Overview
- IndyCar, which announced the change Tuesday, now permits the 60-horsepower push-to-pass boost on road and street course restarts only after cars cross the alternate start/finish line, with the button still barred at the initial start and early use subject to penalty even if the system misfires.
- Push-to-pass is a driver-activated software aid with about 200 seconds of total use per race, and officials say the update is meant to simplify restarts while keeping initial launches free of extra power.
- IndyCar Officiating said it shifted compliance responsibility to competitors and updated its Controller Area Network messaging, with an added software engineer assigned to watch outgoing messages and push-to-pass status.
- The rule shift follows April’s Long Beach restart error that let 12 drivers use the boost when it should have been disabled, after which the series released car-by-car usage data, noted Felix Rosenqvist at 18.5 seconds, kept results in place, and accepted blame.
- Debate continued into Saturday at Indianapolis as Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward argued over fairness and intent, while several drivers predicted teams will hoard push-to-pass for restarts and disagreed on whether passing chances will meaningfully increase.