IndyCar: The misguided belief that produced a massive Toronto crash

How many times do we need to stress that IndyCar delaying a caution flag for any reason whatsoever, when the track conditions warrant a caution flag, is a safety hazard?

In the past, IndyCar has justified their (terrible) decisions to do so by indicating that they don't want to interfere with the pit sequence (which, by holding the caution until certain drivers pit and then throwing it while everybody else is slowed down, is exactly what they end up doing).

In Sunday's Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, that was not the issue. But yet another ill-advised decision to hold a yellow flag proved costly in a big way.

Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward spun out in turn one of the 11-turn, 1.786-mile (2.874-kilometer) temporary street circuit on lap 73 of 85.

IndyCar waited more than six seconds – and more than half a dozen passers-by – while the front of O'Ward's No. 5 Chevrolet was blocking a considerable portion of the track – just off a blind corner – to throw the caution flag.

Marcus Ericsson, Pietro Fittipaldi, Santino Ferrucci, and Nolan Siegel all clobbered the stationary No. 5 car. Fittipaldi and Ferrucci got airborne, with the latter being sent into the catch fence before his No. 14 Chevrolet ultimately landed on its top.

IndyCar needs to do better – a lot better.

This went beyond race manipulation. This was totally unjustified, and it has totally exposed one big problem with the hybrid era that nobody wants to talk about.

We keep hearing that one of the big advantages of the introduction of this new technology is that the drivers can effectively fire up their cars on the race track without needing assistance if they stall.

Cool. But not cool enough to obsess about it to the point where it warrants a demolition derby on the streets of Exhibition Place, all in the apparent hope that O'Ward could somehow use that epic new technology and get going again.

It's not like he spun out from last place. He was running in sixth place at the time, and it happened only a lap after a restart. So there were around a dozen and a half cars coming through right behind him (while effectively flying blind). He was not going to get going again in such a short span of time.

How did that not warrant a caution?

Both Ferrucci and O'Ward questioned the decision in their post-race interviews, and O'Ward even lashed out at the series on social media afterward.

Though as a whole, all of those involved in the incident were said to have been okay, the 25-year-old Mexican driver shared pictures of his injured leg in the process.

Sure, a caution might not have totally kept ensuing contact from happening. But Ferrucci said it himself: he had been given no indication of anything. Siegel later echoed the same sentiment.

Maybe IndyCar should step up and pay for the damage.

Maybe this is finally the wakeup call IndyCar needed. It's just a shame that it took this level of chaos for the series to take notice that it's not all fun and games when these cars stall out on the race track in the middle of oncoming traffic, no matter what level of technology they're equipped with – shy of an automatic braking system.

Then again, we thought that last week, too.

IndyCar is scheduled to be off until Saturday, August 17 due to NBC's commitment to the Summer Olympics in Paris, France. The next race on the schedule is the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, which is set to be broadcast live on USA Network from World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. Begin a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!