"Wasn't a grand stallion on steroids": When Nigel Mansell bluntly compared IndyCar and F1 cars

Niegl Mansell, the 1992 Formula 1 world champion, is an absolute legend in the world of motorsports. During his racing career, he competed in the pinnacle of motorsport (F1), as well the highest class of open-wheel racing in America, IndyCar.

In line with this, Mansell, in June 2024, took the time to dwell on both motorsports and how they were different from each other.

"Mixed feelings. Formula 1's the pinnacle of motorsport. IndyCar was great, but it was lethargic. It wasn't a grand stallion on steroids, it was a very good car, a fast car but you had one or two bites at turning into the corners because it was heavy. You had to position the actual car correctly," Mansell said.

During his Formula 1 career, Mansell amassed 31 wins, 59 podiums, and 32 pole positions in 187 outings. Whereas, when it came to IndyCar, he was able to put on board five wins, 13 podiums, and 10 pole positions in only 31 outings.

IndyCar's Arrow McLaren drivers had a tough outing at Thermal Club Grand Prix

While Nigel Mansell gave his take on the differences between IndyCar and Formula 1 back in 2024, the recent Thermal Club Grand Prix of the former was a fascinating affair.

Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou got the better of Arrow McLaren drivers Pato O'Ward and Christian Lundgaard despite them being in an advantageous position during the closing stages of the 65-lap race.

In light of this, Lundgaard and O'Ward sounded dejected in their IndyCar post-race interviews.

“It’s tough seeing this guy beat us all every single event. We’ve got to find a way to stop him.” Lundgaard said via IndyCar.

The 25-year-old O'Ward added:

“We took a gamble; it didn’t work out for us. We had used our new reds (alternate tires) at the start because we didn’t really quite know what the deg (tire degradation) was going to be like. The blacks (primary tires) really kind of took a turn for the negative at the end of the race, and that was it. We didn’t stand a fighting chance."

The 2025 season is two rounds down following the culmination of the Thermal Club Grand Prix. The recent event was in the limelight for a plethora of reasons, but from the point of view of the drivers, Palou is sitting pretty at the top, with other title contenders having decent ground to make up.

The #10 Chip Ganassi Racing driver has so far managed to put on board 102 points whereas Pato O'Ward is only on 62 (P2), and Scott Dixon is on 61 in third place. Keeping all this in view, next month's Round 3, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, will be an extremely important affair for the chasing pack.