Scott McLaughlin says he isn’t going to complain about IndyCar‘s blue flag rules that caused controversy in the season-opening race at St Petersburg.
McLaughlin’s Penske teammate, Australia’s Will Power, was vocal in his criticism of the rules, which allow backmarkers to fight the leaders to prevent themselves being lapped.
Power, who finished third behind McLaughlin and Alex Palou, lost time trying to lap Jimmie Johnson in the closing stages, costing him a chance to attack McLaughlin for the win.
Stan Sport is the only place to watch the 2022 INDYCAR Series with every race streaming ad-free, live and on demand. Start your free Stan Sport trial here!
McLaughlin and Palou had their own issues in the closing stages, with Devlin DeFrancesco blocking the lead pair as they tried to lap him.
“We keep telling IndyCar, and they just keep making changes – oh, no, they don’t. Sorry, I forgot,” a sarcastic and frustrated Power said after the race.
“I’ve been on this for 10 years. When every driver in the driver meeting says we need a blue flag rule, why isn’t there one?
EXCLUSIVE: Legend slaps down ‘unhappy’ Aussie IndyCar ace
READ MORE: Coach quits Russian football club in war protest
READ MORE: World sport takes another swipe at Putin
READ MORE: Mundine’s surprise ahead of son’s huge move
“I’m happy with my result but I’m unhappy with the lack of things that get done … I feel great, but I just like to point out the problems that could be fixed so easily within the series with just a little change.”
IndyCar legend Al Unser Jr told Wide World of Sports that it’s “been a problem for 50 or 60 years” and “I don’t see it changing.”
When asked by Wide World of Sports for his thoughts on the blue flag controversy, McLaughlin was taking a more diplomatic approach than Power.
“I think we could have controlled the race a bit better if it wasn’t for backmarkers, but at the end of the day those are the rules,” he said.
“They’re well within their rights to do what they were doing and hold their ground.
“The last one, Devlin, I was a bit surprised because there’s two laps to go, he was a long way off the guys in front of him, I thought maybe he might have let me and Alex go, but he’s within his rights to stay there, that’s the rules in IndyCar, unless you’re a lap down on the whole field you don’t have to get out of the way.
“That’s different to how they run it anywhere, but it’s been like this for a very long time in IndyCar and I’m not going to chirp up about it, everyone has had to deal with it.”
McLaughlin says he’s resigned to the fact he’s become an internet meme, following his awkward post-race celebrations in Florida.
The win was the first of his IndyCar career, but the festivities took a hilarious turn when he fell off the car.
“No s–t, I jumped and my legs were jelly, bro,” he said sheepishly.
“I couldn’t believe it, my legs just wouldn’t move. And when I hit the ground, I was done. I was trying to make it as delicate as I could, and I just looked like a wombat out there.”
With the benefit of 48 hours to reflect on the race, McLaughlin conceded that the less than dignified dismount would follow him for some time.
“I definitely am a meme, the internet’s a crazy place!” he grinned.
“It’s funny that everybody got a laugh out of it. I do stupid stuff when we win, and I’m very excited.
“I’m glad everybody had a laugh, it was just an amazing time. I didn’t really know what I was doing.”
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!