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Indycar not heeding what F1 had learned a long time ago. If you have tyres that won't last at speed, the teams will simply go slower rather than "fighting" on bad tyres.

Me: Hey watch indycar this year, it's heaps more exciting than F1. The first two races of indycar 2024...

They could've avoided the slower cars by eliminating the slowest car of the lap, every lap or second lap, I mean it's a gimmick but somehow with the rules of this race I am sure a gimmick isn't a problem

A fitting video for April Fools Day.

The million bucks was actually for Roman if he could get through a weekend with hitting anyone 😂😂

The best bit for me was easily the three McLarens fighting each other in the early stages of the second heat, and Rossi and Herta managed to liven up the second half of the final, but other than that, this weekend wasn't great. Thermal seems like a decent track for hotlapping, but for producing lots of wheel-to-wheel racing, I'm not so sure. I think the heats were slightly too short and the final should've just been one whole race rather than one race split in half.

Can someone explain why you need mid season testing on a 15 YEAR OLD chassis? If teams don’t understand the car by now they’ll never understand it

Even Liberty MEDIA couldn't have scripted this debacle.

Seems like the teams did the same kind of backhanded FU to the idiots in charge with the tyre situation here as a few years ago when F1 kept fkn with quali format so the teams just held the cars and half of Q2 was an empty track. So in that respect, for having the testicular fortitude to maliciously yet creatively comply with idiotic rules, I rate this an A-.

Long time indycar fan: this was an embarrassment. This could have worked as a preseason event not replacing a points race.

I think this was Roger Penske's project, to entertain his rich snob friends that reside in Thermal club. I'm sure they enjoyed the champagne and caviar, though, this event was absolutely not held for Indycar/motorsport fans.

When it comes to the tire wear, it's like Indycar saw how the extreme tire wear made the NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway an exciting event and asked if Firestone could bring a tire that wears like that tire Goodyear brought to Bristol (Roger Penske showed the tire data from Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric and the Wood Brothers car of Harrison Burton), then Firestone tried to bring a similar tire to Thermal but no one told them that the teams wouldn't be allowed to change tires... For some reason

They need to go to Adelaide. Around the old f1 track. Adelaide puts on a huge show for anything. With the aus and nz drivers in the field it would be mega

Thermal itself is not a bad location, I think it’s the format and the expectations that sealed its fate as an underwhelming event. I’m sure that there is a more traditional format that could make this thermal test weekend work in a way that’s satisfactory for the fans and the teams.

- The track surface looks horrendous .

6:47 BrawnGP, is that you?

My favorite was a race while being told how poor I am at the same time :-). Just focus on the race, even though it was terrible.

Just.....just bring back the late 80s/early 90s Marlboro Challenge All Star format. seriously. That was simple, effective and worked well and was on the Laguna weekend so season finale all star time (or the Tamiami Park weekend too come to think of it)

I consider Indycar more competitive than F1 and NASCAR. The Thermo thing was a bust.

It should’ve just been a full race with no heats

Whoever thought of this really needs to be fired, and I'm not speaking in hyperbole. IndyCar being used as an infomercial for a private racing circuit community (with multimillion $ homes and a mandatory $200K membership fee) via a 'dash-for-cash' race for already wealthy people in an era where buying a stick of deodorant can cause sticker shock was in really poor taste. Oh, and it's IMPOSSIBLE TO PASS on said circuit. Add the hypemasters known as the NBC broadcast team endlessly pushing this pig with garish lipstick on us like it's SO EXCITING....please fellas. Unbearable. A huge PR disaster for a series that has a great product but just can't ever get things right. Only upside is we get a great Will takedown of this farce.

No need for apologies Im an Indianapolis native and have loved and followed indycar all my life but that Thermal race was just hilariously awful. Roger Penske told the indycar teams to go out there and tear up their cars just to show off his toys to his rich friends in their back yard. The teams spent money for nothing, the fans were completely neglected, and the results were embarassing. This cannot be the way forward for indycar

I think the track has potential, the drivers seemed to like it, they just need a reasonable format. I would suggest more laps, bring the option tire (especially for qualifying), no halftime, and competitive pit stops. With some actual care, this event could provide good action.

