Josef Newgarden came close to finishing the Indianapolis 500 in the top ten, but a problem at one of the pit stops dropped him back to the bottom of the grid
Penske did not have a good performance in the Indianapolis 500 last Sunday (29). Scott McLaughlin crashed into the wall, Will Power couldn't find his car and lost the championship lead, and Josef Newgarden got the team's best result with a 13th place after problems on one of his pit stops.
Two-time Indy 500 champion, the Indy 500 is an achievement that is still missing in Newgarden's career. The American had been running a solid race in the top ten, until his car died during one of his pit-stops. Josef came back in 27th place and still managed to recover, but ended up frustrated with the mistake.
"It was another heartbreaking day at this place. I'm not sure what happened at our pit stop that eventually ended our day. The car died and I seemed to somehow get stuck in second gear instead of first. I'm not sure if it was my fault or not and I don't know why this happened. We will have to analyze the data. If it's my fault, I'm going to feel really bad," said the 2017 and 2019 Indy champion.
"We have a great team and we did a great job all month long. I felt like we fought all day long. I think we could have been in the top five. I'm disappointed for our partners. We will evaluate what happened and come back stronger next time," concluded the American.
With the result, Newgarden is now fifth in the drivers' standings. Indy returns next Sunday (5th) with the Detroit GP, at the street circuit of Belle Isle Park, with full coverage byGRANDE PRÊMIO.