Four-time series champion Sebastien Bourdais was left disappointed after a strategy gamble at the Grand Prix of Alabama failed to pay off, leaving the Frenchman to finish an eventual fifth place.
After attempting what appeared to be a one-stop strategy before the rain fell, it looked to be a very tight contest for the victory between himself and Josef Newgarden who stopped much earlier than him, indicating a likely two-stop plan.
"It was just a tough day for the SealMaster Honda No. 18 team, said Bourdais. "It was looking perfect. We executed the plan to perfection.
"I started on scuffed Firestone red (alternate) tyres, so we had a lot of tire degradation, but were still able to save more fuel than almost everyone. Josef (Newgarden) went for the push and it looked like we were still going to beat him because he pitted the second time and we got ahead."
"I had enough fuel to finish, but unfortunately, Mother Nature decided to open the skies and there wasn't anything we could do about that. We tried to stay out and it bit us."
Once the rain began to fall, the Dale Coyne driver tried to manage the conditions on slicks tyres as the track surface was still driveable, however, the rain intensified which meant too much time was lost to keep second place in during his pit stop.
After being past by the Schmidt Peterson entry of Robert Wickens after putting on the wet tyres, Scott Dixon also quickly closed in during the final laps and the Frenchman battled hard to keep the Kiwi behind.
As both drivers gave each other enough room on the final lap, they eventually had a drag race to the line with Bourdais ultimately winning the duel, despite the tough end to the race, the former Toro Rosso driver believes the fifth-place result still keeps him in the championship hunt.
"When we put on the wet tires, I don't know what happened but the car was diabolical," Bourdais added. "I couldn't do anything. I barely kept Scott (Dixon) behind me. I gave it my best shot, the guys did a good job, but it wasn't enough.
"Everyone is executing perfectly. Unfortunately, you can't predict what the weather is going to do, so you have to make a call one way or the other and we were on the wrong side of the fence today. The good news is we finished fifth and keep putting ourselves in position. Our pace is good and we are in the championship mix."
