F1 drivers often get a chance to try their hand at driving cars of other disciplines, and this is something they enjoy thoroughly. Toward the end of the 2024 season in Las Vegas, Max Verstappen drove the Acura ARX-06, a car designed by Honda that competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
During the same period, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda also took a ride in Alex Palou’s IndyCar championship-winning car, which is also powered by Honda engines. Given it was a novel experience for the Japanese driver, he naturally had a lot of feedback.
He revealed that the power and acceleration were very good but the brakes felt a bit numb to him. Tsunoda also added that although the throttle in IndyCar is similar to F1, he had to “build” first before he could accelerate, something that is not required in Formula 1.
While Palou wasn’t present at the Vegas test track, the Spaniard’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon, was there to witness an F1 driver experience the raw potential of an IndyCar. Dixon felt Tsunoda did really well.
“You got on it right away,” he told Tsunoda.
The six-time IndyCar champion has been a veteran of the American open-wheel series and knows the Chip Ganassi Racing team inside out. Having mentored European junior formula drivers like Palou and Marcus Armstrong last season, Dixon was the perfect guide for someone like Tsunoda and his teammate Liam Lawson to learn about Indy.
Behind the scenes with Yuki Tsunoda: IndyCar edition ️
Full video: https://t.co/MbMrIGc25j#F1 #HRC #Hybrid #VCARB pic.twitter.com/BPZ4dFjevU
— Honda Racing US (@HondaRacing_US) February 13, 2025
Overall, it was a fun session for the Japanese driver who could just experience the thrill of driving another series’ car without having to feel the stress of needing to be competitive.
Tsunoda left stunned by IndyCar’s power
Although F1 racers drive some of the quickest cars in the world that can reach speeds over 200 mph, IndyCar cars are quite quick as well. Tsunoda realized the same when Dixon explained the overtaking aids on the steering wheel that can help drivers generate up to an additional 120 horsepower, something that left the Japanese driver stunned.
“120 [hp] is a lot”, Tsunoda replied when told that IndyCar drivers can use up to 120 hp more for a total of 200 seconds in an entire race. Despite Tsunoda’s lack of experience driving IndyCar cars, he was right on the limit, driving as fast as he could into the corners and out of it.
The 2025 IndyCar championship will feature 17 rounds, beginning on March 2nd with a race in St. Petersburg, and will end on August 31st with a race at Nashville Superspeedway.
The defending champion Palou, who has clinched the last two championships on sheer consistency, will gun for a three-peat this season to take his tally of titles to four. Meanwhile, his veteran Kiwi teammate, Dixon, will be keen to win his seventh overall IndyCar title and his first since 2020.
As for F1, the 2025 season will get underway on March 16th with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. With another record 24-race calendar, though, the F1 season will once again run till the first week of December, concluding in Abu Dhabi as usual.
