It was a day of days on Sunday. After 945 fruitless sunrises, seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton awoke and won a grand prix for the first time since 2021. Hours later, Pato O'Ward, IndyCar's most popular driver, led the field to the checkered flag for the first time in 715 days, ending a winless streak dating back to 2022.
And at the same event, IndyCar crossed an important developmental finish line of its own. Exactly 1,802 days after the series announced in 2019 that it would shift to hybrid powertrains, it finally raced them.