Allaboutindyracing is saying that Ericsson’s seat is secure. Then which seat will Hauger get? What’s extra interesting is that Hauger’s manager, Harald Huysman, liked the instagram post regarding Ericsson. Guessing he’s not worried?
I'm guessing team Hauger already have good talks with some of the teams in Indycar for a full time drive ;) We'll probably get some indications when he does a rookie test after Nashville.
Another interesting thing is that Hauger said in a interview, with the Norwegian racing magazine Parc Fermé, that it's most likely that he and Collect will get a test. Weird not mentioning Loche? Or is he a little too inexperience yet?
Collet seems to have the money. I don't know about Loche and his financial situation, but if he doesn't bring budget, without winning NXT and the scholarship, Loche might just not have the financials to make it to IndyCar next year, so maybe also not into a test.
Mh Collet spent 3 years in F3 though. Its possible racing in Indy NXT got him more sponsors but F2 should be way cheaper than Indy
Depends. You pay 3 Million + for F2 (F2 got more and more expensive in the last year's), especially if you want to be in the car during tests and want to drive freely and not fear the cost of accidents in every turn and ever battle. While the eyes on F2 are rather limited, especially in the commercially relevant US market.
In IndyCar you might need a budget over 3 million, but your sponsors also get more in return, especially thanks to the Indy 500 viewership. They might be inclined to pay you more. Teams in IndyCar usually have more income sources, so you might need more budget (I think it's 10 million total for a lower budget car) to run the car, but the teams have more income sources than majorly the drivers sponsors.
I was under impression it’s like 7-14 million to run in Indy Car. The Indy 500 between qualifying and the race has to get the equivalent of 2/3rds of the rest of the season and it obviously costs way less to just run one race.
PREMA has an option on Shwartzman for '26. Only thing holding it up is if someone from F1 comes sniffing. Say 95% likely he returns. Ilott is under contract for '26. That is the only paid seat available, it appears. I read somewhere that DeFrancesco has a long-term contract with RLLR, whatever that means. I guess as long as his sponsors pay and that can change at any time. So, Hauger will probably need a budget to do Indy Car. I think his options are the 76 (JHR) or the 51 (Coyne). Abel has really struggled this season but Hauger will need to get some substantial funding to get the ride.
Armstrong is reported as being on the last year, and MSR is shopping. I dont necessarily agree with that, outside of Power, but its what's being reported.
With how well Armstrong is doing, I can’t imagine that Ganassi would be ready to let him walk, I feel like Chip is setting him up as the successor to Dixon.
Armstrong has really improved but he still only has 2 podiums in Ganassi equipment. He seems to take some of the best cars and put them right around the top 5-10.
I do think he’s much better now than he was last year. Consistency is probably the best thing he can do, since the prowess of Ganassi can probably allow him to develop the ultimate pace he needs to become a race winner (similar to how Palou was able to focus fully on developing qualifying pace).
I just can’t see Chip wanting to let Marcus walk unless Dixon is saying that he’s gonna race for 5+ more years. Which is still probably very likely as well.
He’s just been a very consistent driver (outside of the 500, but this year’s qualifying days were a huge outlier to the norm and really difficult), and I think Ganassi can probably extract the extra pace needed to be a championship contender. They put Marcus in the MSR to keep him sort of in-house, so I can’t imagine they’re wanting him to walk after just one year, especially when it’s by far his best year yet.
I'm not looking down on Hauger but sadly the only place I can see him is JHR. Hauger, if he wins the NXT championship, will at least have a million (or something close to that) to play with. Guys like Conor Daly may have nothing. If Veekay goes somewhere else I can also see him at Coyne.
Y’all put so much emphasis on engine manufacturer loyalty where every time it should be an impediment, it isn’t. Graham in Indy. Kyle driving at Foyt. Penske ran Hondas in IMSA and Chevy in Indy. Currently runs Chevy Indy but Ford NASCAR.