I liked the format with the heavy emphasis on tire saving. Lead to some interesting strategies, I liked the "stay back but not more than a lap" game.

Hi! I'm a big F1 and Indy car fan. The whole weekend was boringgggg... they tried to hype the Thermal club and how rich they all must be and blah, blah, blah! It was so dull. Endless practices then these heat races dull dull dull! It was confusing and stupid.

I feel privileged to have my ugly mug in the shot at 5:41. Made a mighty thump when my station was center-punched. Thanks for the spot-on commentary, Will!

these are great! looking forward to this weekend.

This would have been a great format on a 1/2 mile oval

If they have more pointless events, turn on the sprinklers at random times on random corners.

I think this even would have been fine if they had AT LEAST put it before St. Pete. Extended testing sessions and non-points races work fine in other series but to put it 2 weeks after the first race and a MONTH before the next is terrible. Add to that the fact that the track itself was subpar and offered nothing extra flair since there was little to no crowd (although the scenery was nice) and the fact that the tires aren't up to spec because they were built for hybrid and this even had no chance. This whole thing can work next year if they make it a preseason thing, improve the tire wear, and add some temporary bleachers (or just locate it somewhere else entirely; like Surfers Paradise! I miss that place).

Aa an F1 fanatic I've tried several times to get into Indycar, but something about the racing just doesn't interest me. I keep watching races and losing interest within 15 minutes. Maybe it's the american monday night football-esque commentary. I usually end up just watching old F1 seasons.

Make this a preseason test with a little cash prize “race” and find a real race to fit between st Pete and LB. I’m going to LB, let’s hope it’s a banger.

This “race” was as dull as a chartered account in a Monty Python sketch.

Yea i completely agree, why call it the million dollar challenge? 2 it was a snoozefest who's brilliant idea was it to not change tires??? So yeah overall epic waste of time boring races and generally disappointing 😞

I do have to say this raced proved that Marcus Ericsson was driving a Boost Mitsubishi from the Delinquent Road Hazard because Boost at rare occasion only finished ahead of Snot Rod only. It seem Marcus Ericsson is following Boost from the Delinquent Road Hazard by finishing P12 out of P13 and only beating Braun who is Snot Rod. He really is not doing well in this Andretti doesn't he.

I would have yawned during this "race", but it wasn't worth that much effort...

Already got my tickets for the Long Beach Grand Prix, can’t wait (it’s the closest track to my home ok)

I missed the final race, and was excited to watch it. Having seen this and the highlights, I'm glad I went for the Formula E replay last night

Hope he was joking; but it’s a million dollar challenger because the total prizes paid out are 1 million. First got half of it

On the subject of Townsend Bell's CART debut, that would be a good topic for a classic Comedy Review. What? Alex would be one of the first people to appreciate such a thing! The man refused to let it slow him down, after all.

First Sir Lewis and now the entire F1 circuit, you chose violence this weekend

Lol I cant believe Herta was the only driver to realize there was no point in pushing at all in the first stint. That's hilarious, it's too much

This weekend could be good with some changes to format to make it more exciting in the heats and split. Perhaps less break time and all cars on field but only the top 10 get cash and it 40 laps or something.

To be fair on the beginning of this video is that when Champ Car and IRL unified back to IndyCar, 2 races had dates that could not be adjusted or cancelled. One was the Long Beach Grand Prix which happened the same weekend Danica won at Motegi and the other was this race at Surfer's Paradise Australia way after the season had ended.

why do these cars have those silly looking windshields and then the top of the car is still open? Lol. just make it a normal closed cockpit and be done with it

Agreed. This was pretty stupid to hold this event. It was painful to watch.

