an oval, and let's say you've had a bit of contact and the car's like a little bit off. When you're on an oval and the car's a little bit off, it's terrifying. You're just falling laps down, you're just in the way, and you're just trying to struggle bus through it," he said [1:09:06 onwards].

Alongside his F1TV employment, Hinchcliffe also serves as an IndyCar analyst for NBC.