Colton Herta and Christian Lundgaard both came away from Sunday’s IndyCar race at Laguna Seca with few complaints about the decision to delay full-course cautions after two separate incidents on track.
IndyCar officials held off on throwing the yellow flag twice—once when Rinus VeeKay was beached in the gravel at Turn 3, and again when Marcus Ericsson spun and stalled in a dangerous spot near the Corkscrew. In both cases, race control stuck with local yellows for over a minute and a half before switching to a full-course caution. The delay allowed leading drivers like Herta and Alex Palou to finish their pit stops without losing track position, while others who had already pitted were disadvantaged.
After the race, Herta said he supported the approach, arguing that it was fair for those running at the front. He pointed out that keeping the pits open as long as possible lets the leaders avoid being caught out by late cautions, something he believes happens too often and “burns you more often” if you’re consistently near the front. Herta called IndyCar's method a “real plus” and said he wishes the policy would continue.
Lundgaard, who finished second, was a bit more cautious in his response. While he appreciated the consistency of race control’s decisions, he admitted that seeing a car stranded on track under local yellow for multiple laps made him uneasy, noting the risk if a driver wasn’t alert or was distracted by something inside the car. Still, he acknowledged that in the case of VeeKay, the incident was less risky because the car was well off the racing line.
Overall, both drivers felt the stewards handled things acceptably, with Herta favoring the policy and Lundgaard recognizing its pros and cons but noting the risks that come with delaying a full-course yellow in certain scenarios.
