IndyCar veteran and maestro engineer Michael Cannon was all set to lead Prema Racing’s debut run in 2025. Having led A.J. Foyt Racing in his previous stint, Cannon decided to jump ships and join the newly formed team, which will extend the field to 11 entries from this season. This move to Prema Racing was dubbed the biggest off-season signing. But even before Cannon could kickstart his new venture, he made a surprising decision and parted ways with the newest IndyCar team.

Just a few days ago, Michael Cannon was a part of Prema’s launch event at General Motors’ Technical Center. So what exactly happened that led to this drastic turnaround? Let us try to figure out the potential reasons for the same.

Michael Canon leaves Prema Racing high and dry

Cannon is perhaps among the best engineers in the IndyCar paddock, and he has proven his worth with multiple organizations. After helping Foyt’s team become a front-running team, Prema Racing was looking to build their foundation on the shoulders of his experience and past success. He certainly looked like part of the team at the launch event where drivers Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman shared comments in public.

But if we are to go by the report shared by IndyStar, Cannon is parting ways with his new team. So far there are no official comments by either the team or the veteran engineer that led to this surprising outcome. As soon as this news went public, fans started to share their theories on what could’ve led to Cannon’s exit.

Although the launch event of Prema Racing featured the two drivers, it was also known that former F1 driver Romain Grosjean would serve as Prema’s reserve driver. Moreover, former IndyCar driver Ryan Briscoe had been named as the team’s sporting director. Now it is hard to guess that this influx of new members to the team could’ve kickstarted the domino effect that resulted in Michael Cannon’s departure. But fans online looked to be sold on this theory.

Cannon has a history of working with talented race car drivers like Scott Dixon and big organizations like Ganassi, Andretti Global, and Forsythe Racing. So working with rookie Robert Shwartzman and dealing with Grosjean in a crisis might not be something Canon was hoping for from his stint at Prema Racing. Schwartzman has been the reserve driver over in the Ferrari garage in F1, while Romain Grosjean found himself on the F1 chopping block after poor performances and conflicts against his former Haas F1 teammate. On the other hand, he has worked with smaller teams like HVM Racing and Ed Carpenter Racing. So this project with Prema did make sense.

Losing Cannon could be a big blow to Prema. His impact on IndyCar is quite evident by the numbers. During the 2023 season, his work was the focal point in carrying Foyt to fourth position. It even prompted Team Penske to initiate conversations with the team to build a technical alliance. Just in the first year of said partnership, Team Penske were on the front row.

IndyCar fans will have to wait to know the crux of the matter of why Cannon left the team before the first race of the season. However, if we are to go by Callum Illott’s comments from a recent interview, there were hints about Cannon’s potential rift with the team.

Ilott wasn’t sure if Cannon’s influence would help them hit the ground running

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During the press conference in Indianapolis, Ilott was asked about Michael Cannon’s inclusion in the team. And how his past performances could help push Prema’s project in the right direction. In response to this query, the driver replied, “We don’t know what we’re going to rock up with. There’s a lot of preparation which is Indy specific which a lot of other teams have started on.”

Furthermore, he spoke about how there’s no clarity on how the team could perform despite Cannon’s expertise in place. “Of course, Michael has great experience, and it is very helpful on that side, but you just never know, and we need to be able to prepare and take time for it. Who knows at this point? It could be good. We’re starting from scratch and building everything from the beginning.”

Well, it is hard to say if Ilott directly touched upon Michael Cannon’s role within the team. But, given the current state of affairs, Prema Racing is certainly not fully prepared for their debut run. At least not without their lead engineer. So they will need to find Cannon’s replacement soon.