I really enjoyed the Thermal experiment and have already considered attending the event if they hold it next year. Sure, there are tweaks they can improve the event for viewers, but it was pretty great to see those guys going all out in the second heat. Not sure why everyone is so whiny about them trying something new - it didn't take anything away from the season, and helped to fill a six week gap in the schedule.

If IndyCar continues with this stupidity they will become as irrelevant as NASCAR, lose all there top talent to IMSA and become a feeder series for F2 or F3

So much retro vin la cucarachas in a single video that I thought of. I laughing so hard.

The concept of the event was stupid. The execution of the event was pathetic. I hope to never see such a thing again.

Now that truly sucked! Grosjean just getting punted, and no Stingray massaging the tire barriers? Racing at Thermal tends to be a good time to take a nap, this was no exception.

Yeah it has issues. But seeing Grosjean crashing in turn one on the last heat is hard to beat. Plus Rossi putting pato in his place is pretty funny

To be blunt, given how well they've maintained it due to other series racing on it, I think the logical non points race for the series would be for a place like EuroSpeedway.

I love how you got me to actually watch Indycar, being an F1-fan; As you mention during the video, I doesn't live up to expectations... It really doesn't help that the video quality here in Europe is really, really bad... I did start watching F2 and F3 though, those two first races were actually bloody awesome. Perhaps an idea to review one of those in the future?

Let's say this: I like the idea of a non-points round, or at least I am not against it. On the other side, if you race anyways, why not for points? And then there is the format, which didn't help this event. Neither did the track. There is many circuits I can think of, inside and outside of America, and certainly many I never heard of. But the Thermal Club is just not the right track for Indycars. Maybe I'm totally crazy, but why don't Indy race ahead of the F1 Las Vegas GP, as F1 has no support races there, but since the back straight is longer than Max Verstappens lead over Logan Sargeant they may only use the oval spec aero.

I was waiting for this

I think this was a worthwhile experiment that just fell a bit short. If they do it again, the first segment should be five laps longer. The "slow strat" would not have been able to go as slow in order to stay on the lead lap, so while there would still be a disparity in the second segment between those who took it easy and those who pushed, the difference would be smaller, and EVERYONE'S tires would be more worn down making mistakes more likely due to unstable cars. It might not have been enough, but it would certainly spice things up visibly.

It would have been fine if it had been the opening weekend and just been one big test session followed by a normal race, except for money instead of points.

Thermal was far from a good race weekend...but better than no racing at all🤷 there would have been a SIX WEEK gap between races without it

I’ve watched every race since phoenix 1988 and I’ve gotta say, this race was hot garbage

The alternative to thermal was nothing so I’ll take it. Everyone wants to cry and say we could’ve gotten the Texas oval back but it wasn’t going to happen. I saw structure it better and place it at the right time of the schedule to make it worth while and make more sense.

You shouldn't be able to fight for a win ever if you're down 2 minutes after 10% of the race distance. That's a disgrace to racing. Thank god herta didn't win

I like the thought of a non championship event but it needs to be done much better

It was something to fill the gap Last year they practiced there without it being televised and everyone complained lol So this year, they practice then have a race out of it....show it.....and everyone complained.........

I was a fan of the non-points race. I think it's fun to sit down and watch a race that isn't incooperated in the championship but maybe that's just me...

I thought the track was decent, something unique I’d like to try on the sim, but that’s it. IndyCar shouldn’t be a private organization racing at privately-owned tracks. Just odd without any fans

I actually loved the format

Not even Will can make this race look interesting. It’s not Will, he just had nothing to work with.

No tyre changes and a half time must have been thought up by one of the organisers’ slow children. It’s obvious folk would just pace themselves

easy fix for this race if they attempt it again (hopefully not but...). top 12 qualify. but in the main, you have to use the tires from your last qualification for the 1st 10 laps. from there only the top 6 can advance. no Colton Herta sandbagging techniques. finish the remaining 10 laps on new slicks. and mute Leigh Diffey and Townsend Bell.

