IndyCar 2023 season review: Andretti Autosport
#26 – Colton Herta, 10th in the championship standings (356 points) – 17 races
0 wins, 1 podium, 3 top fives, 8 top 10s, 2 poles, 8 Fast Six Appearances
Best Finish: 3rd (Toronto)
Best Start: 1st (Road America, Mid-Ohio)
#27 – Kyle Kirkwood, 11th in the championship standings (352 points) – 17 races
2 wins, 2 podiums, 2 top fives, 7 top 10s, 1 pole, 5 Fast Six Appearances
Best Finish: 1st (Long Beach, Nashville)
Best Start: 1st (Long Beach)
#28 – Romain Grosjean, 13th in championship standings (296 points) – 17 races
0 wins, 2 podiums, 2 top fives, 3 top 10s, 2 poles, 6 Fast Six Appearances
Best Finish: 2nd (Long Beach, Barber)
Best Start: 1st (St. Petersburg, Barber)
#29 – Devlin DeFrancesco, 22nd in championship standings (177 points) – 17 races
0 wins, 0 podiums, 0 top fives, 0 top 10s, 0 poles, 1 Fast Six Appearance
Best Finish: 12th (Detroit)
Best Start: 5th (IMS Road Course – Race 2)
#98 – Marco Andretti, 35th in championship standings (13 points) – 1 race
0 wins, 0 podiums, 0 top fives, 0 top 10s, 0 poles, 0 Fast Six Appearances
Best Finish: 17th (Indianapolis 500)
Best Start: 24th (Indianapolis 500)
Joey Barnes: Let’s start at the obvious and that is the mystery of how things fell apart between Andretti Autosport and Romain Grosjean. On paper, it was the perfect marriage that should have thrust both to several race wins and podiums on the path to compete for a championship. What it ended up being was unfilled potential, with only two poles and two runner-up finishes that also stood as Grosjean’s only top five finishes in 2023. The pace was evident, but through a blend of scenarios the partnership between a really talented driver and good team failed to live up to expectations.
Kyle Kirkwood made an immediate impact by winning in only his third race with Andretti and did so by showing tremendous poise fending off team-mate Grosjean. If there was action happening on the track, usually Kirkwood’s No. 27 was seen right in the mix of it for something either really good or demoralizing. While Long Beach and Nashville were tremendous drives that led to wins, I thought his comeback from early chaos and contact in Detroit to finish sixth was his best performance of the year. Simply put, if he can limit being on the backfoot and establish more consistency as a routine top five contender, he’ll be a big-time threat to challenge for championships.
I certainly didn’t have Colton Herta going win-less on my bingo card in 2023. It has to be noted how there seemed to be a role of musical chairs on race strategy happening atop his timing stand as Andretti tried to find the best combination to bring the most out of Herta. It seemed as if there was trust that needed to be rebuilt on that end. There were flashes of pace at mid-season, but it seemed like every strong start led to an equally devasting collapse in some form. Every good driver goes through a slump or two, and Herta is far too talented for it to continue in 2024.
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda
Nick Degroot: If you had told me that Kyle Kirkwood would be the only Andretti driver to reach Victory Lane in 2023, I would have never believed you.
And that’s not a knock against Kirkwood, who is a great driver and will only get better with time. But Herta going winless? Grosjean’s nightmarish year? I honestly didn’t expect it.
Kirkwood was the one bright spot in a frustrating year for this iconic organization. Grosjean started the season by nearly winning at St. Pete, crashing out late in a tangle with Scott McLaughlin. He then scored a couple runner-up finishes, so I believed it was shaping up to be a breakout year for the ex-F1 driver. Unfortunately, it was just one disaster after another from the Indy 500 onwards.
Herta’s year mirrored 2022 in many ways, and I was disappointed with the lack of progress we saw from both he and the No. 26 team.
Unforced errors and drama between team-mates have been an unfortunate theme with Andretti in recent years. There have been so many missed opportunities. However, I truly believe 2024 is where they get this ship righted as they downsize from four to three full-time cars. They have also added a very solid driver in Marcus Ericsson, who will now race alongside Herta and Kirkwood.
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