Colton Herta "embarrassed to be associated with cheating” after Andretti’s Indy 500 controversy
Two of the four Andretti cars were penalised by IndyCar for failing technical regulations.
Colton Herta says he is “embarrassed to be associated with cheating” after his team Andretti Global was caught up in a major controversy after the Indianapolis 500.
Herta’s teammates Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood were relegated to the back of the classification after after post-race technical checks revealed that Andretti had illegally modified Dallara-supplied “Energy Management System (EMS) covers and cover-to-A-arm mounting points with unapproved spacers and parts” on their cars.
It was a costly double blow for Andretti, with Ericsson having originally finished IndyCar’s blue riband round in second place, behind race winner Alex Palou, and Kirkwood having also bagged a solid haul of points in sixth place.
Herta was the only full-season Andretti driver not to be punished by the stewards, but was still upset over the whole fiasco damaging the reputation of the TWG-owned squad.
"I'd say it's pretty embarrassing to be associated with cheating,” he said in the build-up to the Detroit IndyCar race.
“It's something we as a team take really seriously to try and fix. It's not something I want to be involved with. It's pretty embarrassing, and it sucks."
Ericsson was leading the 109th edition of the Indy 500 until Chip Ganassi star Palou passed him with 14 laps to go, denying the Swede a second victory in four years.
He was shuffled down to 31st place after the post-race penalty, only ahead of Kirkwood and Prema’s Callum Ilott, who also fell foul of technical rules.
Ericsson expressed his disappointment over the penalty, but said that he accepted the stewards’ verdict.
"It's obviously very harsh penalties, but if that's the rules, then that's the rules," he said. "We respect the integrity of the sport. The team is looking into everything right now, so we'll see, but I'm proud of myself and proud of the team and the way we raced."
In addition to the drop in position, Andretti was also hit with a monetary fine of $200,000, while team managers for both cars were given one-race suspensions.
Andretti issued a statement in response to the penalty on Friday, saying: "While we are disappointed in the outcome, we will take the necessary steps to ensure full compliance moving forward, and (we) want to thank our fans, crews and sponsors who continue to support us.
"Our focus now shifts to the future and delivering strong, competitive results on track, beginning this weekend with the Detroit Grand Prix."
Marco Andretti, who drives part-time for the team and is the son of team founder Michael Andretti, was not penalised like Herta. However, his race ended early after a crash on the opening green-flag lap.
