The future arrived for IndyCar at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday, and it left driver Alexander Rossi feeling like a child on Christmas morning.
Rossi was the first driver to take the new IR-28 Indy car that will begin competition in 2028 onto the track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Rossi, the winner of the 100th Indianapolis 500 in 2016, took the new car on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile IMS Road Course for its maiden validation test.
“Everyone is pumped,” Rossi said. “Everyone is really excited. All drivers, as well as fans and teams and sponsors and you guys (the media) have been waiting for this or a long time, and now it’s finally here,”
“It’s like Christmas morning. Everyone is super excited about it. Everyone has been bugging me, like ‘What’s it like? What’s it like?’ and I had to say, ‘Well, I haven’t done anything yet. I’ll let you know.’”
Alexander Rossi Gives His Thoughts After The Test
Shortly after rain halted the validation test after 50 minutes on the race course, Rossi was able to finally let everyone know what he thought of the completely new design of race car that will compete in the NTT IndyCar Series.
“I’ve been a part of some new car launches before, and I can’t say that any have gone as smooth as this one has,” Rossi said. “It’s down to all those involved, and it was a pretty cool to be part of this.
“It was a lot of fun just to know that you’re a part of the future. It was also fun because it was drying conditions, so you had to search for the grip a little bit, which is always entertaining. And the car is just really rewarding to drive. It doesn’t do anything unpredictable and gives you good feedback, and you know what’s coming, which is great.”
Rossi took a few installation laps at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday before returning for the actual validation part of the test 2:55 p.m. ET. He was on track for a lengthy first run. After changing tires and making a few adjustments, he returned to the track and completed more laps before a serve storm warning was issued and the session completed.
Rossi was on track for a total of 50 minutes.
IndyCar IR-28 Details
The IR-28 was powered by a 2.4-liter “Mule Engine” that was designed to be used in the series in 2022, before IndyCar chose the current 2.2-liter engine. It will increase to a new 2.4-liter engine when the new car begins competition in 2028.
Also, because the new car will use a new hybrid system, the test car did not include a hybrid.
After a brief consultation with engineers from Dallara, Motion Applied, Firestone, Ilmor, Custom AXIS, Xtrac, PFC Brakes, BBS Wheels and INDYCAR, Rossi spoke about his part of the test.
“It’s hard to really do a full compare, just with kind of conditions we were dealing with,” Rossi explained. “You know, it was damp in some areas out there, but everything that you could hope for from a day like today was accomplished.
“The fact that the car is completely new, and we did like four installs on Tuesday. The fact that we had one sensor that had to be kind of replaced, and that was the only real issue we had today, is phenomenal and a huge testament to Dallara and IndyCar and everyone involved. The car has a lot of incredible qualities to it that we haven’t even really scratched the surface of yet.
“But incredible start and just a joy to be able to drive it.”
Alexander Rossi Details The IR-28
Rossi was impressed with the balance of the car, that includes a significant increase in wing surface.
“Aesthetically, I think it ticks every box that you could hope for,” Rossi explained. “I was blown away when I saw it for the first time. Just even the real pictures online don’t do it justice. The presence that it has in person is pretty amazing. It looks like it’s a big car, like a bigger car. It’s not. It just has that feel to it, and super aggressive.
“In terms of the balance, you know, it’s all new, right? So, we’re getting the aero numbers for the first time, and the weight distribution numbers for the first time. You’re having to kind of fine-tune that and adjust it a little bit, and obviously, as you saw, it wasn’t a whole lot of running.
“But in terms of the baseline, it was very comfortable from the get-go, but there is obviously, a lot more to come and unlock. But from a spec damper to a new aero profile to a new chassis to new electronics, it was pretty great.”
I asked Rossi of the additional qualities that he felt, what jumped out at him?
“The big thing that was pretty amazing, and not to draw comparisons to F1 because we don’t like doing that, but I think anyone that drives a Formula One car for the first time, they notice how smooth the car is, not from a powertrain standpoint, but just on the surface standpoint,” Rossi answered in a detailed explanation. “This car starts to get to that level.
“I think that comes down to build quality and how well put together the entire package is.”
Rossi also liked the roomier cockpit and opening for the Aeroscreen.
“A little bigger cockpit, it’s certainly more room for me,” Rossi said. “My knees aren’t pinned into the top of the chassis, which is great, but it’s still an open wheel car. It’s not like you are out there driving a Suburban.”
One area of pride for Rossi is he will forever be known as the first racer to put the IR-28 up to speed – another achievement for the man who won the 100th Indianapolis 500 in 2016.
“It’s pretty incredible,” Rossi said. “You know to be able to be a part of this next evolution of IndyCar, to do it at IMS, a place that obviously means a lot to me and all of us here. I get to play a small part in the history and the future of this championship, and that’s super cool. It’s a big privilege, and I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Tino Belli is IndyCar’s Director of Aerodynamic Development and has been a key part of the new car project since the very beginning, dating all the way back to when Jay Frye was INDYCAR President and continuing when Doug Boles took over that role on February 11, 2025.
He helped design the car, find innovations while not creating a race car with unintended consequences.
“I’ve seen the car put together every step of the way, including the car build,” Belli told me. “So, in a lot of ways, I’ve had a lot of Christmas mornings over the past two weeks when this test car was put together.”
Next week, Rossi returns to the current DW-12 2.2-liter engine package as IndyCar returns to action at Portland International Raceway.
“As much as we have looked forward to, there’s still a year-and-a-half of current racing together, so we can’t think about this too much,” Rossi said of the new car.
The current Dallara DW-12 with the 2.2-liter engine will continue through the 2027 season but it is obvious that the future of IndyCar – the IR-28 – will capture much attention between now and the start of the 2028 IndyCar Series season.
