Veekay dissatisfied: 'We lacked speed in qualifying'

The season started great for the Dutch driver as he took his first win in the IndyCar at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The second half of the season, which started for him after missing a race by breaking his collarbone, is something he is less pleased about.

"After that, the results have actually been such that I haven't finished better than 16th. Of course, that sucks, but there's nothing I can do about it now. I can't blame the collarbone either. The last part of the season I had a lot of bad luck and it was difficult to get the car fast when it was needed during the weekend," he told Formula 1 Café.

"The race pace was fine, but in qualifying, it wasn't. I felt we were short of that last bit of grip and in qualifying you need to make the most of every bit of grip, but in the race, you're saving tyres and fuel so then it doesn't matter so much."

Alex Palou deserved it

In the end, Alex Palou emerged as the winner of the IndyCar season and Veekay thinks that's partly to do with the car.

"Obviously you all drive the same car, but there is a lot of good to be done and a lot of bad to be done in IndyCar. I think over the whole season Ginassi was the most consistent and the better team, but I think he did have a slightly better car over the whole season. Obviously, he's also a good driver and he has good teammates that he had to beat. He's had a good season and performed everywhere he needed to," said the 21-year-old driver.