Marcus Ericsson on controversial finish: 'I don't think it's the right way to end the race'

INDIANAPOLIS -- The 2023 Indianapolis 500 will be remembered for Josef Newgarden breaking through and putting his face on the Borg-Warner Trophy. However, it will likely also be remembered for its controversial finish.

The race was red-flagged three times in the final 20 laps following a series of incidents with varying severity.

Runner-up Marcus Ericsson did not hesitate to voice his disappointment in the decision for the white/green finish instead of ending on a caution, giving Newgarden the opportunity to overtake him.

“I don't think it's safe to go out of the pits on cold tires for a restart when half the field is sort of still trying to get out on track when we go green,” said Ericsson in the post-race press conference.

“I don't think it's a fair way to end the race. I don't think it's the right way to end the race.”

The final 20 laps of the race took nearly one hour to complete, a major detour from the rapid pace set in the first 180 laps.

The series of red flags started when Felix Rosenqvist and Kyle Kirkwood crashed in Turn 2. Kirkwood’s car overturned after contact with the outside wall while a tire from his car was launched over the catchfencing.

Thankfully, no one was seriously injured from the airborne tire, but the red flag set up what was supposed to be a 7-lap dash to the finish. Then, Pato O’Ward crashed on the restart and caused another red flag. Once the debris from O’Ward’s accident was cleaned up, an accident on the ensuing restart set up the one-lap shootout.

“It's funny because, obviously, like, you have guys like Santino (Ferrucci) and Marcus that are mad, and you have Josef that's happy. But we need to think about the show,” said Tony Kanaan, who finished 16th in his final run at the 500.

“The biggest complaint we have every year was we shouldn't finish a race under the yellow. That's going to hurt someone. Actually 33 guys are pissed right now and one guy is happy. That's the reality.”

Roger Penske seemed supportive of race control’s decision to red flag the race multiple times.

“We have a group that is certainly the officials of the track, and to me, we've said this before, I think all of you had said, we want to see a checkered flag, not a yellow flag,” said Penske, who, of course, owns the IndyCar series, Indianapolis Motor Speedway an Newgarden's team, in the post-race press conference.

This appears to be a change in philosophy as the 2020 Indy 500 ended under caution -- with Takuma Sato defeating Scott Dixon -- after a crash on Lap 195. Then, the series released a statement that said, "there were too few laps remaining to gather the field behind the pace car, issue a red flag and then restart.”

The displeasure Sunday, however, around the finish seemed to be solely from Ericsson. Ericsson was the only driver who attended the post-race press conference who made it clear they had an issue with race control’s choices.

“I’m happy they did it to give us a good finish,” said Newgarden. “There’s so many different ways it could have played out. I’ve seen a lot of races not go our way, so I’m happy with how it played out.”

Ferrucci, who finished third, echoed the comments from Kanaan and Penske saying, “I don't mind what IndyCar did. I think they did a great job.

“I said that earlier when someone asked me what I thought of the reds. It's just I think Marcus has a slightly different opinion, which is totally cool because he finished second.”

The debate among fans and drivers regarding the steps necessary to finish the Indy 500 under green or yellow will likely continue for years to come. The concern with a green-white-checkered finish is safety as drivers will get more aggressive in a one-lap dash to the finish, resulting in crashes.

IndyCar does not have a structure automatically incorporate a green-white-checkered or overtime-style finish like NASCAR, leaving it up to Race Control.

However, given that it seems like just one driver was upset with the late-race procedures, it’s possible that the Indy 500 finishing under yellow could be a rare sight in the future.