NZ driver Scott McLaughlin responds to disqualification

New Zealand driver Scott McLaughlin has responded to his disqualification from last month's season opening IndyCar race, where he finished third.

McLaughlin and his Team Penske team-mate Josef Newgarden, who won the street race in St Petersburg in Florida, were both disqualified yesterday 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.

"An extensive review of data from the race on the streets of St Petersburg revealed that Team Penske manipulated the overtake system so that the No 2, 3 and 12 cars had the ability to use Push to Pass on starts and restarts," the statement said.

"According to the IndyCar rulebook, use of overtake is not available during championship races until the car reaches the alternate start-finish line," the statement added.

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 utilized 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."

McLaughlin said he was looking forward to this weekend's Alabama Indy Grand Prix race.

Arrow McLaren driver Pato O'Ward was credited with the St Petersburg race win. Team Penske was also fined US$25,000 (NZ$42,000) for each entry and had to forfeit all prize money.

The delay in announcing the penalties and updated official race results was prompted by a review of data and another look at the Team Penske cars, which took place during the recent Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Newgarden's disqualification meant New Zealand driver Scott Dixon, who won the second race of the season at Long Beach, moved to the top of the IndyCar standings after two rounds, while McLaughlin dropped to the bottom.