Scott Dixon says the hybrid issue that caused his Chip Ganassi Racing car's Honda engine to shut down at Mid-Ohio last weekend “could have happened to a lot of cars”.
Dixon’s hopes of a seventh IndyCar Series title took a massive hit when he was classified last on the hybrid's long-awaited debut.
Primed to roll off 13th on the grid and targeting a record-extending seventh win at Mid-Ohio, disaster struck the 43-year-old Kiwi when he stopped at Turn 5 on his out lap from the dummy grid.
He joined the race over 20 laps in arrears while his supercapacitor system was fixed and recharged. As a result, he tumbled from second in points, 32 points behind leader and team-mate Alex Palou, to fourth and 71 points back.
Asked to explain what happened after post-race investigations, Dixon revealed that the low voltage electrical system “just did a runaway” and shut down his power unit.
He said: “[The hybrid system] just got into a parameter that it didn't like, and it stopped the engine, which it needed to charge the capacitor, which the last thing you want it to do is turn off the only thing that can charge it, and it did.
“I think there will be some things down the road that will change that. Yeah, it was kind of weird. We didn't expect it just for the sheer fact we tested a lot of that stuff in pre-season testing. Even in Milwaukee we had done that.
“It was a parameter and just did a runaway. There was no time to try and fix it.”
Although his was the only hybrid system affected by the issue, Dixon believes that it could have impacted other cars on the grid.
“Some of the settings I think opened to the teams and manufacturers on how you want to do regen and deploy,” he said. “I would say we were maybe slightly different.
“Honestly, until it happened, I don't think anybody knew that it was a fault, so... I think it could have happened to a lot of cars.
“It would have happened to three of my team-mates had it been a second different.”
The hybrid system will make its oval debut this weekend at Iowa, and while regen will be available as drivers lift for the corners, the 60bhp boost won’t make as much difference with cars already running at such high cornering speeds.
“This is probably the lowest kind of power dependent circuit that we go to throughout the season,” said Dixon.
“The amount of energy you get to use here is pretty small. But it will make a difference.”
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who set the pace in Friday’s sole practice session at an average lap speed of over 185mph, agreed that the hybrid won’t have as big an impact on the ovals.
“I definitely think it's probably not as useful on an oval as it is on a road course,” he said. “We still see a difference when you deploy it in some areas.
“I believe people are going to use it in qualifying. People are going to use it in the race. But yeah, it's certainly a lot easier to charge. Probably not a huge difference from a lap time perspective over 30, 40 laps.
“It's there if we need it, which is fun to use.”
