Scott McLauglin's IndyCar team suspends four in cheating scandal

Four high-ranking officials have been punished for the rules violation that resulted in New Zealand driver Scott McLaughlin's disqualification from the IndyCar season opener.

Team Penske president Tim Cindric, managing director Ron Ruzewski and two others were suspended for two races - including the Indianapolis 500 - following an internal review of the recent push-to-pass penalties levied by IndyCar.

Engineers Luke Mason and Robbie Atkinson also will not participate in this weekend's Sonsio Grand Prix or the Indy 500 on 26 May.

"Following the penalties to the Team Penske IndyCar team and drivers after Long Beach, Team Penske has completed an internal review," the team said in a statement.

"After a full and comprehensive analysis of the information, Team Penske has determined that there were significant failures in our processes and internal communications.

"As result, Luke Mason (No. 2 race engineer) and Robbie Atkinson (senior data engineer) will be suspended from Team Penske for the next two IndyCar races, including the Indianapolis 500. In addition, Ron Ruzewski (managing director, Team Penske IndyCar) will also be suspended for these two races along with Tim Cindric (president of Team Penske), who has accountability for all of Team Penske's operations."

McLaughlin, who finished third in the season opener, and his Team Penske team-mate Josef Newgarden, who won the street race in St Petersburg in Florida, were both disqualified last month after an investigation showed they breached 'push to pass' parameters.

'Push to Pass' is a button which activates a system that delivers increased power through turbo boost for a predetermined period during the race.

The team's third driver Will Power was penalised 10 points as officials found he did not benefit from the violation, IndyCar said in a statement.

Roger Penske, who owns IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, apologised for his team's actions in a statement:

"I recognise the magnitude of what occurred and the impact it continues to have on the sport to which I've dedicated so many decades," he said. "Everyone at Team Penske along with our fans and business partners should know that I apologise for the errors that were made and I deeply regret them."

Pato O'Ward was credited with the win on the Streets of St Petersburg following the disqualification of Newgarden and McLaughlin.

All three Team Penske cars were flagged for inspection.

McLaughlin last month responded to his disqualification.

In a Facebook post McLaughlin said he was a proud member of Team Penske.

"Simply put, a mistake was made. I have the highest level of integrity and it is important to protect both my reputation and that of the team," McLaughlin said.

"I was not aware of the situation with the software. In this instance, I used a single, very brief (1.9 second) deployment of push to pass in a section of the track exit of turn 9 where it is typically utilised throughout the race. I hit the button out of habit, but I did not pass any cars nor did I gain any time advantage. The data, which IndyCar has, confirms all of this information. While I accept the penalty, I want to be clear that I did not gain an advantage over my competitors."

-Reuters/RNZ