Andretti reportedly wanted Newgarden for his F1 project

Double champion IndyCar in 2017 and 2019, Josef Newgarden is one of the hottest names in the American championship currently. Leader of the championship following his victory in the streets of St. Petersburg, Newgarden reaches the end of his contract with Team Penske at the end of this season.

Logically, the American is the object of all desire, he who also finished second in the championship three years in a row. If negotiations began with Penske, Newgarden particularly attracted the interest of Andretti, who this year hired Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson.

Herta, who extended his contract with Michael Andretti's team until 2027, is currently, according to sources close to the team, the highest paid driver in IndyCar, with nearly $7 million annually. Amounts that are very sharply increasing, compared to the recent history of IndyCar where even the most successful drivers struggled to earn more than a million dollars per year.

These amounts thus launched a bidding war at the level of the different teams, Pato O'Ward having been able to negotiate his salary upwards at McLaren. The Mexican will thus earn 4 million dollars in 2026 and 4,2 million in 2027, according to court documents, made public as part of the affair between McLaren and Alex Palou.

Newgarden towards F1?

If Roger Penske will therefore have to match these new amounts to hope to keep his star, Racer.com tells us that Newgarden could well have completely changed discipline. Indeed, Michael Andretti's interest would initially have been to offer Josef Newgarden a steering wheel in Formula 1, within the team he wanted to hire. If the commitment had been validated by the International Automobile Federation, the FOM (Formula One Management) had refused Andretti's arrival before 2028, the date of Cadillac's planned entry into F1 as an engine manufacturer.

Thanks to his two titles and his recent results in IndyCar, Josef Newgarden holds a Super License, an essential key to racing in Formula 1. The native of Nashville had also tried his luck in the promotion formulas of the premier category , in Europe. After a British Formula Ford season, finishing in second place, in 2009, Newgarden entered GP3.

The 2010 season was not of the same ilk, with a final 18th place. Newgarden then successfully reoriented his career towards the United States, winning the Indy Lights title before beginning his career in IndyCar in 2012.

It now remains to be seen whether Andretti's interest will be reciprocated, now that Formula 1 is no longer on the menu. The ex-McLaren driver, who launched his racing team in 2003, recently received a significant investment from Dan Towriss-owned company Project 1001. This investment allowed the construction of a new campus in Fishers, Indiana, and an attempt to enter Formula 1 via an agreement with Cadillac.

However, IndyCar performance has yet to see a dramatic turnaround, despite two victories for Kyle Kirkwood in 2023. It is therefore unclear whether Josef Newgarden wants to take the risk of leaving Team Penske, with which he won its two titles, and which is today one of the two leading teams in the championship, with Chip Ganassi Racing. Aged 33, Newgarden is at a crossroads, it’s up to him to make the right choice!