F1 v IndyCar: What James Hinchcliffe thinks each series can learn from one another

Even though Formula 1 and IndyCar are both contested with open-wheel race cars, the two series couldn’t be more distinct. And yet, both could learn valuable lessons from one another about everything from fan engagement to competitive growth.

To get a sense of what changes could be made in both sports, we sat down with James Hinchcliffe — former IndyCar driver turned F1TV commentator — at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

F1 v IndyCar: James Hinchcliffe’s perspective

Former IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe has been living out the latest stage of his dream career in the commentary booth. When the Canadian retired from full-time competition in 2021, he nabbed a gig with NBC in the United States — and it wasn’t long before F1TV came calling in search of a respected North American voice to begin appearing on its broadcasts.

What started out with a three-race contract in 2022 transformed into an eight-race deal for 2024, and there are high hopes that Hinchcliffe will make a return in 2025.

In Las Vegas, I sat down with Hinchcliffe to discuss the evolution of his commentary career — but as someone familiar with both F1 and IndyCar, I also wanted to hear what lessons both series could learn from one another.

But that’s a fairly loaded question, something Hinchcliffe identified right away.

“Pick an area, and we can go back and forth,” he said, laughing.

Still, he had a handful of suggestions for both series — and some advice that could transcend the boundaries of open-wheel racing.

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“I like the way that F1 structures their weekends identically,” he said, taking me by surprise.

“No matter where in the world you are, you know that Practice 2 [will take place] the same amount of time after Practice 1, and it goes all the way back to the track tests on Wednesday.

“Like, I can tell you what time the safety car laps are on Thursday, and from that I can delineate what time FP3 ends.”

Hinchcliffe pointed out that that kind of regularity means that teams, drivers, and other personnel can remain on some kind of consistent schedule, even if they’ve traveled to three different countries in the span of three weekends.

In IndyCar, race weekend schedules are hugely variable and depend on the kind of track (oval, street, or road course), as well as the other series that may be racing on the same circuit during the weekend.

“But there are other things that IndyCar does really well,” Hinchcliffe acknowledged. “Certainly a lot of the driver interaction stuff.

“I get that the drivers [in F1] are a little more desired and so it’s harder to pick and choose, but I sometimes hear of things that they are and aren’t willing to do, and I think about the IndyCar paddock, and I’m like, there’s literally nobody who wouldn’t do that. I don’t get why that’s a big deal.

“And that’s what endears fans to IndyCar as well, the accessibility of the drivers and the buy-in from the drivers. That’s certainly something that we could see more of here, and I think it could be pretty beneficial.”

Of course, comparing the two series is like comparing apples and oranges: Both may have a very general designation in common, but they both have totally distinct features and applications.

Hinchcliffe acknowledges that.

“Look,” he said, “you can’t have one series that does it all. Both are great in their own ways, but yeah — there’s definitely things that each can take from each other.”

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