We rank the 2025 IndyCar line-ups from worst to best

After another wild silly season, and a somewhat even more surprising relatively early driver confirmation from Dale Coyne, the 2025 IndyCar full-time driver grid is complete well in advance (by IndyCar standards!) of the season starting this weekend.

We've got three new drivers to the series, as well as a new team and plenty of moves even around the mid-to-top teams to provide plenty to talk about.

Do you agree with our rankings? Let us know in the comments below.

11th: Juncos Hollinger

Drivers: Conor Daly, Sting Ray Robb

Unanimously voted 11th

Romain Grosjean out and Sting Ray Robb in has not proven a popular choice among our writers who had no trouble agreeing this is IndyCar’s worst line-up. 

There’s sympathy and understanding that Conor Daly’s late 2024 heroics meant he deserved to stay on, but in equal measure there’s little enthusiasm for another season of Robb filling a seat there are more deserving candidates for.

“Despite Daly’s occasional underdog brilliance this duo has a very tired feel to it already,” The Race’s Formula E correspondent Sam Smith, who has worked in the IndyCar paddock before, reckons.

Deputy Formula 1 editor Josh Suttill, who is almost 10 years into rewatching every race in IndyCar/CART/IRL from 1993 onwards, describes it well as likely a “back-of-the-grid duo with occasional Daly-led highs”.

“Daly has rarely excelled on road courses and a lot of his wow-factor was on ovals in that late run last year, so let’s see where he’s at when we’re turning right and left,” adds our IndyCar correspondent and American Editor, Jack Benyon.

10th: Dale Coyne

Drivers: Jacob Abel, Rinus VeeKay

Unanimously voted 10th

A new line-up for Coyne, but one the team will hope provides consistency after its revolving door of nine different drivers last year is replaced by full-time seats for rookie Jacob Abel and race winner Rinus VeeKay.

“Though I've ranked them very low compared to who they're up against, I'd love to see VeeKay be the latest Coyne underdog hero as in raw talent terms he offers a lot and a fresh start in a new team could be what he needs,” says Matt Beer, our editor-in-chief and resident 1990s/2000s CART and IRL expert.

Smith reckons VeeKay might be the perfect team-mate for Abel, as the former’s sometimes inconsistent form could open the door to Abel beating him occasionally, but Benyon is keen to see how Abel adapts because he didn’t have the form of a future successful IndyCar driver in the feeder series, albeit often in a family run team.

9th: Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Drivers: Devlin DeFrancesco, Louis Foster, Graham Rahal

Highest ranking: 8th (Josh Suttill) Lowest ranking: 9th (Everyone else) Average: 8.8

Close to agreement in our ranking of Rahal too. Devlin DeFrancesco appears to be the main reason for this line-up being held back.

“DeFrancesco is the weakest driver RLL has fielded in the last decade,” reckons Suttill, with Beer adding: “Louis Foster's clearly a possible future star and Graham Rahal's still capable of great days but IndyCar hasn't missed DeFrancesco.”

Benyon reckons even DeFrancesco can’t be upset with people questioning if he belongs in this seat after failing to excel at Andretti, but is open-minded that in a smaller team with more focus on him, he could at least prove to be better than some recent graduates into the series.

8th: Ed Carpenter

Drivers: Christian Rasmussen, Alexander Rossi

Highest ranking: 7th (JR Hildebrand) Lowest ranking: 9th (Josh Suttill) Average: 8

Heavy investment and a rebrand has coincided with ECR signing its highest profile driver in years, Alexander Rossi, to go along with impressive rookie Christian Rasmussen. But our voters weren’t that impressed.

Rossi “hasn’t convinced” Beer since his Andretti days, while Suttill reckons “it already feels as if his best IndyCar years are behind him”.

“Rossi needs a rebirth, that is clear,” reckons Smith.

Benyon is excited to see Rasmussen in a second season after moments of excellence last season were combined with bad luck, a few errors and us wondering how much of his performance was down to him and how much was down to the team.

7th: AJ Foyt

Drivers: Santino Ferrucci, David Malukas

Highest ranking: 5th (Matt Beer) Lowest ranking: 8th (JR Hildebrand) Average: 6.4

Santino Ferrucci became the first driver to finish in the championship top 10 in a Foyt car since 2002 and clearly impressed our judges last year, while David Malukas clearly has plenty of upside too. Only Smith's astronomical ranking of Meyer Shank in fourth allowed that team to move ahead.

“As much as it pains me to admit Ferrucci was really good in 2024, he was probably the strongest driver who didn't win a race,” says Suttill, with Beer admitting: “I didn't have much time for Ferrucci until last year but what a season he had.”

Smith and Benyon can’t wait to see Ferrucci up against a proper team-mate for the first time since Alex Palou - in his rookie season but beaten in the points by Ferrucci - in 2020. Malukas has “innate ability and so much potential” reckons Benyon, adding “he just needs to put things together consistently, and not have an injured wrist...” to achieve his aims.

6th: Meyer Shank

Drivers: Marcus Armstrong, Felix Rosenqvist

Highest ranking: 4th (Sam Smith) Lowest ranking: 7th (Matt Beer, Josh Suttill and Jack Benyon) Average: 6.2

There’s partial agreement here that this line-up is fast but inconsistent. Whatever happens, the addition of a Ganassi technical tie-up and Marcus Armstrong is going to make this a fun season to watch.

