Penske has suspended four staff members, including team president Tim Cindric (pictured centre), after two its drivers were disqualified from the opening round of the season.
All three Penske cars were found to have run with alterations to their software which allowed their push-to-pass modes to be activated at times when they should be disabled, such as at starts and restarts.Josef Newgarden, who won the race at St Petersburg, and team mate Scott McLaughlin who finished third, were disqualified when the breaches were discovered six weeks after the March race. Both were found to have used their push-to-pass systems outside of the approved times. Will Power, who did not use his system when he was not allowed to, was promoted to second place by their disqualifications and kept his finishing position but was given a 10-point deduction.
Penske’s IndyCar operation is owned by Roger Penske, who also owns the IndyCar series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the venue of its flagship race, the Indianapolis 500. In a statement today he announced the suspensions of four staff members as a result of the penalties.
The team’s long-standing president Cindric is among those suspended along with managing director Ron Ruzewski. Luke Mason, a number two race engineer, and senior data engineer Robbie Atkinson have been given the same penalty.
All four will miss this weekend’s Indianapolis Grand Prix plus the signature Indy 500 event which takes place at the end of the month. Newgarden won the race for Penske last year.
In a statement, Penske said: “I recognise the magnitude of what occurred and the impact it continues to have on the sport to which I’ve dedicated so many decades.
“Everyone at Team Penske along with our fans and business partners should know that I apologise for the errors that were made and I deeply regret them.”
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Jim from US (@jimfromus)
7th May 2024, 13:08
The team should have been banned for the rest of the year. There was no reason to ever have that software working like it was. The drivers knew it would work and used it. I don’t buy their excuse that they just always press the push to pass button, even when it won’t work. What kind of nonsense is that? There’s only so much push to pass and it needs to be used wisely.
Clay (@clayt)
7th May 2024, 15:57
One of the three drivers had the willpower to resist pushing it.
RandomMallard
7th May 2024, 16:53
[Slow clap]
RandomMallard
7th May 2024, 16:56
It’s annoying because I’ve been waiting to use that pun for years and when the opportune moment finally comes around I didn’t manage to seize it.
Well done @clayt
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
7th May 2024, 22:32
Thank you both, good work.
MichaelN
7th May 2024, 17:17
I don’t know what would be an appropriate penalty, but you’re absolutely right that their ‘defense’ is hard to believe.
It’s also just so disappointing. Newgarden and McLaughlin have been such great ambassadors for Indycar. And while you can sort of see how someone stuck at the back of the field might get desperate and push beyond the limits, these guys really didn’t need to do this. It’s a huge self-defeating move.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
7th May 2024, 17:42
Yeah, there’s so many ‘wise heads’ involved in this you wonder what the conversation looked like beforehand, and that someone must have mentioned the likelihood of getting away with it in the long term was slim.
anon
7th May 2024, 21:23
@bernasaurus on the one hand, it does seem odd that they would have thought that they would have gotten away with it for a long period of time.
In theory, it should have been spotted reasonably soon given that the engine manufacturers should be receiving telemetry data from the cars, and should therefore have noticed the increase in boost pressure at times when it should not have been permitted. Equally, the IndyCar officials also receive telemetry from the cars – it was the telemetry traces from Long Beach that led to the investigation being opened into Penske’s behaviour.
On the other hand, given that several parties should have had access to that telemetry data, it does raise the question of why it wasn’t spotted earlier.
As noted by Jim from US in some of his earlier posts, there have also been questions raised about whether this has been going on for longer than just this year. There have been claims that another team raised a formal complaint in 2023 asking for Penske to be investigated, with the unnamed team submitting footage from the onboard cameras where it appeared that the drivers were pressing the button to activate the “push to pass” system when it should have been deactivated.
bull mello (@bullmello)
7th May 2024, 20:25
Cindric should have known better. He is the president of this team. Worked for Penske for so many, many years. He knew Penske never would allow this debacle. I am surprised he kept his job.
Mark (@blueruck)
7th May 2024, 23:15
Finally some teeth, I would assume this is a significant pay hit.
Kind of hopeful Penske wins Indy 500 with them out… help them remember their lesson :)
Alesici
8th May 2024, 13:53
That push to pass telemetry isn’t just being sent to ‘several parties’, it’s freely broadcasted to anyone with the Indycar app on their phone. Admittedly, it’s not real time, and is only updated once per lap, but I *think* there would have been enough there for literally anyone to notice the discrepancy.
Whilst obviously they deserve the disqualifications, I am now inclined to believe that it really was an honest mistake by all parties, mainly because Penske are far too professional to have cheated in such an amateurish and easily spotted way. They’d cheat in a much more professional way than this.
Don
8th May 2024, 15:20
Roger – OK Tim, the team owners and fans are really bitching about this situation. We’ll have to suspend you and a couple other guys for a bit to make things look good. Just keep working and we’ll pay you as usual.
Tim – OK, no problem. This will all go away soon as people have short attention spans.
Sparky (@sfrank15)
8th May 2024, 21:10
If Roger is really sincere about this he should also suspend Josef and Scott those two races. Otherwise it means nothing other than trying to save face.