IndyCar drivers need to police themselves

"How many times do we have to go through the same situation before we can all accept that an IndyCar should not race at Pocono. It's just a toxic relationship and maybe it's time to consider a divorce. I'm very relieved (to my knowledge) that everyone is OK from that scary crash."

Those are the poignant and haunting words Robert Wickens wrote on Twitter following Sunday's IndyCar race at Pocono. For the second year in a row, a big crash marred the event. His incident last year changed his life, and he is still unable to walk unaided after the crash, although his rehabilitation continues to inspire.

This time around, on the first lap of 200, a 500-mile race no less, Takuma Sato got a run to the outside entering Turn 2 and thought he was "clear". But he appeared to chop down in front of Alexander Rossi, with Ryan Hunter Reay, Felix Rosenqvist and James Hinchcliffe also collected in the ensuing crash that ruled out five of the top 10 - with Rossi fighting for the championship with three rounds left in the season. Rosenqvist was taken to hospital as a precaution but was released before the race ended. It was a miracle he wasn't seriously injured.

It's hard to watch Sato's move and not think 'what on earth was he doing?'. NBC TV commentator and 2003 Champ Car champion Paul Tracy exclaimed: "My thoughts and my opinion: that accident, after what happened last year - Sato needs a hard look at a suspension or something."

There's no doubt, Sato's move was extremely unpopular. The three drivers able to exit the infield care centre immediately all quickly made that clear in television interviews. Rossi called it "disgraceful", adding "I can't even begin to understand, after last year, how Takuma thinks any sort of driving like that is acceptable.

"To turn across two cars at that speed at that corner, in a 500-mile race is disgraceful and upsetting. It might have cost me this championship."

Ryan Hunter Reay was equally as upset, saying: "My view is this is ridiculous. Thank God everybody is alright. I thought everybody learned their lesson last year at the start of a 500-mile race. I had a nice, clean run on Rossi and was three-quarters past him, then all of a sudden, I was backwards and saw myself hit the inside wall, then I saw the field coming at me in traffic. I thought 'this could be bad'.

"It's so unfortunate. It's the start of a 500-mile race. I was minding my own business and here I am talking to people outside the infield medical centre."

Hinchcliffe - Wickens' team-mate last year - was the final driver to direct blame at Sato: "I don't know how many times we have to do this before people figure out that you can attack all you want, but you don't have a chance to win it if you are in the fence. It's just crazy. It's such a waste of time and energy for people to come out here and do a 500-mile race and half the top 10 end up in the fence in Turn 2."

It was actually ace rookie Santino Ferrucci who spoke beyond his years and offered sage wisdom after the crash

It's rare that so many drivers unite to openly blame another racer, but in this case it looked clear cut. Sato pleaded innocence and said he wasn't over aggressive.

"I'm worried about Felix and hope he is OK," Sato told NBC in the immediate aftermath. "I feel sorry for all the guys in the championship.

"But Ryan and I were racing in Turn 1, Alex got a slow start and we both went right-and-left. I thought I was all clear and all of the seams [in the track surface] grabbed the car and unfortunately, we made contact.

"I was not really over-aggressive overtaking anything. People need to watch the replay before making that decision. I thought I was all clear and kept the steering wheel straight, but we all got together. It was so close, three-wide and everyone together. Alex and I hit together."

Sato and Rossi carried on their battle on Twitter, both blaming each other, with Sato accusing Rossi of moving up.

Those four drivers attracted the most amount of media attention during the race, with Wickens' aforementioned tweet accompanied by an outpouring of emotion from fans railing against the Pocono circuit.

It was actually ace rookie Santino Ferrucci who spoke beyond his years and offered sage wisdom after the crash. After covering the event where he repeatedly crashed into his team-mate and received a fine and a ban in Formula 2 last year, that's something I didn't think I'd be writing anytime soon.

Ferrucci has had a stellar debut year in IndyCar. He has been extremely sensible, not overdriven the car and picked up points when available. His Indianapolis 500 performance and his run to fourth at Pocono on Sunday appear to show a new maturity that he should be credited for in the face of the media attention and pressure he received for last year's misdemeanours. He has been given a second-chance in IndyCar and has taken the opportunity brilliantly for Dale Coyne Racing.

Among his wise words, after watching the Sato incident, Ferrucci said that it was up to the drivers to make sure, collectively, that they all "come home safe".

"You got to take care of each other, this track is super-dangerous, you're going at speeds of 220mph, 230mph, especially on the start when we're all backed up like this," said Ferrucci. "It's up to us to take care of one another and make sure we come home at the end of the day. To have something like that happen is heartbreaking."

That was backed up by Hunter Reay, who was asked by NBC whether it was up to IndyCar's drivers to self-police their actions.

