#26 – Colton Herta, tenth within the championship standings (356 factors) – 17 races
- 0 wins, 1 podium, 3 prime fives, 8 prime 10s, 2 poles, 8 Quick Six Appearances
- Greatest End: third (Toronto)
- Greatest Begin: 1st (Street America, Mid-Ohio)
#27 – Kyle Kirkwood, eleventh within the championship standings (352 factors) – 17 races
- 2 wins, 2 podiums, 2 prime fives, 7 prime 10s, 1 pole, 5 Quick Six Appearances
- Greatest End: 1st (Lengthy Seashore, Nashville)
- Greatest Begin: 1st (Lengthy Seashore)
#28 – Romain Grosjean, thirteenth in championship standings (296 factors) – 17 races
- 0 wins, 2 podiums, 2 prime fives, 3 prime 10s, 2 poles, 6 Quick Six Appearances
- Greatest End: 2nd (Lengthy Seashore, Barber)
- Greatest Begin: 1st (St. Petersburg, Barber)
#29 – Devlin DeFrancesco, twenty second in championship standings (177 factors) – 17 races
- 0 wins, 0 podiums, 0 prime fives, 0 prime 10s, 0 poles, 1 Quick Six Look
- Greatest End: twelfth (Detroit)
- Greatest Begin: fifth (IMS Street Course – Race 2)
#98 – Marco Andretti, thirty fifth in championship standings (13 factors) – 1 race
- 0 wins, 0 podiums, 0 prime fives, 0 prime 10s, 0 poles, 0 Quick Six Appearances
- Greatest End: seventeenth (Indianapolis 500)
- Greatest Begin: twenty fourth (Indianapolis 500)
Joey Barnes: Let’s begin on the apparent and that’s the thriller of how issues fell aside between Andretti Autosport and Romain Grosjean. On paper, it was the proper marriage that ought to have thrust each to a number of race wins and podiums on the trail to compete for a championship. What it ended up being was unfilled potential, with solely two poles and two runner-up finishes that additionally stood as Grosjean’s solely prime 5 finishes in 2023. The tempo was evident, however via a mix of situations the partnership between a extremely proficient driver and good group didn’t stay as much as expectations.
Kyle Kirkwood made a direct influence by profitable in solely his third race with Andretti and did so by exhibiting super poise warding off team-mate Grosjean. If there was motion taking place on the observe, often Kirkwood’s No. 27 was seen proper within the mixture of it for one thing both actually good or demoralizing. Whereas Lengthy Seashore and Nashville had been super drives that led to wins, I believed his comeback from early chaos and phone in Detroit to complete sixth was his greatest efficiency of the 12 months. Merely put, if he can restrict being on the backfoot and set up extra consistency as a routine prime 5 contender, he’ll be a big-time menace to problem for championships.
I actually didn’t have Colton Herta going win-less on my bingo card in 2023. It needs to be famous how there appeared to be a job of musical chairs on race technique taking place atop his timing stand as Andretti tried to search out the very best mixture to carry probably the most out of Herta. It appeared as if there was belief that wanted to be rebuilt on that finish. There have been flashes of tempo at mid-season, nevertheless it appeared like each robust begin led to an equally devasting collapse in some type. Each good driver goes via a hunch or two, and Herta is way too proficient for it to proceed in 2024.
Picture by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Photos
Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda
Nick Degroot: For those who had instructed me that Kyle Kirkwood could be the one Andretti driver to achieve Victory Lane in 2023, I might have by no means believed you.
And that is not a knock in opposition to Kirkwood, who is a good driver and can solely get higher with time. However Herta going winless? Grosjean’s nightmarish 12 months? I actually did not count on it.
Kirkwood was the one brilliant spot in a irritating 12 months for this iconic group. Grosjean began the season by practically profitable at St. Pete, crashing out late in a tangle with Scott McLaughlin. He then scored a pair runner-up finishes, so I believed it was shaping as much as be a breakout 12 months for the ex-F1 driver. Sadly, it was only one catastrophe after one other from the Indy 500 onwards.
Herta’s 12 months mirrored 2022 in some ways, and I used to be disenchanted with the shortage of progress we noticed from each he and the No. 26 group.
Unforced errors and drama between team-mates have been an unlucky theme with Andretti in recent times. There have been so many missed alternatives. Nevertheless, I really consider 2024 is the place they get this ship righted as they downsize from 4 to a few full-time automobiles. They’ve additionally added a really stable driver in Marcus Ericsson, who will now race alongside Herta and Kirkwood.
