Ferrucci: Better ‘consistency’ is leading to steady improvement for Foyt
DETROIT (WIBC) — Santino Ferrucci is coming off his sixth top-ten finish in the Indianapolis 500. Not many drivers have a better average finishing position in the race than he does despite his young age.
It’s been a topsy-turvy career for him already having raced for six different teams in his seven-year career in the NTT IndyCar Series. He said during the Month of May that he finally has “continuity” in his situation with AJ Foyt Racing.
Now in his second year with Foyt, he is noticing sustained improvement with himself and the team, especially now that they have a technical alliance with Team Penske.
“Last year we only had one top 10, and that was at (the Indianapolis Motor Speedway), Ferrucci said. “This year we now have three, one at a street course, one at a road course, and obviously Indy. I think the team’s consistency is getting much better.”
Last year, Ferrucci’s only top-ten finish was at the Indianapolis 500, which was indicative of the long, drawn-out struggles for pace that Foyt has had for the better part of two decades. But it was also a sign of progress.
Ferrucci said now that they have that consistency, it’s time to start parlaying that into a legitimate run to be a contender for the championship. But to crack the top ten in the points, as he has in race results this year, Ferrucci said he and the team need to keep on top of their game.
“(Consistency) is the easiest yet hardest thing to do,” said Ferrucci. “If you think about the amount of discipline, not just myself but everybody needs to have to strive for perfection, it’s very difficult. It’s very difficult on our crews.”
“It’s one of those things, though, we are a small team,” he continued. “We do have to keep that in mind. We have yet to run a completely clean weekend. We keep having little things go wrong throughout. It’s very hard when most people have more staff on their catering than we do on our race cars. It’s an uphill battle in today’s sport.”
IndyCar’s expected rollout of the new hybrid engine is expected to throw a new challenge at Foyt; a challenge Ferrucci said he is ready for and feels he can use to his advantage.
“I feel very good about it. I’m super excited for the hybrid,” he said. ” I’m personally looking forward to it because I very much can use the hybrid as a tool to help steer the car. I found that out in the GP, that I was able to actually use it as a driving aid. It’s kind of made me stand out a little bit more, in my opinion.”
For now, Ferrucci will have to wait a few more races before he can tap into that advantage he feels. The series is in downtown Detroit this Sunday for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. It’s the second year the series has been back on the streets of downtown Detroit after IndyCar moved the race off Belle Isle.
The hybrid engine will be rolled out to IndyCar teams for their race at Mid-Ohio in July. Between Detroit and Mid-Ohio, the series will make stops at Road America (June 9) and Laguna Seca (June 23).