Helio Castroneves expects some fallout from the bad tempers left over from the last IndyCar race.
James Hinchcliffe, however, thinks most drivers have calmed down heading into Sunday’s Indy Grand Prix of Alabama with the possible exception being Simon Pagenaud.
The Long Beach flareups included Pagenaud refusing to accept an apology after getting spun from behind by Will Power. Ryan Hunter-Reay’s attempt to pass Josef Newgarden on a tight turn led to a collision that collected Hinchcliffe and several other drivers.
“I don’t think we’re in the business of retaliating in IndyCar,” said Hinchcliffe, a teammate of Hunter-Reay with Andretti Autosport. “That’s not what it’s about. It’s not what they mean by letting it self-police. The only guy that really leaves Long Beach with anything to get back at is maybe Simon. So we’ll see. Will might want to be careful around him on-track.
“For the rest of us, you’ve got to have a short memory in this business.”
Castroneves thinks there might be some bad blood still, and Pagenaud has said Power “set the tone for the rest of the season.”
“I feel that there is some retaliation, but I don’t think anybody’s stupid enough to do something crazy,” Castroneves said. “They might be a little more aggressive. Hopefully they have a short memory but at the end of the day it’s still racing.”
Hunter-Reay, the defending champion at Barber Motorsports Park, said he has spoken with Newgarden. He said if he had a chance to do it over again he’d likely have waited a bit to try the pass and can learn from it.
“If you don’t come out of something like that better, then it’s useless,” Hunter-Reay said. “I’ve won quite a few races in my career going for passes like that. That’s kind of how I’ve been. That one for sure, it was unfortunate. And take a lesson from it. I’m the guy doing the overtaking, so it’s on me.”
