Helio Castroneves said he is still far from pushing the Meyer Shank car in practice for the Indy 500, especially after the crash at the Indianapolis oval in April
After the crash suffered on the first day of testing for the Indy 500, back in April, Hélio Castroneves said he still didn't force the car during the times he took to the track for the new round of testing this week. To have an idea, the Brazilian was only 30th on the TL1 timesheet and 18th in TL2, and the results have a lot to do with the accident suffered by Meyer Shank last month.
On that occasion, Castroneves spun when accelerating his car at the pit lane exit and ran over the grass, going straight into the wall. As soon as he got out of the car, Helio regretted the damage suffered by the single-seater, and as a result, he prefers to 'take it easy' before being sure that he can accelerate without further consequences.
"I didn't even try," Castroneves replied when asked if he felt any difference when accelerating the car on the way out of the pits. Hopefully closer to the end of the week [I'll be able to accelerate], to get some good practice. The guys did an absurd job fixing the car, especially after what happened a few weeks ago. Everyone is asking, 'is the car okay?' The car is perfect," he pointed out.
▶️ Get to know the GRAND PRIME channel on Twitch by clicking here!
The track has received some improvements since then, aiming to increase grip for the drivers - especially on the warm-up lap, when Castroneves crashed - but the four-time Indy 500 champion still prefers to take it one step at a time.
"We know we have a plan, we need to stay focused on that," he warned. "You can't count from one to ten without going through two, three, four. You need to go through the whole process. Practice everything you want to try, to get better and better," he said.
The Indy 500 drivers will still have 29 hours of practice time available in the next ten days - something that may change in case of rain, for example -, before the official race scheduled for May 29th, on Sunday.
Castroneves has four Indy 500 victories, in 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2021, which already gives him the record for most wins along with A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser. Thus, the Brazilian will seek his fifth victory in the traditional Indianapolis race, a feat no one has managed to accomplish so far.