Against the odds: Andretti Global’s resilience after a turbulent Indy 500 qualifying
- Evan Roberts
- 35 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Written by Evan Roberts, Edited by Ayush Kapoor
May has been a month to forget for Andretti Global, marred by mechanical failures and airborne crashes—everything that could go wrong has.
Leading up to the 109th edition of the Indianapolis 500, much was expected from the team based in Fishers, Indiana. Having shown blistering speed with little to no results the prior year, many saw this year as an opportunity for the team to take their next step and claw back the deficit to Alex Palou at the top of the championship standings.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case so far. While everything is still to play for when Sunday comes around and the green flag is waved, Andretti Global will certainly start on the back foot come race day.
Much of this trouble came over the weekend’s qualifying, as even going into Saturday, the mood in camp was reported to be relatively high and optimistic. Kyle Kirkwood seemingly had the pick of the bunch, with a quick car beneath him as he led the team in both overall speed in fourth, and going one place better on no-tow speed (lap without a slipstream) in third.
The Floridian was even confident about making it to Sunday’s showing, having said following Fast Friday: ‘We’re definitely contenders, probably in the top six range, but only time will tell.’
To the dismay of the entire team, that statement aged about as well as the milk they will all be hoping to get their hands on come the chequered flag. Following Saturday's events, the No. 27 car found itself locked into a lower midfield starting spot in 25th, much to the shock of even Kirkwood himself.
Kirkwood said: 'All this week, we thought we were the fastest car, and now we’re here in P25. One positive is that we’re in the show, and that’s all that matters. That is the important thing. We got the crew. We’ve driven from the back here before a couple of years ago and had a shot at winning then. There’s no doubt in my mind that we won’t have another shot again.'
The car that did eventually end up as the fastest of the Andrettis was that of 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson. He was the only car to make it into the Fast 12, eventually qualifying a solid ninth.
Ericsson said: ‘It’s been a good qualifying weekend for us. A big bounce back after last year’s drama. It’s better to be running in this part of the Sunday qualifying.’
It was a hugely positive change in fortunes for the Swede, who had a horrific weekend last year. He participated in the famed Last Chance Qualifying before a wreck on the opening lap ended his race.
Speaking of the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), an Andretti car found itself in Sunday's less prestigious session for the second consecutive year—this time with Marco Andretti behind the wheel. Despite narrowly missing automatic qualification on Saturday by less than 0.030 mph (0.048 kph), Sunday proved to be a smoother affair for Andretti, as he secured his spot in the race without incident, topping the session to put him 31st.
Andretti said: ‘I never thought I’d celebrate my 31st, but I’m just happy. I’ve been telling all of them [his crew] this might be the one we win, then we barely make it. That’s Indy, that’s what it does.’
The incident summarised another of the cars’ qualifying efforts. However, an Andretti car found the wall for the first time throughout the event. In the case of Colton Herta, it was a substantial hit into the Turn 1 barrier.
Without having even made it past the first corner of his first qualifying lap, it looked as if all hope for qualifying for the event without having to feature in Sunday’s shenanigans was thrown out of the window, just like that. Gone.
Nobody expected little over an hour of qualifying to go, so the No.26 crew would once again be rolling down the pit lane with Herta behind the wheel. An incident as large as the one he suffered would understandably knock the confidence of any racing driver, let alone your average Joe. Not Herta.
The Californian’s courageous words when faced with the task of getting back into the car, mere hours after it was catapulted into a wall at over 230 mph (370 kph), can only attest to the safety of the modern-day IndyCar.
Herta said: 'This place doesn’t scare me - I don’t have a problem hitting the wall here and having big ones like today. It doesn’t feel good and it sucks but it doesn’t scare me when I get back in the race car.'
The chance of qualifying was one he would not squander, as the Californian eased his way above the cutline and into the show in 29th position.
What will be interesting come race day is that, having had some time in Monday’s practice session to further understand their cars, each driver has remained steadfast in their opinion on the handling of their machines, which, come Sunday, should put them in a good position to charge forward from their lowly grid positions.
Notably, the drama surrounding Team Penske and the relegation of the No.2 and No.12 cars to the back of the field due to a technical infraction helped their cause. This means the 27, 26, and 98 cars will all be moved up two positions to 23rd, 27th, and 29th, respectively. The No.28 car will retain its position in ninth as both Penskes were behind him on the grid anyway.
