Ferrari reveals SF15-T for 2015 Formula 1 season

By Jan 30, 2015, 6:14 AM EST
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Scuderia Ferrari has officially unveiled its new car for the 2015 Formula 1 season, the SF15-T.

In an online launch called “The Revelation”, the team released a video profiling the new car, which once again runs in the traditional red that the team is famous for.

Ferrari enters the 2015 season as a very different team to the one that raced in 2014. A gradual revolution at Maranello saw marque president Luca di Montezemolo, team principal Stefano Domenicali and his replacement Marco Mattiacci all leave, with lead driver Fernando Alonso also departing in favor of a move to McLaren.

Now, the team is under the management of new president Sergio Marchionne and team principal Mauricio Arrivabene, whilst four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel joins from Red Bull to partner Kimi Raikkonen.

“I said a long time ago the best car is the winning car,” Arrivabene said. “Last year we had an ugly car and it was a non-winning car. On top of this, I like the car of this year in terms of aesthetics. I don’t know about performance, but it looks really sexy.”

In spite of the changes, Arrivabene does not feel that the philosophy of Ferrari has been changed, and is instead looking to restore the spirit that can take the team back to the top of F1.

“It doesn’t affect the philosophy of Ferrari,” he said. “The philosophy of Ferrari was dictated by the founder, Enzo Ferrari.

“The work to do is to enhance the team spirit and the passion that was a little bit lost in the past few years, and to look to work together very hard with one objective: to win as much as possible.”

Since its domination of F1 came to an end in 2005, Ferrari has entered something of a dry spell, winning just one drivers’ championship in the past 10 years. Fernando Alonso’s arrival in 2010 was meant to take the team back to the top, but he was forced out at the end of last season after five unsuccessful seasons.

The arrival of Sebastian Vettel is set to rejuvenate the team, bringing with him the experience of four straight world titles between 2010 and 2013. However, he too has critics to answer after a disappointing campaign in 2014, whilst Kimi Raikkonen’s motivation has come into question in recent years.

Ferrari is not expecting to be fighting for the world championship immediately under this new regime. Arrivabene has instead chosen to remain realistic, targeting two grand prix wins in 2015. Much like McLaren, Ferrari’s revival is a long-term project.

Technically, the SF15-T’s most immediate difference to the F14-T is the lower profile nose, as forced by the new technical regulations for 2015. However, this has resulted in a sleeker nose design, making the front end of the car look more attractive.

The back end of the car is also more tightly packaged than in 2014, whilst the brake ducts and cooling systems have also been improved for the new season.

The SF15-T will enjoy its first public run-out on Sunday in Jerez, Spain as pre-season testing begins.

Winner Josef Newgarden earns $3.666 million from a record Indy 500 purse of $17 million

By May 29, 2023, 6:01 PM EDT
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INDIANAPOLIS — The first Indy 500 victory for Josef Newgarden also was the richest in race history from a record 2023 purse of just more than $17 million.

The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, who continued his celebration Monday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway earned $3.666 million for winning the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

The purse and winner’s share both are the largest in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

It’s the second consecutive year that the Indy 500 purse set a record after the 2022 Indy 500 became the first to crack the $16 million mark (nearly doubling the 2021 purse that offered a purse of $8,854,565 after a crowd limited to 135,000 because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

The average payout for IndyCar drivers was $500,600 (exceeding last year’s average of $485,000).

Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske, whose team also fields Newgarden’s No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet, had made raising purses a priority since buying the track in 2020. But Penske but was unable to post big money purses until the race returned to full capacity grandstands last year.

The largest Indy 500 purse before this year was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indy 500 won by Scott Dixon (whose share was $2,988,065). Ericsson’s haul made him the second Indy 500 winner to top $3 million (2009 winner Helio Castroneves won $3,048,005.

Runner-up Marcus Ericsson won $1.043 million after falling short by 0.0974 seconds in the fourth-closest finish in Indy 500 history.

The 107th Indy 500 drew a crowd of at least 330,000 that was the largest since the sellout for the 100th running in 2016, and the second-largest in more than two decades, according to track officials.

“This is the greatest race in the world, and it was an especially monumental Month of May featuring packed grandstands and intense on-track action,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said in a release. “Now, we have the best end card possible for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500: a record-breaking purse for the history books.”

Benjamin Pedersen was named the Indy 500 rookie of the year, earning a $50,000 bonus.

The race’s purse is determined through contingency and special awards from IMS and IndyCar. The awards were presented Monday night in the annual Indy 500 Victory Celebration at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

The payouts for the 107th Indy 500:

1. Josef Newgarden, $3,666,000
2. Marcus Ericsson, $1,043,000
3. Santino Ferrucci, $481,800
4. Alex Palou, $801,500
5. Alexander Rossi, $574,000
6. Scott Dixon, $582,000
7. Takuma Sato, $217,300
8. Conor Daly, $512,000
9. Colton Herta, $506,500
10. Rinus VeeKay, $556,500
11. Ryan Hunter‐Reay, $145,500
12. Callum Ilott, $495,500
13. Devlin DeFrancesco, $482,000
14. Scott McLaughlin, $485,000
15. Helio Castroneves, $481,500
16. Tony Kanaan, $105,000
17. Marco Andretti, $102,000
18. Jack Harvey, $472,000
19. Christian Lundgaard, $467,500
20. Ed Carpenter, $102,000
21. Benjamin Pedersen (R), $215,300
22. Graham Rahal, $565,500*
23. Will Power, $488,000
24. Pato O’Ward, $516,500
25. Simon Pagenaud, $465,500
26. Agustín Canapino (R), $156,300
27. Felix Rosenqvist, $278,300
28. Kyle Kirkwood, $465,500
29. David Malukas, $462,000
30. Romain Grosjean, $462,000
31. Sting Ray Robb (R), $463,000
32. RC Enerson (R), $103,000
33.  Katherine Legge, $102,000

*–Broken down between two teams, $460,000 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, $105,500 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports