The Chip Ganassi Racing driver grabbed too much kerb on the inside of Turn 5 of the legendary street course during Friday’s sole practice session, so that the underside of the car grounded out, taking weight off his wheels just as he needed maximum grip to complete the corner.
Johnson hit the tyre wall on the outside and his right hand took the strain as the steering wheel wrenched it around.
Johnson then headed to hospital and while there were rumours that Ganassi’s IMSA ace Sebastien Bourdais might sub for Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR champion elected to continue in his second ever GP of Long Beach. His decision was made easier by the Ganassi team managing to devise a neat carbonfibre splint for his hand to minimise the strain.
Unfortunately, the weekend didn’t get any easier for Johnson, and this was arguably his most torrid IndyCar event yet. In Saturday morning practice, he slid head-on into the Turn 1 tyre barrier and in qualifying on Saturday afternoon he was informed his best laps would be deleted for interference with one of Graham Rahal’s flying laps. Then on Sunday he crashed again, this time at Turn 8, where his car also sustained damage from rookie David Malukas striking it.
This morning, Johnson tweeted a picture of his heavily bandaged hand as he sat in a simulator. He wrote, “From Long Beach to the operating room. Good news is, I plan to be ready for the IMS test in 9 days and Barber on May 1st. Thank you to all the medical staff involved.”
Indianapolis Motor Speedway will, weather allowing, host a two-day test on the iconic 2.5-mile oval on the 20-21 April and Johnson is expected to complete his Rookie Orientation Program which he started last Autumn.
Given the nature of the course, IMS is less likely to put strain on his sore right hand than at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham due to the high g-forces and long corners at the track, which will host the fourth round of the 2022 IndyCar season on 29 April-1 May.
