In a couple of days, the 111th official championship of American open-wheel racing, and the 27th season under IndyCar Series moniker, will begin with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida.
The season opener is back after an absence of three years due to pandemic restrictions, and it comes with a fresh air together with driver moves, new challenges, ambitions and surprises.
At the same time, the 2022 season has a lot to live up, to because it is the final season for the 2.2-liter V6 twin-turbocharged engine package that debuted back in 2012. Beginning with the 2023 season, current spec-series Dallara chassis will be equipped with a 2.4-liter V6 twin-turbocharged hybrid engine.
Fan expectations are high after a superb 2021 season with seven different winners in the first seven races, and a total of nine different winners through the entire season. In his only second year in IndyCar, Spaniard Alex Palou secured the championship with three wins, nine poles and two pole positions, wrapping up an intense season.
High profile moves such as Romain Grosjean to Andretti Autosport, Jack Harvey to Rahal Letterman Lanigan, or Simon Pagenaud to Meyer Shark Racing, made waves this off-season. A combination of new talents with potential and already consecrated veterans will form up the grid. In our opinion here at autoevolution, the top drivers to watch this season are:
Romain Grosjean - The former Formula 1 driver proved in 2021 that he could fight for good results, so Andretti Autosport offered him the No.28 entry for the full season. Many people believe that Grosjean will finish top five in 2022.
Kyle Kirkwood - A revenge season for him. The young racing driver proved his talent last season, so fans were expecting a move to Andretti Autosport. But instead, Michael Andretti signed driver Devlin DeFrancesco, and Kyle ended up on backmarkers Aj Foyt Enterprises. Kirkwood will do everything to make Andretti regret the decision.
Helio Castroneves - The reigning Indianapolis 500 winner, with 2022 being his first full-time season in IndyCar since 2017. At the same time, Meyer Shank Racing tested Formula E champion Nyck De Vries and question marks appeared. Will De Vries replace Helio for 2023? The Brazilian racing driver will do his best to keep his place on the grid.
Alexander Rossi - A lot of pressure for the Andretti Autosport driver. His last win was in 2019 at Road America. Last season he finished tenth and now he is going into a contract year. Rossi needs to have a big year to prove that he is still a championship contender, if he doesn’t want to be relegated.
Alex Palou - The defending IndyCar champion. Did an amazing job and amazed everybody with his results. After tasting the sweet victory flavor, there is no question Palou will want to repeat the experience. There is only one problem: all the other drivers want the same thing. At only 24 years old, the Spaniard needs to show maturity and ambition if he wants to keep his crown and become the first repeat champion since Dario Franchitti days.
Josef Newgarden - The two-time IndyCar champion finished second last year and now he will have a new engineer for the first time in five seasons. It’s safe to say that he is looking for a fresh start to boost him to familiar heights.
With 2023 regulations changes, some teams invested in future generation race cars, while others invested to win now. After the tests as Sebring, it seems that Andretti Autosport-Honda is the favorite, with Colton Herta putting the fastest lap. However, the world of IndyCar is very unpredictable, so we are going to need a few races to form an opinion.
At the same time, the 2022 season has a lot to live up, to because it is the final season for the 2.2-liter V6 twin-turbocharged engine package that debuted back in 2012. Beginning with the 2023 season, current spec-series Dallara chassis will be equipped with a 2.4-liter V6 twin-turbocharged hybrid engine.
Fan expectations are high after a superb 2021 season with seven different winners in the first seven races, and a total of nine different winners through the entire season. In his only second year in IndyCar, Spaniard Alex Palou secured the championship with three wins, nine poles and two pole positions, wrapping up an intense season.
High profile moves such as Romain Grosjean to Andretti Autosport, Jack Harvey to Rahal Letterman Lanigan, or Simon Pagenaud to Meyer Shark Racing, made waves this off-season. A combination of new talents with potential and already consecrated veterans will form up the grid. In our opinion here at autoevolution, the top drivers to watch this season are:
Kyle Kirkwood - A revenge season for him. The young racing driver proved his talent last season, so fans were expecting a move to Andretti Autosport. But instead, Michael Andretti signed driver Devlin DeFrancesco, and Kyle ended up on backmarkers Aj Foyt Enterprises. Kirkwood will do everything to make Andretti regret the decision.
Helio Castroneves - The reigning Indianapolis 500 winner, with 2022 being his first full-time season in IndyCar since 2017. At the same time, Meyer Shank Racing tested Formula E champion Nyck De Vries and question marks appeared. Will De Vries replace Helio for 2023? The Brazilian racing driver will do his best to keep his place on the grid.
Alexander Rossi - A lot of pressure for the Andretti Autosport driver. His last win was in 2019 at Road America. Last season he finished tenth and now he is going into a contract year. Rossi needs to have a big year to prove that he is still a championship contender, if he doesn’t want to be relegated.
Josef Newgarden - The two-time IndyCar champion finished second last year and now he will have a new engineer for the first time in five seasons. It’s safe to say that he is looking for a fresh start to boost him to familiar heights.
With 2023 regulations changes, some teams invested in future generation race cars, while others invested to win now. After the tests as Sebring, it seems that Andretti Autosport-Honda is the favorite, with Colton Herta putting the fastest lap. However, the world of IndyCar is very unpredictable, so we are going to need a few races to form an opinion.