The 22-year-old New Zealander ended the first day of official IndyCar testing in 10th out of 27 runners. Around the re-measured 3.067-mile 17-turn Thermal Club track, Armstrong was just 0.5356sec off Colton Herta’s top time, 0.5107s behind Ganassi pacesetter, 2021 champion Alex Palou, and within three-tenths of six-time champion, teammate and fellow Kiwi Scott Dixon.
Having tested at Sebring with Dale Coyne Racing last fall, this was Armstrong’s first day of running with Ganassi, for whom he’ll compete in all road and street courses this season.
“It was a cool day,” said the ex-Formula 2 racer. “I mean, I enjoyed it from start to finish. We were very organized and we got through our program that we wanted to do.
“At the beginning everyone waited a lot longer than what I was expecting. I think I was maybe the first one to go out and do a proper run. But straight away I felt confident with the car. Obviously my second day in an IndyCar, still learning the whole car, but this Ganassi car certainly gives me a lot of confidence. The way it moves is very natural, if that makes sense…
“Honestly, it's not massively dissimilar to what I'm used to in F2. I think there's a few things that I prefer about this car, suits me a bit more. The way it moves is very natural. I think there's potential to do good things.”
He later added: “I was actually surprised I could identify what I wanted straight away. Obviously the car felt pretty good from the get-go. I feel like it was easy to identify what I wanted to change, so we ended up getting through a lot of test items. It's also good for me just to experience them, positive or negative, just to see how they feel because I haven't felt it in an IndyCar before.”
Asked how he would compare his driving style and data traces with his teammates, Armstrong observed, “That's a good question. Having watched Alex [Palou]'s onboard, he's quite smooth I think with his steering inputs.
“Certainly when I watch Colton Herta's onboard, it's very lively. I feel like coming from Europe, we were kind of taught not to do that. Obviously it works here because he was consistently P1. I think the way that Alex has driven today certainly resonates with what I'm used to doing. [But] there's a lot to learn on that side.”
Armstrong is being race engineered by well-proven IndyCar veteran Eric Cowdin, while his strategist is Blair Julian, who helped steer Dixon to championship glory. Speaking of his legendary teammate, Armstrong described the atmosphere in Ganassi debriefs as, “Scott has an aura that when he speaks, the room stops. I was very much listening to his comments. He's very, very open and honest about what he's feeling. He's obviously done it a million times.
“Yeah, it's quite funny to see really, because I'm aware that I'm seeing everything for the first time. I look over at him, I can see that he's sort of got other things on his mind – in a good way. But he's been extremely helpful to me, not only today but just through the whole process. Very supportive…
“Everyone gets along really well. There's a good synergy inside the team, especially with the drivers. It's fun to trade stories with Marcus [Ericsson], as well. He's obviously been there and done that in F1 in Europe. That's sort of a scene I'm more familiar with. Alex, as well, I raced in F3.
“I feel like it's a good group of guys who have a lot of experience. I can learn a lot from them.”
