Indy 500: Andretti and Prema Penalties, Schwartzman Rookie of the Year

      Last Sunday, the classic Indy 500 race was held in Indianapolis for the 109th time, and, talking about its main results, we assumed that Marcus Erickson could be called the main loser. After all, the Swedish Andretti Global racer fought for victory with Alex Palou literally until the last lap, gave his all, but finished only second, after which he was very worried.

      But now he, like his entire team, and Prema Racing have much more serious reasons to be upset.

      As it turned out, three cars do not comply with the technical regulations of the Indy 500 – Erickson, his teammate Kyle Kirkwood and Prema racer Callum Aylott. Accordingly, all three moved to the last lines of the race record. That is, Erickson ended up in 31st, his team-mate (who finished sixth) – in 32nd, and Aylott, Robert Schwartzman's team-mate, who finished 12th, ended up in last, 33rd place.

      Thus, David Malukas, a 23-year-old American driving for the A.J. Foyt Racing team, rose to the second line of the final race report, while Pato O'ward, a Mexican Arrow McLaren racer, took third place.

      It follows from the protocol of the technical inspection conducted after the finish that a number of changes related to the energy recovery system were identified on the Erickson and Kirkwood machines, which do not comply with the regulations. In the case of Ailott, it's about something else: the end plates of the front wing of his Dallara were positioned lower than allowed by the rules.

      Formally, the stewards' decision cannot be called a complete disqualification, since it states that "the prize money and points in the championship standings are awarded in accordance with the last finishing positions," but "each car is additionally fined $ 100,000."

      The Andretti team has already stated that it will appeal this decision. One can only guess how this whole story will end, but it turns out that Robert Schwartzman was lucky that he did not reach the finish line: in the final protocol, he remained in 26th place. There are no complaints about him and his car.

      Moreover, Robert was officially recognized as the "Rookie of the Year", because he made a real sensation, won qualifying at the oval circuit in Indianapolis, and no one will take this achievement away from him. And the fact that the race ended in a landslide for him is also an experience. The old truth is that failures only harden.

      This was confirmed by Robert himself, commenting on his social media pages on the incident that happened to him in the Prema pits on the 92nd lap of the race. At the moment when he pulled into another pit stop, his rear brakes failed, he knocked down his mechanics and damaged the suspension and the front fender of the car.

      "First of all, I am glad that no one was seriously injured," Robert writes. – When I entered the pits, my rear brakes failed, and that was the end of the race for me.

      Our Indy 500 debut is already an unforgettable experience, and we will always remember wonderful memories, our historic pole position, and the wonderful support of our fans. We'll be back later."

      It remains to add the words of Lando Norris, the winner of the recent Monaco Grand Prix, addressed to Schwarzman: "Robert won the pole – it's an impressive achievement. In 2015 or 2016, he and I were partners in Formula Renault, and I'm glad to see that he continues his career and achieves similar results.

      But I can tell you right away: personally, I will never do this (i.e. compete in IndyCar). I'm not interested, it's not my thing. It's not something that gives me pleasure.… But I have a lot of respect for these guys. There are a lot of incredibly talented drivers in America, and some of them may well succeed in Formula 1."