This track looks like unfinished construction making Indycar look like an amateur series (I recently watched Formula 4 Saudi Arabia and the track was much better)

Variety content 🫡🎉

Was the race crap? Yes. But at the end of the day, instead of a non-televised test session and a colossal break between rounds 1 and 2, we at least got some on track activity to watch early in the season after a 6 month layoff, which I will take any day. And Thermal apparently pays the series a buttload of money, so it was a good deal for IndyCar as well. But yes, if they try this again next year, there definitely needs to be some major format changes.

AMA Supercross next please!

This video is more entertaining than anything Indycar has produced. 😂

3:56 HOLY SHIT SPLATOON MUSIC

The event was fine but these should be held off-season. In-season everything should be focused on the championship battle.

Indycar should race on the le mans circuit without the chicanes. That would be a fun race to watch.

Were are they at?

My two cents: - Rosenqvist said the race might have been more interesting if the final sprint had all 27 cars participate. Upon reading that, it made me wonder why Indycar didn't do _just that._ It seems like a no-brainer. - I wasn't aware of the prize being only worth $500k. No wonder the drivers didn't seem to be pushing that hard! - (I just looked it up. It was called the million dollar challenge because the total purse was worth $1.75 million, which was to be split by the entire field based on finishing positon. Seems misleading, especially considering NASCAR's All-Star race actually gives the a full million to the winner.) - The tire wear might have made things interesting if they didn’t have the half-time break, or at least allowed drivers to change tires. - It's ridiculous that Indycar wouldn't let anyone touch Rahal's car to fix a stuck throttle. Like I'm not an expert, but I'm fairly certain stuck throttles have killed quite a few drivers over the years. I'm at least glad the team had the common sense to withdraw the car instead of risking a serious accident. - The single-file restart after halftime on a track where passing was difficult wasn't a very smart decision. It basically guaranteed Palou the win as long as he didn't do anything stupid. - Speaking of Palou, he said it would have made more sense to have held this event during the off season, considering no points were up for grabs. Overall, a garbage event that Indycar will hopefully never try again without making some _serious_ changes. Here's hoping Long Beach actually provides some good racing and good entertainment as well!

It was pretty poor. They could have eliminated the farce by eliminating the slowest two cars in the first heat of the final. Poorly thought out in all honesty

$1'000'000 prize money comes in a country that has a $34'000'000'000'000 debt, so don't worry, that don't know how to count. And as for that track, it looks about as exciting as the Gold Coast circuit you featured in the opening gambit, and thats from someone who lived and watched that Indy race way back then at Surfers Paradise......rubbish.

I'm glad watching this I switched off when Grosjean crashed in heat 1 of qualifying. What a complete shower

Well at least IndyCar is trying things maybe tbey should bring back gridgirls.😂😂😂

All series have reduced me to just watching the highlights instead of wasting my time watching the entire race. I get bored easily so racing these days doesn’t get a lot of my attention. Too bad as I am a lifelong race fan.

20 Real Races PLEASE Between Mexico , Canada, Brazil and US should be able to manage that minimum ,,,,

Indycar please don't do that again it was shit

Huge Indycar fan here..... the race was terrible.. hopefully we get standing starts soon because single file restart after "halftime" was such a joke

This event felt like Indycar was the clown hired for a rich kids birthday party

5:05 Oh noo ☠😂

Well, proF1 channel say Indycar is a mess, what a surprise 😂

Would have been interesting if they could change tired

This event sucked and I fell asleep trying to watch it.

One thing I xouldn't wrap my head around is the fact it's a testing session AFTER the first race of the season. Why was this not BEFORE the first race of the season as a kind of warm-up to St. Petersburg........It all has the stench of NBC for some reason. Indycar needs to dump NBC and their lame NASCAR ideas for views.

Zak brown defo received a 500k cheque in the mail after this

Not all of it was a waste though. You managed to upload this joke of a race on april fools

Wait, Townsend Bell had his first race where Zenardi lost his legs in Germany?

When the world needed him most he returned

It was the dumbest thing I've seen in years!