Breaking news
IndyCar
Andretti, Veach struggles are down to tires, says engineer
Andretti Autosport IndyCar race engineer Garett Mothersead says that the disappointing form of Marco Andretti and Zach Veach this year is a result of a struggle to feel what the rear of their cars are doing on the current Firestone road course compounds.
David Malsher-Lopez
Edited: Sep 20, 2019, 5:53 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Mothersead, who was race engineer for Zach Veach in his rookie season last year and most of this season, swapped positions with Marco Andretti’s new-for-2019 engineer Mark Bryant for the Gateway race, as the team seeks to find remedies for the drivers’ underperformance relative to their teammates Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
While Rossi is contending for the title, and Hunter-Reay lies seventh in the points table, Andretti and Veach are just 16th and 18th, Andretti’s highlights being two sixth places and Veach a solitary seventh.
Mothersead explained: “They’re suffering from the same kind of problems – not drastically different anyway – even though they verbalize it differently and sometimes deal with it differently.
“It’s all about the way Firestone has gone with the tires. It robs them of the feel they’re looking for, mainly at the rear. You don’t get the nice warning messages you used to get with the older generation of road course tire, where there’s a nice build-up to the limit and you can feel where the car’s at. It’s like they’re having to drive by Braille.
“It’s a ‘peakier’ tire and it’s harder for the guys to stay on top of it. And because they don’t have that feel, they either underdrive or overdrive it in qualifying and across a race stint, and it’s so easy to get it wrong on either side of that.”
Asked whether the 2020 aeroscreen-caused revised weight distribution – and the engineering methods to counteract that – would hurt or help Andretti and Veach, Mothersead said it was hard to tell before the actual Red Bull Advanced Technology device was tested.
So far there have only been ballast simulations run on a Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda and a Team Penske-Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway.
He said: “Let’s see how it actually comes out, how much actual weight forward there actually is and how Firestone responds to it. I’m not sure the aeroscreen itself is going to make a huge difference. I think the aero effect may be a bigger deal, although right now we don’t know. But putting something that size on the car is going to alter the flow to the rear wing.
“The good thing is, the weight distribution and the aeroflow changes are at least going to be the same for everybody.”
Zach Veach, Andretti Autosport Honda
Photo by: Geoffrey M. Miller / LAT Images
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Herta on dad’s defeat by Zanardi: “I thought it was a cool pass!”
Next article Laguna Seca IndyCar: Rookies star in first practice despite offs
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
David Malsher-Lopez
Alex Zanardi: The man whose name is a synonym for “hero”
IndyCar
IndyCar
Alex Zanardi: The man whose name is a synonym for “hero”
Remembering Michele Alboreto: F1 ace, Le Mans winner and a good man
Formula 1
Formula 1
Remembering Michele Alboreto: F1 ace, Le Mans winner and a good man
IMSA Laguna Seca: Ganassi Cadillac holds off Porsche for victory
IMSA
IMSA
Laguna Seca
IMSA Laguna Seca: Ganassi Cadillac holds off Porsche for victory
More from
Zach Veach
Veach, Montecalvo earn Vasser Sullivan Lexus rides
IMSA
IMSA
Veach, Montecalvo earn Vasser Sullivan Lexus rides
Stat attack – the final IndyCar driver standings for 2020
IndyCar
IndyCar
Stat attack – the final IndyCar driver standings for 2020
Veach quits Andretti Autosport with immediate effect
IndyCar
IndyCar
Veach quits Andretti Autosport with immediate effect
More from
Andretti Autosport
Kyle Kirkwood seals career-best IndyCar season with Laguna Seca runner-up
IndyCar
IndyCar
Laguna Seca
Kyle Kirkwood seals career-best IndyCar season with Laguna Seca runner-up
Will Power crashes hard in second IndyCar Markham practice
IndyCar
IndyCar
Markham
Will Power crashes hard in second IndyCar Markham practice
Marcus Ericsson will remain with Andretti for 2027 IndyCar season
IndyCar
IndyCar
Portland
Marcus Ericsson will remain with Andretti for 2027 IndyCar season
Latest news
Audi hands F3 runner-up Freddie Slater F1 practice debut
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
18 min
Audi hands F3 runner-up Freddie Slater F1 practice debut
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Brazilian GP
1 h
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
2 h
Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”
MotoGP can’t simply copy F1’s Drive to Survive success – Chase Carey
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
3 h
MotoGP can’t simply copy F1’s Drive to Survive success – Chase Carey
Feature
Discover prime content
Inside AJ Foyt Racing’s transition: Hauger’s arrival, Ferrucci’s future, and the Pierson waiting game
Feature
IndyCar
Feature
IndyCar
By Joey Barnes
Inside AJ Foyt Racing’s transition: Hauger’s arrival, Ferrucci’s future, and the Pierson waiting game
You Ask The Questions: David Malukas
IndyCar
By Joey Barnes
You Ask The Questions: David Malukas
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe