Top 5… F1 drivers who switched to IndyCar

 1. Emerson Fittipaldi

Not so much a Formula1-to-IndyCar swap in the great Brazilian’s case, because he had been retired for three years. But it’s often forgotten that at the beginning of his 1984 comeback, Emerson Fittipaldi had intended to return to the grand prix grid, testing with the little Spirit team at Rio. After claiming pole on a one-off IMSA outing at the Miami Grand Prix, the two-time world champion made his CART World Series debut at Long Beach (fifth). By July 1985 he was a winner in Michigan, and his second career would bring him the title in 1989 and two Indy 500s: 1989 and ’93. The first came after a thrilling battle that ended with Al Unser Jr crashing out and the old guy now known as ‘Emmo’ victorious; the second when he jumped Nigel Mansell on a late restart.

2. Nigel Mansell

What a statement: reigning world champion leaves F1 to go to IndyCar… Nigel Mansell’s fallout with Williams drove him into the arms of Newman/Haas for 1993, and victory first time out at Surfers Paradise. By June he was winning on an oval (Milwaukee), and five victories across the year earned him the title – over Fittipaldi – as a rookie, despite a heavy crash ruling him out of the early season Phoenix round. His second season was a letdown (a lowly eighth) and he headed back to F1.

3. Alex Zanardi

As an F1 newboy, the Italian had struggled with Jordan (three races),Minardi(one)andLotus (the team doomed). But as an F3000 sensation aboard a Reynard in 1991, Alex Zanardi had befriended the constructor’s commercial chief Rick Gorne, who persuaded Chip Ganassi to give him a test. With Ganassi’s Reynards, Zanardi finished third in the ’96 points before claiming the crown in ’97 and ’98. He became a superstar in the US with 15 wins, and then U-turned back to F1 for a disastrous ’99.

4. Takuma Sato

After some scintillating F1 showings with minnow Super Aguri in 2007, the team folded partway into the ’08 season, and Takuma Sato’s bid to get back on the grid for ’09 with Toro Rosso was scuppered when the team signed Sébastien Bourdais. So the Japanese moved to the US for 2010. Sato’s ‘no attack, no chance’ mantra endeared him hugely to American racegoers, and among his six wins were two in The Big One: the Indy 500 of 2017 after a battle with Hélio Castroneves; and ’20.

5. Justin Wilson

We all knew that Justin Wilson had the talent to succeed in F1, but this gentle giant was too tall to fit into most cockpits, and his grand prix career amounted to just one season in 2003, with Minardi and then Jaguar. So he switched his focus to the States, where his British pals’ mocking nickname of ‘Badass’ – such was his placid persona – was eagerly lapped up by his new audience owing to his on-track prowess. Seven wins across Champ Car and IndyCar preceded a tragic fatality at Pocono in 2015.