There is an age-old debate amongst motorsport fans about which is the greatest open wheel racing series, and that debate usually revolves around Formula One and IndyCar. Which is faster, which involves more skill?
F1 aficionados often argue that their series is the best because it represents the cutting edge of technology, and that it takes little skill to drive around oval tracks. IndyCar fans will counter that it is exactly that cutting edge that takes all the skill out of the driving, and that in F1 it is the car that does all of the work.
Whichever side of the fence you sit on, one thing is for certain. Both are fantastic series in their own respective rights, steeped in history and tradition.
Many drivers are fortunate enough to have driven in both series over the years, Nigel Mansell famously following up his 1992 F1 drivers’ title with series victory for Newman Haas Racing in 1993. Now there is another driver qualified to answer the burning question of what the difference is in driving the respective machines.
Even before his frightening accident at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, Romain Grosjean was ready to call time on his F1 career with no contract in the offing. And when Dale Coyne Racing came calling, the opportunity was too good for the Frenchman to turn down. In 2021 he will share driving duties with Pietro Fittipaldi, the Brazilian driving the ovals and Grosjean the road courses.