INDIANAPOLIS — With four laps remaining in Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, the caution flag flew after Mick Schumacher clipped the wall.
A decade ago, the race likely would have ended behind the pace car. Instead, IndyCar threw a red flag, setting up a one-lap sprint to the finish — the latest example of the series’ growing preference for green-flag finishes, even at the expense of the driver leading when the caution comes out.
As the green and white flags waved together, David Malukas swept past Marcus Armstrong entering Turn 1. Malukas controlled most of the final lap and appeared set to steal the biggest win of his career, and first in IndyCar, exiting Turn 4.
Then Felix Rosenqvist pulled alongside coming to the yard of bricks and edged ahead at the line, denying Malukas in a drag race finish.
For some drivers, that unpredictability is exactly the point.
“If you asked Marcus Armstrong, he’d probably say no,” Malukas said when asked whether IndyCar made the right call with the red flag. Armstrong had been leading before the restart.
“At the end of the day, it’s what’s the best decision for the fans,” Malukas said. “You want it to be under green. … Give everybody a show.”
Scott McLaughlin, who finished third, agreed.
“I think we all know that that’s probably what’s going to happen,” McLaughlin said. “I imagine if it was less laps, they might have shut it down.”
But not every driver is a fan.
After the 2023 Indy 500, Marcus Ericsson criticized IndyCar for throwing a late red flag that erased his chance to win back-to-back 500s under caution. Ericsson had been leading when a crash brought out yellow, but the race was stopped for cleanup and restarted for a one-lap shootout that allowed Josef Newgarden to pass him for the win.
Three years later, the debate remains.
For purists, late-race red flags can feel manufactured — an artificial reset that punishes drivers who earned track position over 500 miles. For the series, though, the calculation is clear: a green-flag finish creates drama, unpredictability and unforgettable moments.
And on Sunday, it turned the Indy 500 into a one-lap gamble where nobody had anything left to save and produced the closest races in its history.
Jessica Garcete is an IndyStar sports reporter. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to theYouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy 500 ends in a one-lap shootout: ‘Give everybody a show’