The finest drivers on the planet racing in single-seaters at over 200 mph; Formula 1 and INDYCAR are pretty much the same right?

Wrong.

Although two of motorsport’s elite series have lots in common, including McLaren, there are plenty of differences. With the 2020 INDYCAR season set to finally get underway this weekend, here’s everything you need to know to follow the action:

1. Drivers

The teams will take to the track in the first round of the season at Texas Motor Speedway. There is no limit on how few or many drivers can race for a single team. For example, there are single-car teams, but also teams that have five cars.

Arrow McLaren SP is represented by two drivers – Pato O’Ward from Monterey, Mexico and rookie Oliver Askew from Jupiter, Florida. Both Pato and Oliver are young, fast and expected to be contenders during the 2020 season, and their cars will sport papaya, blue, and black liveries.

Fernando Alonso will join the team for the Indianapolis 500 this year. The event – billed as ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ – will take place in August, with 33 drivers racing to the chequered flag. Qualifying speeds at Indianapolis will reach 230 mph with a total prize purse of over 15 million dollars.

2. Circuits

INDYCAR is renowned for its diverse circuit types – from road and street circuits to short ovals (one mile or less) and long ovals, often referred to as superspeedways. This season will feature five ovals, seven permanent road courses and four temporary street circuits.

The longest superspeedway is Indianapolis Motor Speedway which measures 2.5 miles and the shortest oval is Richmond Raceway which is just 0.75 miles in length. Meanwhile, Road America is the longest road course at 4.048 miles.

3. Chassis and engines

Dallara is the exclusive chassis supplier for INDYCAR. The chassis is made of carbon fibre, Kevlar and other composites, and weighs approximately 770 kg.

Chevrolet and Honda are the two engine manufactures in the series and supply competitors with turbocharged 2.2-litre V6 engines that produce between 550 and 700 horsepower depending on the track. The Arrow McLaren SP race cars are powered by Chevrolet engines.

4. Tyres

Like Formula 1, INDYCAR has a sole tyre supplier. But instead of Pirelli rubber, INDYCAR uses Firestone. Firestone Firehawks are mounted on 11-inch rims for the front tyres and 15-inch rims on the rear.

Firestone provides three types of tyres for road and street courses, and one for ovals. On road and street courses, there is the ‘primary’ black tyre. The ‘alternate’ red tyre is a softer compound that allows for higher speeds but wears faster. A grey sidewall tyre is used in wet weather conditions. On ovals, only the ‘primary’ black tyre is used and if the rain falls at this type of circuit, Indy cars will not take to the track.

5. Aeroscreen

The aeroscreen is a new safety innovation for enhanced driver cockpit protection that will make its race debut from the start of this season. In Formula 1, the teams have the halo. In INDYCAR, the aeroscreen is a ballistic, canopy-like windscreen anchored by titanium framework surrounding the cockpit.

6. Race weekend format

The format of race weekends changes from race to race, however the most common is that Friday consists of two practice sessions – one in the morning and one in the afternoon. On Saturday, there is a morning practice session followed by qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday is race day and it begins with a warm-up session at road and street courses. However, on oval circuits there is no warm-up session.

Due to new safety measures taken in light of the impact of COVID-19, Round 1 of the 2020 season will take place over one day, starting at 13:00 and finishing at 21:50 CDT.

The start procedures for F1 and INDYCAR races differ. While the former begin with a standing start, all INDYCAR races get underway with a rolling start where the field is led by the pace car until the pace car pulls into the pits.

7. Pit-stops

Unlike Formula 1 where 16 team members assist during a pit-stop, just seven members of each INDYCAR team are permitted go ‘over the wall’ to execute a pit-stop. Team members include: four tyre changers, a fueler, a person responsible for the air jack (to raise the car to change the tyres) and an aeroscreen assistant to clean or pull a ‘tear-off’ from screen to help the driver’s vision. Each crew member is required wear a firesuit and helmet for protection.

With 70-litre fuel tanks, Indy cars refuel at each stop and drivers pit depending on the length of the track. In the 10 seconds it takes to fuel the car, all four tyres are changed. Depending on race strategy, the winning car at the season opener will pit between five to seven times at the Texas Motor Speedway course. Whereas, as many as eight to nine pit-stops are made in the longest race of the season – the Indianapolis 500.

8. Point scoring

Points are awarded for all finishing positions in INDYCAR. First – 50 points, second – 40, third – 35, fourth – 32, fifth – 30, sixth – 28, and so on, going down to just five points for the lowest finishing position in the field. Bonus points are awarded for: pole position – 1 point, leading at least one race lap – 1 point, and most race laps led – 2 points. For the Indianapolis 500 and the final race of the season, points are doubled in those races.

Tune in to watch Arrow McLaren SP race in Texas this weekend with Sky Sports F1.

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