Honda Wins 10th IndyCar Manufacturers’ Title
With one race left to go in the 2021 season, Honda has claimed its 10th IndyCar Manufacturers’ Championship — courtesy of Colton Herta, Alex Palou, and Romain Grosjean sweeping the podium at the Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca.
This is a major achievement for Honda as it is also its fourth consecutive championship as well as the 25th anniversary of its first-ever IndyCar manufacturers’ and drivers’ titles, the latter having been won by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Jimmy Vasser.
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History may come to repeat itself because it is Palou, also driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, who is now in the best place to win his first IndyCar title thanks to a substantial 35-point lead over second-place man Pato O’Ward.
For now, Herta is the man of the hour. He won the Grand Prix of Monterey from pole just as he had at last year’s race, relinquishing the lead for only four of the 95 laps. Former Formula 1 driver Grosjean also put on a hell of a show: his rush to complete the podium from a 13th-place start included a bold pass on Jimmie Johnson at the infamous Laguna Seca corkscrew that, in F1, would never have worked.
“I’m sorry to Jimmie for our contact out there,” Grosjean went on to say after the race. “He was trying to protect Alex, but I wanted to go and chase Alex!”
Palou now has more wins than any other IndyCar driver this season, and with its fourth championship in as many years, Honda extended its lead as the all-time most successful IndyCar manufacturer. It has 11 drivers’ titles and five manufacturers’ titles, adding up to a total of 16 — two more than the next-best manufacturer and only current rival, Chevrolet.
IndyCar hoped to lure additional engine manufacturers to the sport in 2023 with new hybrid regulations, but failed to convince anyone to give Honda and Chevrolet a go. Their head-to-head shall therefore go on for at least another two years, and so far, it’s advantage Honda.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.