"It has to be," he said. "Jesus, it's the first lap of a 500-mile race. Guys are driving like it's the last lap of the Indianapolis 500. We need to get it together. It's really unfortunate. It never should have happened. It absolutely should have never happened. Every pass in a 500-mile race at the start needs to be 100%."

The fact of the matter is, regardless of the track, IndyCar is going to have to get more hands on with penalties and sanctions until the drivers can police themselves properly.

No fan wants to see abundant penalties given out affecting races, but when people in the top 10 are being over-aggressive on the first lap of one of the series' longest races, that proves that the field can't be trusted. It's the drivers that need to be more closely examined by IndyCar, more so than the Pocono track.

If IndyCar is going to continue oval racing and that's what the fans, drivers and series want, then the drivers have to take a bigger responsibility for what they are doing and better police themselves

While I'm calling for IndyCar to get more involved in policing, I should add that the series has done something this year that may have specifically saved a man's life on Sunday.

During the lap one crash, TV pictures showed a piece of debris moving towards Hinchcliffe's head, which was deflected by the new 'shark fin' device, which sits just in front of the cockpit. While IndyCar hasn't introduced a halo device as quickly as many championships in Europe - it's carrying out tests on its aeroscreen at Pocono with Scott Dixon within the next two months ahead of a planned 2020 debut - the introduction of this fin device may well have saved Hinchcliffe.

Unsurprisingly, Pocono came in for heavy criticism following two big incidents in two years. The Pennsylvania venue was first included on the calendar in 1971, but rumours even before the first-lap crash on Sunday suggested it could be replaced on future IndyCar calendars by a return to the short Richmond oval.

Whether those are true or not is yet to be seen. Autosport understands Pocono Raceway CEO Nick Igdalsky and President Ben May want to stay on the IndyCar calendar and may have even offered to participate in a regional rotation involving Richmond and Watkins Glen as a back-up option.

Richmond offers a different kind of racing as a short-track oval, and Watkins Glen is a great and storied road course that comes with the caveat that it's difficult to overtake there. But many people would describe Mid-Ohio that way and tyre strategy made that race - won by Scott Dixon - earlier this year a thriller. Either the Glen or Richmond would be a welcome addition to the calendar.

Identifying just how 'dangerous' an oval track is almost impossible, but recent history has not been kind to Pocono. Along with this year and Wickens' accident, Justin Wilson tragically lost his life at the same venue after a crash in 2015.

Pocono has a very provincial feel to it, and it's hard not to feel sorry for the staff and ownership when this kind of attention is levelled on what looks to be a hard-working and close knit group.

The fact is, a concoction of events when racing at 200mph can lead to horrifying crashes anywhere, not just at Pocono. If IndyCar is going to continue oval racing and that's what the fans, drivers and series wants, then the drivers have to take a bigger responsibility for what they are doing and get better at policing themselves.

If the argument is that Pocono doesn't bring enough spectators - it currently attracts around 20,000-25,000, despite being within 300 miles of one third of America's population, according to circuit president May - or that IndyCar would benefit from Richmond or a Richmond/Watkins Glen rotation, then it would be difficult to argue against.

Chuck in Pocono's unpredictable weather that often interferes in on-track action - curtailing Sunday's race and Saturday's qualifying this year alone - and there's no doubt that racing at the track has its flaws.

But caution should be levelled when calling for Pocono to go based purely on a pair of crashes. The difficulty in overtaking does put a premium on track position, sometimes making drivers more aggressive, but the fact of the matter is that oval racing is dangerous and as long as all is being done to improve safety at the venue, then it is difficult to categorically call for its dismissal.

It's easy for a punchy journalist to sit and write that drivers ought to self-police better while sat at a computer hours after an incident at 200mph has happened. But risking the lives of others through an incompetent move at a track where the spotlight has been shone on safety in recent years is simply unforgivable, especially on lap one of a 500-mile race.

Perhaps surprisingly, Rossi - winner of last year's race - was one of the drivers, along with Dixon earlier, to come out in support of Pocono.

"It's obviously the second 500-mile race we do," he said. "Those are very hard to win with all the different variables that come with that, that length of race. Yeah, it's definitely one you'll cherish.

"Fingers crossed we can work something out and we're all back here next year."

Dixon had said that he "felt sorry" for the circuit after the Wickens incident and added: "I love this track. We haven't probably had the best runs in the last couple of years, but that's what makes it so good when you do get it right. It's very difficult to get the combination with [Turns] 1 and 3 correct, and to feel comfortable around the circuit.

"I hope we do come back. We just have to wait and see, I guess."

But regardless of whether Pocono should be on the calendar, IndyCar drivers must do a better job of - and accept a certain amount of responsibility for - racing safely when it comes to any 200mph+ ovals. And until that happens, accidents will continue on such rapid tracks.