Castroneves: How I kept it under control to make Indy 500 history

Helio Castroneves’ overwhelming vivaciousness outside the cockpit belies a hardcore racer who knows how to plot his moves – and then recall it all. A day after his fourth Indy 500 win, he explained his tactics

Updated Jun 2, 2021, 5:10 PM

“Oh my god! You’re kidding me! That’s incredible!” says Helio Castroneves the day after his victory, as I inform him of my favourite stat from the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. The winning margin in his fourth Indy 500 victory – 0.49s – equals the total of his deficits from the three occasions he finished the race as runner-up in 2003, ’14 and ’17.

It's important to note how much of a high he was still on, 24 hours after joining AJ Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway pantheon of four-time 500 winners.