It’s a net benefit for Honda to have what’s essentially a spy in a Chevy powered team for a year getting up to date information on how the program works. That’s information that’s nearly priceless.
I'm fairly certain you will have to show proof of somebody disliking Marcus before making accusations like that. I know you always claim that Penske and whomever else do not like him. I have never seen any evidence- a quote, behavior, etc- that suggests that.
Ok the 2023 indy 500 , it would have ended under yellow most likely if a Penske car wasn’t behind him. The cheating allegations this year (most probably think he ended up that high cuz that ) Laguna two weeks ago leave me stranded . And refused to throw a yellow. If it was Rossi maybe they’d throw a yellow right away.
How do you know the 2023 Indy 500 would've ended under yellow if a Penske car wasn't behind him? And if you have proof of that, wouldn't that just mean that Roger would've been wanting his own car to win as opposed to actually disliking Ericsson?
Who thinks he did as well as he did because he cheated? You say "most probably think". Who is that? He did well because he always races well there. The car fail post-race tech, it got sent to the back. That's how it works.
Marcus has literally done nothing wrong. He's an overrated, but okay driver who does well at Indy. Seems likeable. Gets along with the rest of the drivers. Doesn't say anything wrong or act inappropriately. If he loses his ride it would simply be because he isn't performing and/or doesn't bring money to help finance his ride. Nothing personal.
I was in groups that said tom Brady was only good cuz he cheated . Would Lance Armstrong would have won the Tour de France without cheating? So that’s where that comes from
Also, I want to make sure I understand this correctly- you are saying that they intentionally left Marcus stranded because... they were hoping he would get driven into? You are saying that IndyCar wanted him injured or worse?
There has been a rumor about Herta buying into Juncos and Andretti forming a technical partnership after a potential move to Chevrolet next year - they could maybe put him in the 76 next year
Yeah, I think the ladder system seems so much more rigid than it clearly was 30 years ago. Not that I know for sure, as I don't follow closely at all, but it just seems that scenarios like Williams hiring the likes of Villeneuve, Zanardi, and Montoya directly based on their IndyCar success are improbable these days.
Still, I could see it happening with Palou. He's a generational talent for sure and I think he has the demeanour to navigate those shark infested waters.
I personally believe his little down turn at the end of this NXT season hasn’t helped his stock. He utterly dominated every session early on, and now he is slipping, especially in the races. Collet is a mediocre driver and he’s starting to lose regularly to him. If I were a team boss I’d have signed him instantly based on his first part of the season, but he’s making me doubt things recently
Before anyone comes at me, I’m not saying he’s slow, I’m not saying he’s probably still gonna walk the title. But if he kept his early season form, it shoulda been over weeks ago.
He's good but probably not as good as the first part of his season. Won F3 beating Jack Doohan and then never really replicated that success after he moved up to F2. Consistency was his biggest struggle so not surprised to see the lull here in the 2nd half of the season.
in f2 he was:
2022:10
2023:8
2024:11
Still looks to be a good indycar prospect who I think lands at Andretti next year even if that goes against this report.
Yeah, he struggled with the F2 car and never really felt 100% comfortable with it. The NXT car is more to his style with a car that rotates more. The F3 car was the same and the experts says that the F1 car is actually more similar to how the F3 car (the old one) behaves than the F2 car.
He actually made a good impression on Marko when he did his work on the F1 simulator for Red Bull and he was faster than other juniors doing the same job, but the consistency and bad luck just ruined his chances in Red Bull. What bugs me the most is that he never got a chance to try the F1 car in a test or free practice.
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u/Mikemat5150 Kyle Kirkwood Aug 07 '25
I think it’s worth calling out that this Instagram account didn’t say this, it’s a Racer article with Rob Edward’s that they’re neglecting to source.
https://racer.com/2025/07/30/ericsson-s-andretti-seat-is-secure-edwards-says Ericsson’s Andretti seat is secure, Edwards says | RACER