With F1’s final race in the US for 2024, Let’s look at some of the drivers who took part in both Formula One and IndyCar.
Once a racing driver, always a racing driver. Competing in different racing series is more common than people might think. One of the more frequent career swaps has been Formula 1 drivers making the transition to IndyCar once their time in F1 is over. An F1 driver participating part-time for something as big as the Indy 500 isn’t unheard of but there’s been an influx of F1 drivers making the move to drive in IndyCar full-time.
Nigel Mansell
One of the most iconic drivers in both F1 and IndyCar, Nigel Mansell made his F1 debut in 1980. His F1 career lasted over 10 years Most notably, he won the 1992 World Drivers’ Championship as a driver for Williams. Mansell retired in 1995 as a driver for McLaren. During his extensive F1 career, he won 31 races and had 59 podium finishes.
Mansell started racing in IndyCar in 1993 right after he won the World Drivers’ Championship. At the time, the series was referred to as the American CART IndyCar Series. He saw immediate success and won the IndyCar championship that year. This made him the first driver in history to win the championship during their debut season. In 1994, he was only able to manage finishing P1 in one race and finished 8th in the championship standings. Mansell left IndyCar for another brief stint in Formula 1 which led to his retirement.
Alexander Rossi
The world of Formula One was introduced to Alexander Rossi when he was a reserve driver for the Marussia F1 Team. Originally, he was expected to make his F1 debut at the Belgian Grand Prix to replace Mac Chilton but the decision was ultimately reversed. Later on during the Russian Grand Prix, he was meant to replace Jules Bianchi but Marussia decided to run a single car that weekend instead. Rossi eventually made his F1 debut at the Singapore Grand Prix. He went on to compete in a total of five races that season with his best finish being P12 at the United States Grand Prix.
The following year, Rossi signed a contract with Andretti Global. His contract ran from 2016-2022. During Rossi’s debut season in IndyCar, he won the Indy 500 after starting from P11. This was also his first IndyCar career win. Throughout the following seasons, Rossi accumulated eight wins and 30 podium finishes. He’s qualified on pole seven times. During the 2023 and 2024 seasons, he was the driver of the No.7 for Arrow McLaren. Starting in 2025, he’ll be driving for Ed Carpenter Racing as the replacement for Rinus Veekay.
Romain Grosjean
Along with Mansell, Romain Grosjean is a driver who had a lengthy career in F1 before moving to IndyCar. He started his F1 racing career in 2008 as a test driver for Renault after Nelson Piquet upgraded to a race seat. He made his F1 debut in 2009 to once again replace Piquet during the infamous ‘crashgate’ incident. Grosjean’s strongest career moments took place between the 2013 and 2015 seasons where he managed 7 podium finishes. Grosjean spent his F1 racing career competing with both the Lotus F1 Team and Haas F1 team. His F1 career came to an end in 2020 following a crash during the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Since becoming an IndyCar driver, Grosjean has raced for three different teams. He started Dale Coyne, moved to Andretti Global (Andretti Autosport at the time), and as of 2024 competed as a driver for Juncos Hollinger Racing. He’s had one podium finish in IndyCar so far and has yet to get his first win in the series. As of November 2024, Grosjean hasn’t been confirmed as a driver on the 2025 grid.
Marcus Ericsson
Ericsson has a five-year career in Formula 1 between the years of 2014-2018. During his F1 career, he was never able to secure a win or a podium. During Ericsson’s rookie year, his best finish was P11 at the Monaco Grand Prix. His rookie year was relatively quiet due to the Caterham F1 Team not having a competitive car. The team ultimately collapsed at the end of the season due to financial difficulties. Ericsson spent the rest of his F1 career as a driver for Sauber F1 Team. His best result was P9 in both Bahrain and Germany. During his final F1 season, he was teammates with Charles Leclerc. In 2019 Sauber, who then became Alfa Romeo Racing opted to keep Ericsson onboard as a reserve driver before he shifted gears to IndyCar.
Similar to Grosjean, Ericsson has also had experience racing for three different teams in IndyCar. His luck seemed to turn around a year after joining the series, finishing P4 at Road America in 2020 and two race wins in 2021. Ericsson is also an Indy 500 winner after successfully holding off Pato O’Ward. He became the second Swedish Driver to win the Indy 500. He won two more races in 2023. In 2024 he joined Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood as the trio of drivers for Andretti and he’s set to return to the team in 2025.
"You are an Indy 500 champ!"
Marcus Ericsson, winner of the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500.@Ericsson_Marcus / @HuskiChocolate / @ParklandCorp
Music: @wearegalantis pic.twitter.com/AlrXqTDI49
— Chip Ganassi Racing (@CGRTeams) June 1, 2022
