Why the Indy 500 scandal resonates with F1. Plus, the key to staying dry in Monaco

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Prime Tire Newsletter | This is The Athletic’s twice-weekly F1 newsletter. Sign up here to receive Prime Tire directly in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday.

Welcome back to Prime Tire, where today, not only do you have a new author, but we’re going to start with an entirely different motor racing category. (I’ll be your host on Fridays, and Pat will still be your Tuesday host.)

Don’t worry; we’ve still got all the latest from Monaco coming later, plus some very special behind-the-scenes insight from that Sunny Place for Shady People. I’m Alex, and Luke Smith will be along later, plus a special guest.

Penske Problems

Why the IndyCar scandal matters

I learned a new word this week: attenuator.

Google’s AI wasn’t much help defining this amid the scandal surrounding Sunday’s 2025 Indianapolis 500, but for those that may have missed it, we’re talking about the rear crash structure fitted to every IndyCar. Obvs.

During qualifying, the cars of Penske teammates Josef Newgarden and Will Power were found to have been running modified rear attenuators — a clear rules breach, as these are supposed to be the same on every car. The modification isn’t too performance-enhancing, but it is a black-and-white rules issue, and Newgarden and Power were relegated to the back of the grid for Sunday’s big race.

All fairly par for the course for motorsport, given the complex nature of running racing cars. I once spent an entire day at the Hungaroring learning about differential shim materials (yep!) after Charles Leclerc’s Formula Two car was disqualified. Google was even less helpful back in 2017…

But while technical rules sagas aren’t new, the fact that Newgarden and Power drive for Penske, with its eponymous owner, Roger Penske, also owning the IndyCar championship and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, things took a really serious turn. A right-hand one, instead of just left, perhaps?

Found this on the series’ photo site from the 2024 #Indy500. Had to pull up the exposure to see the darkened rear and it shows the blended attenuator. Third photo is the attenuator on the car in the IMS Museum, with a similar exposure change to reveal the shiny dark black seam… pic.twitter.com/sLahd6QJ2E

— Marshall Pruett (@marshallpruett) May 19, 2025

More alarming is that during the inevitable sleuthing over Newgarden’s 2024 Indy 500 winning Penske car, there’s evidence Penske was running with the modified attenuator even back then. IndyCar president Doug Boles said that result would stand, even after Roger Penske basically admitted the illegal part was indeed used in Newgarden’s second Indy 500 win in succession. Penske fired three of his team’s most senior IndyCar staff over the current scandal.

This had been a significant conflict of interest ever since Penske bought IndyCar and its prestigious circuit in 2019 — despite assurances that his credibility as a long-term, ultra-successful competitor would avoid this. But that it was the second major rules scandal involving the team after last year’s push-to-pass software saga just beggars belief. Still, IndyCar doesn’t have an independent officiating body to cover such matters — although that is set to change in the aftermath of this episode.

There’s so little trust in establishment bodies today that, across all areas of life, we certainly need them to be beyond reproach at all times for our societies to thrive. And here’s where F1 comes in.

Immediately after Carlos Sainz Sr. revealed he was considering a bid to become FIA president, it was pointed out that his son, being an active Williams F1 driver (not to mention a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association), would lead to a conflict of interest. Both father and son downplayed this in the following weeks, but it’s got me thinking.

This would be a minor example of such a problem compared to the glaring conflict of interest looming over IndyCar ahead of its biggest race. It also pales in comparison to when Bernie Ecclestone effectively ran F1 while owning the Brabham team in the 1980s.

But motorsport’s leaders need to take control. Enough of this chatter, poor decision-making, and terrible transparency (see: the current FIA regime). Motorsport and its fans deserve better.

Over to Jeff Gluck for the reaction on the ground in Indiana ahead of Sunday.

Jeff, what’s the vibe around the paddock about this story? Anger? Resentment? Shock?

The emotions have run the gamut. At first, there was a lot of indignation over Team Penske running afoul of the rules again, and it bloomed into a full-blown outrage after pictures began circulating that showed the cars had been illegal for quite some time. Even Josef Newgarden’s winning 2024 car, displayed in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum, has the illegally modified part. But after Penske fired his entire senior leadership from the IndyCar team, the mood almost shifted to “Did this get blown out of proportion?”

What does this controversy reveal about the conflicts of interest?

There are two issues at play here. First, the IndyCar team is obviously under Penske’s purview. But ultimately, so are the series officials. And what IndyCar is saying is the technical inspectors completely missed the Penske cars carrying an illegal modification to a safety-related area – that was visible to the naked eye, out in the open! – for more than a year until Indy 500 qualifying. That is…not great! Penske took the necessary steps to salvage his reputation by parting ways with three of his most important team executives, but now officiating will need to be cleaned up, too. IndyCar is looking into setting up an independent officiating body that would not be under the Penske umbrella.

For readers who don’t follow IndyCar closely, just how significant is starting from the back for Josef Newgarden’s chance at a historic third consecutive Indy 500 win?

It’s significant in several ways. Newgarden not only has to overcome all of that track position, but he lost his pit stall selection, and his strategist was fired. But yeah, the hard part is certainly starting from the last row. In the 108-year history of the Indy 500, drivers starting outside the top 22 have won only four times. Heck, drivers outside the top 15 have only won 16 times! That said, Newgarden is a Tom Brady-esque figure in terms of his mindset and approach to winning — and I honestly don’t think you can count Newgarden out. He feels “absolutely” he can still win the race and said, “I just see a bigger mountain” to climb in search of history.

