Those of us here at WTF1 HQ are excited as ever for the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend! But there’s also another massive race worthy of attention as the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 also takes place this Sunday, starting at 4pm UK time after Monaco finishes. And there are a fair few former F1 drivers taking part who may feature among the contenders to win “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing”.
First of all, a couple of honourable mentions. Chip Ganassi Racing driver Alex Palou will start the Indy 500 from pole position. We know he isn’t a current F1 driver, but he is part of McLaren’s reserve driver roster and a big part of their academy. This also applies to Pato O’Ward, who starts fifth for McLaren’s IndyCar team, and was last year’s runner-up.
Here are the other F1 contenders:
Alexander Rossi – Easy to forget that the man who won the 100th running of this race in 2016 was briefly an F1 driver with the Manor Marussia team, swapping seats with Roberto Merhi in 2015. And until Logan Sargeant debuted this year, he was the last American in F1. Rossi starts seventh and is always one to keep an eye on, specialising in aggressive overtake attempts to try and get to the front.
Takuma Sato – A veteran of yesteryear still going strong. Former Honda and Super Aguri driver Sato is now 46, five years older than F1’s ‘old man’ in Fernando Alonso, but the two-time Indy 500 winner is still incredibly fast around IndyCar’s ovals and wants to be just the 11th driver to score a hat-trick of Indy 500 wins. He starts eighth.
Marcus Ericsson – The “Sneaky Swede” as he’s known stateside shocked the world last year when he held off O’Ward in a final-lap showdown to win last year’s Indy 500 and get his face on the Borg Warner trophy. The former Caterham and Alfa Romeo driver will be starting 10th on Sunday, keen to defend his title.
Romain Grosjean – The former Haas and Lotus F1 driver has become a fan favourite in IndyCar, with many rooting for the Frenchman to finally take his first win in the series after five-second places since his 2021 debut. It’ll be a tall order starting from 19th on the grid, but what better place to break his Stateside duck? 🦆
And if you’re a fan of the Road to F1 ladder, you’ll see some familiar names that have made the jump over, such as Callum Illot, Christian Lundgaard and Santino Ferrucci.
Remember, the big race is 5:45pm UK time, so if you still fancy some more racing after Monaco wraps up, stick around!
Who’s your pick for the 107th Indy 500?
