Drivers who switched from F1 to IndyCar

The 34-year-old has racked up 179 grand prix starts since his F1 debut in 2009, but ran out of puff last season at Haas and was always going to be looking for a fresh start in 2021, before his life-changing accident in Bahrain. The IndyCar series, which is gaining back lost momentum under Roger Penske’s invigorating patronage, makes sense for the Frenchman, who at his age still has much to offer the motorsport world.

Grosjean deserves respect for his honesty in the wake of the accident, admitting to a profound effect on his psyche – and with that in mind he has chosen not to race on the fearsome Texas Motor Speedway or in the Indianapolis 500. In the past, racing drivers never admitted to anything that could be perceived as a ‘weakness’, but in these more enlightened times Grosjean’s reasoning seems quite acceptable. Although he still faces a significant and daunting challenge to deliver what’s expected of a seasoned F1 driver on the road courses and street tracks IndyCar also visits, as a clutch of grand prix drivers have previously found when they made the switch. Here, we offer a few examples that might give him inspiration – and also some warning of what might be to come.

The lure of US IndyCars, and most specifically the Indy 500, has long drawn the attention of grand prix drivers. Rudolf Caracciola practiced at The Brickyard in 1946, only to end up in a coma for several days after hitting the wall, while Alberto Ascari made an unsuccessful bid at the 500 in his first world title season of 1952, during a decade when America’s most famous motor race counted as a round of the nascent F1 World Championship.

But the true F1 love affair with IndyCars really began in the 1960s, when first Jack Brabham and Cooper headed to Indy in 1961, followed quickly by Lotus and Jim Clark, the combination that changed US racing forever by making the front-engined roadsters obsolete. But even though Clark famously dominated the 1965 running and Graham Hill followed up with his own victory in ’66, F1’s IndyCar dalliance proved short-lived. Through the 1970s, Mario Andretti switched back and forth between the codes, but the interest in Indy from European-focused drivers waned – although Clay Regazzoni qualified on the ninth row in 1977 in a Theodore Racing McLaren, before managing just 25 laps in the race itself.

Grosjean can take more inspiration from the examples of Emerson Fittipaldi, who enjoyed a long-lasting new lease of racing life via IndyCars in the 1980s and ’90s, becoming CART series champion and a two-time Indy 500 winner. And then of course there was Nigel Mansell, who monumentally boosted IndyCar’s global profile when he swept in and won the title at the first time of asking in 1993 with Newman-Haas, before the affair fizzled out the following season. More recently, Fernando Alonso starred on his Indy debut in 2017 – then failed to qualify for his next attempt.

But these most famous F1-to-IndyCar examples were high-profile world champions. That’s not Grosjean. Instead, there are other examples who are perhaps more relevant for a man whose F1 career ultimately turned out to be a disappointment.

Teo Fabi

The quiet Italian was a talented nearly-man of 1980s F1, who contrived to take three pole positions for Toleman/Benetton – yet never led a single lap of a grand prix. In the wake of his first disastrous F1 experience with Toleman in ’82, Fabi hitched a ride in IndyCars for the following season and stuck his Forsythe-run March on pole position at Indy, only his second race. Teo led the 500 for 23 laps until an engine failure put him out at quarter distance. But he then went on to claim four victories, at Pocono, Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca and Phoenix, to finish runner-up in the standings to a consistent Al Unser Sr., who had won only once.

Fabi tried combining an IndyCar campaign with an F1 drive at Brabham in ’84 – unimaginable today, and in fairness, not a great idea back then either. Fabi eventually dropped the IndyCar ride to focus on F1, then returned to Toleman in ’85 as it transitioned into Benetton, took pole position at the Nürburgring and two more with potent BMW turbo power in ’86 – but never quite lived up to his undoubted speed.

A return to IndyCars with Porsche should have delivered more than one win at Mid-Ohio in ’89. But Fabi did at least enjoy the taste of victories Stateside, and achieved further success in endurance racing, becoming World Sportscar Champion with TWR Jaguar in 1991.

Roberto Guerrero

Pre-dating Juan Pablo Montoya by a couple of decades, this quick Colombian plugged away with Ensign/Theodore for two F1 seasons in 1982-83, then gave up on the European dream to chase IndyCar glory. If he couldn’t land a competitive seat, why bother? Grosjean could probably sympathise, after his difficult final years at Haas.

Guerrero’s Indy 500 record, a race he started 15 times, gives some indication to his significant ability. He was a sensational second on his debut in 1984, finished third in ’85, fourth in ’86 and was second again in ’87 during a season in which he also won at Phoenix and Mid-Ohio – only to crash while testing at Indy. He was in a coma for 17 days.

Roberto recovered, but his career never really did – although pole position at the 500 in 1992 promised a revival. A shame, then, that he spun off on the parade lap… But life in America generally treated Guerrero well and eventually he became a US citizen.

Eddie Cheever

Like Grosjean, Eddie Cheever was a prolific F1 driver who started 132 grands prix between 1978 and ’89, without ever winning one. But after his final season with Arrows, the American returned home to what was initially a disappointing IndyCar career driving for AJ Foyt. But when the Indy Racing League was created in the mid-1990s, splitting the Indy 500 away from the CART World Series, Cheever had his chance for the big career win that was missing from his record. He won the 500 in his own car from 17^th on the grid in 1998.

Stefan Johansson

This popular Swede drove for both Ferrari and McLaren, but never at the best of times to win a grand prix. Nevertheless, Johansson carried a strong reputation when he defected to IndyCars for 1992 with the relatively minor Bettenhausen team, for whom he drove for four seasons.

Johansson had his moments in CART, but never won a race – another warning to Grosjean that he can take nothing for granted. Still, Stefan then enjoyed another second wind in sportscars, winning Le Mans with Michele Alboreto and a rookie Tom Kristensen in 1997, driving Joest’s Porsche WSC95.

At his age, Grosjean too has no reason to consider this opportunity with Dale Coyne as his last chance. If it doesn’t work out, at a time when IndyCar racing is becoming increasingly competitive, he’d sure make a great sportscar driver.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.