“There will be some raised eyebrows at ranking this duo higher than McLaren’s but the rationale is that this Kiwi/Swede combination has the raw skill to really make a breakthrough for Meyer Shank in 2025,” says Smith, who put MSR fourth.

“Solid,” adds Suttill with a more measured ranking of seventh. “They'll both go missing for some of the season but there should be a few podiums on the good days.”

5th: Prema Racing

Drivers: Callum Ilott, Robert Shwartzman

Highest ranking: 5th (Josh Suttill, Jack Benyon and JR Hildebrand) Lowest ranking: 6th (Matt Beer and Sam Smith) Average: 5.4

IndyCar’s newest team brings two drivers with massive reputations and plenty of F1 experience - from testing at least - but we don’t know how good the machinery is going to be to make the most of that potential.

“Perhaps my European bias is clouding my judgement but this would be a great line-up for a new F1 team let alone a new IndyCar team,” reckons Suttill.

“Callum Ilott especially has shown so much maturity already in admitting the team might struggle but they are united in the end goal, however long it takes,” adds Benyon. “The driving talent is stellar, and that’s all that really matters in a driver line-up ranking.”

4th: Arrow McLaren

Drivers: Christian Lundgaard, Pato O'Ward, Nolan Siegel

Highest ranking: 3rd (Josh Suttill) Lowest ranking: 5th (Sam Smith) Average: 4

The consensus here is Pato O’Ward: very good. Nolan Siegel: shrug…we’re not sure.

Lundgaard is a fantastic addition, that we can be fairly sure of. Smith reckons he “could really expose O’Ward if he’s as adept at hitting the ground quickly within a new team as he was on the track with RLL last season”. But Benyon cautions that “the team is built around O’Ward who has despatched every team-mate in his McLaren career with aplomb. Make no mistake, this is a gargantuan task for Lundgaard”.

Suttill says the team could have taken his number one ranking spot if it kept Theo Pourchaire instead of Siegel, who Beer reckons weighs down this line-up: “The Siegel gamble just still baffles me.”

3rd: Chip Ganassi

Drivers: Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, Kyffin Simpson

Highest ranking: 1st (Josh Suttill) Lowest ranking: 3rd (Everyone else) Average: 2.6

This team contains the best driver in the series and probably the most and least experienced drivers at the same time. It’s a real hodge-podge to try and analyse.

Suttill justifies the team getting the top spot in his ranking on the basis of the “Alex Palou factor”, elevating the team to the top.

Beer agrees Palou is the “benchmark driver in the field”, but he and Smith point to Kyffin Simpson as the inexperienced unknown, acknowledging why he is there - bringing sponsorship and potential - but that he is also unproven in a way that's costly in a driver ranking.

2nd: Andretti

Drivers: Marcus Ericsson, Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood

Highest ranking: 2nd (Matt Beer, Jack Benyon, JR Hildebrand and Sam Smith) Lowest ranking: 4th (Josh Suttill) Average: 2.4

This tasty line-up is getting plenty of recognition from our judges, despite Marcus Ericsson’s struggles and Kyle Kirkwood going win-less last year.

“Herta is one of only a couple of drivers who is capable of matching Palou over a season if he gets the rub of the green,” says Smith, with all our judges rating Colton Herta highly and pointing to the upside Kirkwood is capable of. Suttill adds he hopes Herta isn’t distracted by F1 talk.

Ericsson is the big question mark here after a tough first season at the team, but most of our writers are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on account of his achievements at Ganassi.

“Ultimately, it’s a close call with Ganassi, but across three drivers this is the better line-up,” Benyon adds. “It’s more balanced, and we’re not ranking Alex Palou, we’re ranking the whole team line-up.”

1st: Team Penske

Drivers: Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden, Will Power

Highest ranking: 1st (Matt Beer, Jack Benyon, JR Hildebrand and Sam Smith) Lowest ranking: 2nd (Josh Suttill) Average: 1.2

Only Suttill’s silly (sorry, mate) ranking of Ganassi at the top prevented a Penske white-wash of number one in the rankings.

“Penske scored 1404 points to the Ganassi trio’s 1182 last year, that tells you all you need to know,” says Benyon.

“Every part could break on Josef Newgarden’s team and he still wouldn’t throw his team under the bus. So many things went wrong last year on road courses that the season got away from him - I'm convinced people didn't notice because he won't highlight team weaknesses - but he’ll bounce back, and by the way, he looks unstoppable at the Indianapolis 500.”

Smith adds Scott McLaughlin “feels like he’s ready for a title crack” after beating Newgarden in the points two years in a row and bagging his first oval pole and win in 2024, while Will Power “feels like the most vulnerable Team Penske driver long-term but his results are still stellar”, adds Suttill.

“Penske still tops this list for me when every other top team has someone weighing it down,” concludes Beer.

Our rankings in full

MB = Matt Beer, JS = Josh Suttill, SS = Sam Smith, JB = Jack Benyon, JR = JR Hildebrand