Pagenaud’s successful switch to IndyCar began at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
Honda placed you in IndyCar with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports where you put in some eye-catching performances. So much that Penske moved in to sign you for 2015 but your first campaign with the team did not meet the initial expectations…
I had become a multiple race winner with Schmidt so everybody expected me to come in and do the same right away at Penske, but things are never that easy. The team was fielding a fourth car for the first time so the crew had to be put together from scratch.
You know Roger Penske is “The Captain” but in a way I am the captain of the #22 car, which is sort of a team within the team. We built it from the ground up by hiring engineers, mechanics, strategists, so we needed some time before everything gelled and clicked.
Your 2016 campaign was much more consistent and it soon became clear that the title was yours to lose. How was it from the inside?
Last winter, we identified our weaknesses from the previous year and we worked hard to address these. I’d like to think I am quite good at setting up a car and having more experience enabled me to focus on the big picture and what we needed to do.
I was able to bring everyone together and make sure we were all pulling in the same direction. I was surrounded with people who had faith in me so that was a nice confidence boost too. I always have the ‘never give up’ attitude so we approached the new season with a winning mindset and it paid off in the end.
I think I’m quite good at setting up a car and experience enabled me to focus on the big picture. I could bring everybody together and had a team of people who had faith in me, which was a nice confidence boost.
You’ve won all kinds of races but you’re still chasing the jewel in the IndyCar crown: the Indy 500.
That’s a very special event and I’d love to win it. Along with defending the title, that’s the main goal entering 2017. Team Penske has an impressive track record around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway so there is the feeling that we have to deliver, but I like the spirit. That would be a dream come true to taste the milk in Victory Lane at Indy.
Pagenaud has already won in Indianapolis but that was on the road course…
