THE MONTH OF MAY
Written by: Robert Nguyen
The Month of May has been an essential part of the racing world since its inception, from the streets of Monte Carlo to the bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is a month steeped in glamour and traditions when all teams and drivers enter their names in the history books. With all the major motorsports championships worldwide set to be featured throughout the month, here's the rundown of what we will see in the upcoming few weeks.
FORMULA ONE
After the opening five races stretch in the Oceania-Asia region, the Formula One paddock will first take a quick detour to Miami for the race on May 4th. Lando Norris hopes to get his world title challenge to McLaren's teammate Oscar Piastri back on track in the sunny state, where the Briton claimed his maiden win just a year ago.
During the Miami Grand Prix weekend, the Porsche Carrera Cup North America support series will also be taking place. We will take a deep dive into the challenges of driving at the Miami International Autodrome with Jordan Wallace.
The European portion of the Formula One season will start at Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on May 18th before all eyes are on the streets of Monte Carlo for the Crown Jewel of Formula One: Monaco Grand Prix just a week later on May 25th.
Teams will be looking to extract every bit of performance before the FIA Flexi-wing clampdown begins at the Spanish Grand Prix in early June. The other title contenders, Max Verstappen of Red Bull, George Russell of Mercedes, and the Ferrari's duo of Leclerc and Hamilton, hope their first substantial season upgrade will bridge the gap to the leading McLarens.
INDYCAR
The Month of May for IndyCar will see the American open-wheel championship come back to Barber Motorsport Park and its weirdly wonderful art installations in Alabama on May 4th. All the drivers will come face to face again with Georgina, the mannequin (which fell onto the track during the race last year,) and the giant spider before spending the rest of the month at Indianapolis.
The festivities in Indiana will begin with the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the road course, which will happen on May 10th, before teams rush on with their final preparation for the Indianapolis 500. Qualifying will take place on May 17th and 18th, with the 109th running of the iconic Indy 500 taking place on May 25th.
The Indy 500 is no stranger to dramatic finishes, and last year's race delivered one for the ages. Defending winner Josef Newgarden had led the field coming into the white flag, looking to become the first back-to-back winner of the race since his former Penske teammate Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002. Hot on Newgarden's heels is Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward, who is looking to be the first Mexican driver to win at the Brickyard. After taking the white flag, O'Ward moved for the lead coming into Turn 1. However, Newgarden, with history on the line, tucked in closely behind the McLaren, patiently getting the draft on the back straight, before making a heart-stopping move to the outside of O'Ward at Turn 3. With the two dashed to the line, Newgarden narrowly beat out O'Ward. As Newgarden jumped back into the embrace of the fans after the race, O'Ward was in disbelief, emotionally accepting the reality of what just happened, because he knew he was two corners away from winning one of the biggest prizes in racing.
Many questions will come into the 2025 edition of the Indy 500. Who will kiss the bricks while drinking a glass of milk at Victory Lane? But we know that Josef Newgarden is looking to put his name in racing immortality by becoming the first driver to three-peat in the Indy 500. Pato O'Ward will look to avenge his runner-up finish from the previous year's iconic finish. Maybe a surprise name is looking to write his name in history books like Kyle Larson, the former NASCAR Cup champion. Larson will attempt the Memorial Day Double again, which was only done once by Tony Stewart in 2001.