Tom Blomqvist only found out on Tuesday night while waiting for a flight to his home in Monaco that he would be making his IndyCar debut this weekend.
To hear he was “lost” in his 75-minute debut in Friday practice in Toronto – where the fact he was wearing a set of team-mate Helio Castroneves’ overalls showed the lack of preparation time – is hardly surprising even if he comes with a significant amount of pedigree.
The highlights on his CV include winning Formula Renault UK in 2010, finishing second to Esteban Ocon in European Formula 3 in 2014 (pictured below) – ahead of Max Verstappen, Antonio Giovinazzi and Felix Rosenqvist to name a few – and winning the IMSA SportsCar Championship last year.
That IMSA win came with Meyer Shank Racing, which put him in its IndyCar at Sebring in October where he topped that pseudo-rookie test.
It impressed the team which The Race understands had decided in May that it was giving Blomqvist an IndyCar seat of some description next year. Now it gets a chance to fully assess him unexpectedly in a race weekend format as he replaces the injured Simon Pagenaud this weekend.
With only that one day in the car almost a year ago – and with some Formula E stints (pictured below) his sole single-seater racing since F3 – coming to an IndyCar street course was always going to be an uphill task.
Not only that, but the first practice session proved tough even for veterans as it started off very slippery, and as the track got quicker the drivers became more acquainted with some ‘new’ bumps in the resurfaced final sector that jolted the steering wheel out of even the most experienced hands.
“I felt so lost out there,” admitted Blomqvist in an NBC interview immediately after getting out of the car.
“The car is so different to what I’m used to.”
Blomqvist spoke at length after the session and fielded questions on his progress and where his gains might come from.
Put simply, the only way is up after being 2.9904s off the fastest time of the session and just over a second and a half shy of the top rookie Agustin Canapino in a 20th place that is probably in the area Blomqvist should be aiming for if all goes well on Sunday.
“The biggest thing is just feeling the car and then knowing what you’ve got underneath you,” said Blomqvist.
“At the moment it still feels a little foreign, just the seat position, your steering wheel, everything, all the small stuff.
“But at the end of the day it’s a race car, and I need to try and figure it out.
“The physicality of the car is quite a lot. So once the speed picks up, all the load through the wheel and everything is just so much greater, so to feel the car becomes a little bit more difficult for me because I’m not used to that.
“Some of the lower speed stuff with the braking – the braking of the car is really, really good compared to what I’m used to. I feel quite comfortable there.
“The whole Turn 9, the last section there with that new pavement there was really tough for me.
“Need to try and get my head around that hopefully by tomorrow.”
For context, a brave driver can often come into IndyCar and be quick in mid to high-speed corners with a good amount of talent and bravery, but it’s the slow-speed corners where there’s no shortcut for getting up to speed.
Knowing how to prepare, take care of and maximise the tyre in slow corners is where Canapino has had the biggest learning battle in his switch from touring cars and Blomqvist will be going through the same curve.
It means a lot of the things you usually ask IndyCar drivers about or just expect them to have mastered are totally alien to Blomqvist. Simple things like how to get the most out of the tyre and how to analyse the data to improve.
Those are marginal gains and Blomqvist needs big ones to get closer to the pack he wants to be fighting with.
“I’m not obviously maximising the tyres, just finding improvements with each lap I do or each run I do,” added Blomqvist.
“There’s a lot to look at overnight. I have all the information from the group, and the car also felt very good in terms of I wasn’t scared of anything, so the car is obviously very, very good.
“It’s just my feeling with being able to take it to the limit.”
The Race asked about whether Blomqvist is the kind of driver that delves deeply into the data and if he will be able to know what to look for in a new car to help him improve.
“To be honest, it’s not a big issue, the bigger picture is: I’m not even at a point where I’m like, where the hell can I find time – It’s so obvious,” he said matter of factly.
“I’ve been driving for years and years. All sorts of cars. It’s not like I’m going, ‘man, how do I find all the lap time?’ It’s not rocket science.
“I think I know where I need to improve and where to find time because I feel it myself when I’m driving.
“Also the video I think will be more important, seeing any of the big lines that they’re doing, or different lines.”
Blomqvist’s feedback and lap time paint a bleak picture, but to look at it in a different context, if he does do some of the things he’s referred to better with a practice on Saturday and then into qualifying before the race, he’ll impress a lot of people.
It’s a win-win in the sense that expectations are low and he’s good enough that he can find some of that time he needs.
Whether he can find three seconds is questionable, but another second and a bit would probably make sure he’s not last in either qualifying or the race.
Meyer Shank is yet to confirm Blomqvist’s exact IndyCar future and The Race understands a lot of that is down to sorting out what it does with its two current drivers Pagenaud and Castroneves who are out of contract at the end of the year, rather than any questions about Blomqvist and what he does this weekend.
At the very least, a strong showing would make it easier to justify reducing the amount of time an Indianapolis 500 winner (Castroneves) or Indy 500 winner and series champion (Pagenaud) get with the team next year.
Especially as those two drivers have been lauded for their roles in how they support the team off the track as much as on it.
But Blomqvist is very media friendly and, like his team-mates, he always has a huge smile on his face even when times are tough, like they have been this weekend so far.
Update: Blomqvist already quicker on Saturday morning
The IndyCar Gods are throwing everything they can at Blomqvist, with light rain peppering the track in Saturday’s second practice session, but things are looking up for the patient Meyer Shank Racing driver.
His best lap was deleted due to a crash for Felix Rosenqvist which triggered a yellow, and also cost Blomqvist his next lap, but it was good enough to put him just over 1.3s down on the eventual fastest lap of the session set by Colton Herta.
FP1 Blomqvist deficit
1 Kirkwood 1m00.8075s
26 Blomqvist +2.9904s
FP2 deficit with deleted lap
1 Herta 1m00.5657s
26 Blomqvist +1.3919
It would have still only been good enough for 26th, but being 1.3s off is much better than 2.9s! And with just one night of time to mull over his pace, it’s quite the transformation.
“Obviously it was progress, I was a lot closer to the quick times,” Blomqvist told The Race after the session.
“They found about four tenths today and I found two seconds, so that’s nice, but it’s still a little bit off, need to find more.
“It was obviously a bit better. I got unlucky, there was a yellow at the end of my lap, had a lap deleted. So obviously I was a bit closer than the two seconds from yesterday.
“I still want to be somewhat competitive, but It’s hard out there.
“This track is very, very difficult, but feeling more and more comfortable with the car every time. It’s not an easy track to just jump in at I think that’s the biggest difficulty.
“When you jump in the car at these tracks with the bumps and stuff it makes your life more difficult. Just one step at a time, baby steps.
“The bumps, how to control the car over the bumps, on the ragged edge, you have to be able to feel it to maximise it. All the little bits and bobs I need to manipulate the car. Need to understand, and it’s not nice doing that on a race weekend!”
