2016 IndyCar Preseason Power Rankings

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Jul 12, 2015; West Allis, WI, USA; Verizon IndyCar Series driver Simon Pagenaud during qualifying for the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee Mile Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

10. Simon Pagenaud

2015 was Simon Pagenaud’s lost season. The biggest free agent on the open market, Pagenaud left Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to drive for Team Penske and everyone assumed that would be the jump-start that would send the Frenchman straight to the top. Instead, he underperformed through most of the season, with his best results a pair of third place finishes at Detroit and Mid-Ohio. The year culminated in Pagenaud’s worst overall result since he began driving full-time in IndyCar in 2012.

Things almost certainly have to go better for him in his second year at Penske. No one is more aware of how disappointing last season’s numbers were than Pagenaud, and by all accounts he and his team have spent their off-season looking for ways to rectify that. Given Penske’s immense resources, there’s no reason to think they can’t find a solution, and if they do it won’t be long before we see the old Pagenaud who won two races in each of the two prior seasons, and not the one who’s running into people in his pit box.

If you throw last year out of the window, Pagenaud has amassed four wins and has never finished lower than fifth in the league championship standings in any full season in IndyCar. In 2014, it took until the fifth week of the season before he drove home any lower than fifth place. He’s due for a return to form and when – not if – he figures out how to work within the Team Penske system, he’ll be back nipping at everyone’s heels again.

Next: 9. Josef Newgarden