Josef Newgarden: "If Penske wanted to win, they should have put Nasr in the car."

The crutch is decidedly, and unfortunately, the fashionable accessory in IndyCar lately. After Alexander RossiJosef Newgarden, who injured himself on the Monday before the Indy 500 and had to use crutches to get around for the rest of the week, was the one who had to use this aid in the Detroit paddock. The Team Penske driver injured his left foot in a crash during a restart at the Indianapolis 500 and has since had to wear a walking boot when walking to his car.

In these conditions, driving was difficult, especially on a circuit as demanding on the brakes as Detroit, which is also the bumpiest track of the season. Qualifying on the back row, Newgarden spent the first part of the race at the rear of the field, before working his way up through the field as incidents occurred, and finally finishing tenth. An unexpected result considering the performance of the No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet for the rest of the weekend.

“A top-15 finish on merit would have been a miracle this Sunday. So we clearly have to take a result like this. I feel bad; I feel like the opportunity the team created with this car, maybe even to get on the podium, has been somewhat wasted. I was in defensive mode throughout the race to protect the car, because it seemed like everyone had agreed they could be a bit more aggressive with me. The team did a superb job allowing me to drive. They had a great race, and that's the only reason we're bringing home a top-10 finish. At least I was there, I was in the race, and now we focus on the next one.”

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Taking advantage of the fact that theIMSA also made a stopover in Detroit, the Porsche Penske Motorsport made Felipe Nasr available as a reserve driver in case Josef Newgarden was ultimately unable to drive. The American believes he would have supported a potential decision by his team to replace him with the Brazilian, and that the latter would have been far more capable of achieving an even better result.

"It's Team Penske, and if they didn't want me to drive, I would have accepted it. I think if they wanted to win, they should have put Felipe (Nasr) in the car. I would have loved to see him drive that car, and especially to see how he would have driven it."