Will Power expressed fury at IndyCar officials in the immediate aftermath of the first race of the Detroit double-header after he missed out on victory during the closing stages.
The 40-year-old had led for 37 of the 65 laps completed when his Chevrolet engine failed to restart after a second red flag, which was called when Romain Grosjean crashed.
Power had assumed control of the race following the first race stoppage, after Felix Rosenqvist’s accident, and kept Ganassi rival Marcus Ericsson at bay around the streets of Belle Isle.
When the call was given to restart the race, Power’s Penske crew were unable to re-fire his engine, which meant IndyCar dropped his car out of the queue, leaving Ericsson to take the lead.
After the team had replaced an overheated ECU Power was eventually able to rejoin the race albeit three laps down, finishing in 20th place.
“I’m mad at IndyCar!” Power furiously told MSNBC. “Because I’m the first car in [to the pits] and they wait for the last car to come [into the pits] to get a fan on my car and it roasted the ECU. And [I’m angry at] just going red flag for starters.
“The guys up there in race control never listen to the drivers, they never listen, they don’t care. We’ve given them so many suggestions and they don’t care.
“I’ve worked my arse off today to have this happen, I’m screaming on the radio to get a fan, not for me, but because the ECU always overheats.
“They wait for everyone, but they have still got air coming in their cars.
“You work your arse off in this sport, so much money goes into it and you get dumb decisions like that. if it’s not a yellow they throw it’s some stupid idea like this to [throw a] red flag.”
The second race of the Detroit double-header will get underway on Sunday at 12:40PM EDT.
