By David Morgan, Associate Editor
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Since the introduction of the hybrid system in the NTT IndyCar Series midway through the 2024 season, opinions on the device have been mixed, with drivers and teams weighing the pros and cons with each data point from each new race the system is debuted at.
Take for example this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park for Sunday’s running of the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix. A track that requires absolute commitment and driving on the ragged edge to put up a fast lap.
Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, who has long been a proponent of the 17-turn, 2.3-mile road course winding through the hills just outside of Birmingham, Alabama, reiterated his love for the track after the opening practice session of the weekend on Friday, but explained that the introduction of the hybrid, which makes its debut here has taken some of the enjoyment out of this track.
“It’s less fun. The cars have gotten a lot more boring, to be honest,” O’Ward said. “This is one of the tracks where you would really enjoy being able to throw it around.
“You can still kind of do it, but the windows narrow down a lot. You can piss it off a lot quicker. So, yeah, you definitely feel the added weight. The tires feel the added weight. It’s definitely something you have to change quite a bit on the car in order to kind of get it back into the window because it’s definitely shifted a lot of the balance.”
The hybrid system in itself isn’t necessarily the problem, but with it essentially being just a piece bolted on the existing chassis, all of the other components of the car are having to bear the added weight, especially the tires, making for a tricky time for the drivers to try and wrestle the car around each course.
Even after winning the pole at the Thermal Club in March, O’Ward explained that the razor’s edge that drivers used to be able to ride to put up a fast time is essentially non-existent with the addition of the hybrid.
“You used to have them a lot on the edge without the hybrid, but with all this weight in the rear, they just plow like pigs really,” O’Ward said.
“It’s a bit of a shame because they feel like they can go a lot faster, but we can’t really get them there to that edge where maybe I have put it in the past.”
O’Ward continued, explaining that prior to the hybrid, he was able to get more out of his car when the performance wasn’t there, but now it has really limited what he and other drivers can do behind the wheel to go beyond.
“It’s been a struggle because Mid-Ohio was the first race that we did with the hybrid, and it was great for me. But all the ones after that, you can’t take the car, or at least I can’t, where I used to have it, and it was — I mean, you guys can probably see it in the onboards. It was a car that was very on the edge. It was very just right there where it was almost too much, but I could make it work without a doubt in qualifying.
“Even if it was just one lap, even if we didn’t quite have the pace, I knew I could take it there and extract the lap time that truly wasn’t available for it.
“The problem now is with this hybrid is we’ve got so much more weight and the car is a lot lazier and it just can’t do that anymore. It’s been a bit of an adjustment because, when you’re — I’ve had to change my driving style, I would say, or the approach to how you extract lap time from the car is very different now because you can’t have it strong at the front. It’s a snowball effect.”
In his Off Track with Hinch and Rossi podcast, Alexander Rossi explained that the added weight of the hybrid has been a concern not only on road courses, but also on the ovals, and reiterated that during a conversation about the way the car raced during the Indy 500 open test in the May 1 episode.
“So, 2025, hybrid – I don’t care where it’s placed. I don’t care what it’s doing to the weight distribution. It’s just more weight on the car, which these components, which have been unchanged can’t tolerate,” said Rossi.
“So, the only way around it is you have to get so aggressive with how you’re setting the car up. And it’s just, it’s a piece of s***. It doesn’t feel nice to drive anymore. It’s a handful.”
Rossi continued, saying that he was able to learn from some of the best on ovals as he began his IndyCar career and, in the past, had a couple of chances to catch the car when it started to get out of shape, but now the ability to catch the car and correct it really doesn’t exist on the ovals.
“You just have to drive through the snaps and you just have to drive through a super neutral, like weird feeling in the middle of the corner and just live with it. And that’s not enjoyable.
“It’s like you’re tense. It’s frustrating, but that’s the only way that you’re going to follow cars.”
He added that he expects the X factor of the hybrid and the trickle-down effect it has on the car overall will make for a more intense race when the green flag drops on the 109th Indianapolis 500.
“I think the race is going to be intense. It’s going to be – there’s going to be a lot of mistakes that happen. But yeah, the only way that you’re going to survive 2-3-4 cars back is just to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and hold on and just suffer through it.
“Make it work.”
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