For Jeff’s full explainer on the scandal, head here.

Don’t do an Alberto Ascari here (Luke Smith)

Monaco Magic

How to get the best view in F1 and stay dry

The Monaco GP is heading for a new date in 2026, but one thing that won’t change soon is how F1’s grand old street race still offers the best chance to view its cars up close and personal.

But whether you’re a spectator heading to one of the track’s grandstands or a member of the F1 press corps heading out on a trackside jolly, Monaco’s cramped nature means you’re in for a complicated walk to find the best vantage points. You won’t see it well on the TV coverage, but Monaco is a multi-level engineering marvel — where whole neighborhoods of extortionately expensive real estate have been crammed in alongside existing homes. What is billed as a paradise (particularly if you’re trying to avoid paying income tax) is in a near-constant state of noisy refurbishment.

Anyway, to reach the Station/Loews/Fairmont hairpin from the paddock, you first have to walk around the harbor’s edge. It can get pretty narrow at points here, with drivers, team staff, camera crews and VIPs bustling about, plus spectators heading to the grandstand opposite the pits.

Once past an access gate crewed by never-smiling security staff (look up how many police per capita Monaco has if you want to be even more bored!), then it’s about missing the many concrete blocks used for tying massive ropes to secure yachts to the harbor-side. Next, it’s squeezing past marshals who are avoiding the sun or having lunch under huge plastic canopies (when the track isn’t live) and trying not to get your clothing caught on the metal catch fencing.

Once in the tunnel, take a sneaky right after passing a tobacco shop (which also lends the Tabac corner its name, albeit for a different business) and suddenly you’re in a marble-lined corridor. Take the elevator several floors up, and you emerge into a small, undulating park area. Left takes you to Beau Rivage and a spectacular view now over the harbor, with the cityscape and the mountains that ring this place completing the view. Right, and after descending a twisting staircase, there’s the Fairmont hotel and the track’s hairpin. It’s where Monaco’s train station originally sat.

Here, you’re finally just a few feet from F1’s racing beasts. Monaco — there’s nothing else like it. Over to Luke to take up the tale.

Inside the Paddock with Luke Smith

‘A true privilege’

Going trackside in Monaco has to be one of the highlights of my entire F1 season.

No, the track isn’t great for racing, and qualifying on Saturday will still be decisive even with two mandatory stops this year. But when you get close to the cars, dancing between the barriers with incredible precision, you really appreciate how good these F1 drivers are.

I started FP1 on Friday by heading to the entry of the Swimming Pool chicane — one of the fastest points of the track. Given it was first practice, the drivers aren’t nearly going as quickly or aggressively as they will come Q3, but it’s still thrilling to see them skim the curbs on entry and risk running as far toward the barrier as possible.

Then it was Tabac, where you are just meters away from the cars to one side, and the drop into the harbor on the other, before going to the Nouvelle Chicane and through the tunnel. The V6s are loud enough, so I hate to think how deafening it would have been back with V8 or V10-powered cars going through there!

I then took that elevator up to the Fairmont Hotel hairpin, one of my favorite spots to watch the cars. It’s the slowest corner of the F1 season (taken at just 28mph) and the closest you’ll get all year, meaning you can really judge which drivers do (and do not) have that extra bit of pace going through the low-speed stuff. Whereas Max Verstappen was really aggressive through here, his “pointy” Red Bull diving in and out, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris seemed more smooth and serene with their McLarens.

I stayed there until FP1’s end before coming back to the media center, my tan topped up and step count achieved for the day. For all the thousands of dollars those on yachts may have spent to be here, I can safely say my view of the session was better. A true privilege.

Leclerc was pessimistic about his chances at home this year, but Stroll crash aside he had an excellent first day (Clive Rose / Getty Images)

Leclerc Leads Early

Home hero set the fastest time in practice

Here are the main takeaways from today’s on-track action in Monaco:

• Charles Leclerc led FP1 despite an early crash with Lance Stroll
• Stroll was handed a one-place grid penalty for causing the clumsy incident.
• Leclerc then doubled up in FP2, but was only 0.038 seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri.
• Piastri crashed midway through the session, but was able to recover his McLaren to the pits.
• Max Verstappen only 10th in FP2, but there’s little doubt he’ll be better come qualifying.

Final practice in Monaco takes place at 6:30 p.m. ET and 11:30 a.m. UK on Saturday, with qualifying to follow at 10 a.m. ET and 3 p.m. UK. Follow it all with us.

Outside the points

🍿 The F1 drivers got to see an early screening of the F1 movie as the Monaco weekend got going — except Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll, who didn’t turn up. Verstappen spent some of the same evening streaming more sim racing exploits under his Franz Hermann pseudonym. But while he missed out, here’s what his peers made of the movie. No spoilers, promise!

🎹 Madeline Coleman interviewed home hero Leclerc ahead of this race, and they discussed his love of piano, fashion and playing chess with Lewis Hamilton. There’s no doubt Charles’ ‘normal’ is very different from you and I — but at least he recognises that. He told Madeline, “My life is not normal at all, and I’ve got lots of privileges that I wouldn’t have if I wasn’t a Ferrari driver.” No kidding!

🎤 And, finishing as we started, back to the world of IndyCar. Jeff spoke to former F1 presenter Will Buxton about his move to leading commentary on the series for Fox Sports’ new coverage. Check it out ahead of Sunday’s race, which will be followed by NASCAR at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

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(Top photo: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images)

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