Oriol Servia admitted that he found it hard to be absolutely delighted with sixth in the Indianapolis 500 having had a shot at winning the race.
The Newman/Haas driver, who had started from the front row, ran with the lead group all afternoon and was increasingly strong in the closing stages and led for a spell. But as the fuel strategies played out over the final laps, he found himself back in fifth – which became sixth in the official results when the IndyCar officials took a second look at positions on the last-lap yellow.
"Listen, when you've been leading the race like that, fifth doesn't feel enough," said Servia before the results were adjusted. "And fifth is the lowest we've been in the whole race, so it doesn't feel enough. But, great effort. We were up there. We showed we may have something for these guys. And we'll take the fifth. You know, this is the Indy 500. It's the centennial, and when you smell it, you really, really want it. Nothing else satisfies you.
"But everyone involved is really happy, and that's what we need: happy sponsors and to keep moving forward. I'm not disappointed but definitely frustrated."
The race ran without caution periods through the final stint, and Servia was convinced that another yellow and restart would have given him a chance to attack for victory.
"Honestly, I thought there was going to be a last restart. I knew with the downforce I had, I had something for those guys," he said. "I kept thinking, 'There's going to be a yellow, there's going to be a yellow.' No yellow."