Indy Grand Prix can be ‘good for the heart’ but doesn’t predict speed for Indy 500

Alex Palou had the pragmatic answer when asked if the Indianapolis Grand Prix weekend means anything heading into the next two weeks and as it relates to the Indianapolis 500.

“If it goes well, you want it to mean a lot,” Palou said Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “And if it goes bad, you don’t want it to mean anything.”

INDYCAR drivers will spend two days (Friday and Saturday) on the IMS road course before hitting the track Tuesday for practice for the Indianapolis 500.

The oval cars have some different body panels and setups, so navigating the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course at IMS is totally different from the 2.5-mile rectangular-shaped oval. 

“Having a lot of speed [this weekend] doesn’t mean anything for the 500. Or not having enough speed — I don’t think it’s going to translate much,” Palou said.

“But it’s true that momentum and having good results is going to impact, not only the driver, but also the overall mindset of the team. Not having a good result doesn’t mean that it’s going to be a tough month, but for sure you don’t have that extra boost from the Indy road course.”

Santino Ferrucci exited the Grand Prix early last year with a brake issue. The team decided to retire the car rather than risk additional damage.

A week later, he made the Fast Six in qualifying to start on the outside of the second row for the Indianapolis 500 and finished the race eighth.

“Just having a good result, qualifying well executing, and just having a solid mindset into the next 14 days would be what’s important,” Ferrucci said. “I retired the car here last year in the GP … and it really didn’t affect us much.”

Why even have this race? 

The Month of May in Indianapolis used to include two full weeks of practice and qualifying, with a pole weekend and then a bump weekend (where the final spots were determined). The Grand Prix has been a staple of IMS in May since 2014, as INDYCAR had settled into a format of one weekend of qualifying.

So drivers now come for a very different race to get a taste of the Brickyard. But just how big can the momentum be for the next two weeks? These teams all know the roller coaster of racing and have spent their careers bouncing back from adversity.

“Sometimes you have a good Indy road course, sometimes you don’t have a good Indy road course. But it doesn’t really have an effect on the 500 just because it’s such a process in the Indy 500 where even if you don’t have good momentum coming off the road course, you can gain some good momentum before the 500 race,” said Pato O’Ward.

“You’ve got qualifying, you’ve got the practices, you [can] feel good. It doesn’t really matter what happens in Indy road course, but obviously getting a podium or a win is definitely good for the heart.”

For those that have had good moments for the heart this year, they just want to continue that.

“We just want to be competitive,” O’Ward teammate Christian Lundgaard said. “I wouldn’t leave this weekend being mad if we’re fighting for a podium, and if we don’t get it, so be it but at least we’re fighting for it.

“I think that’s the ultimate, most important mentality to have this year.”

Palou is the driver with all the momentum coming into the race this weekend, as he has won three of the last four races.

“Momentum is a big thing here,” said Penske driver Scott McLaughlin. “Obviously, look at Alex’s run. It’s a real thing in INDYCAR. You want to get on that run yourself, and what a place to start.

“We’ll be working hard. A long month ahead.”

McLaughlin teammate Will Power said a driver doesn’t go into the race this weekend thinking about the 500.

“Honestly, you’re just focusing on your job, not even a thought in your mind [about the next race],” Power said. “That’s every race. Each race at a time, each session at a time.”

And yet, as Felix Rosenqvist pointed out, the race awards the same amount of points as the 500.

“It still pays as many points as the 500, which is kind of weird,” Rosenqvist said. “I’ve had times where I had a bad GP and a good 500 and vice versa.”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.