2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

United States 2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Race details
1st round of the 2023 IndyCar season
DateMarch 5, 2023
Official nameFirestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
LocationStreets of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Florida
CourseTemporary street circuit
1.800 mi / 2.897 km
Distance100 laps
180.000 mi / 289.682 km
Pole position
DriverFrance Romain Grosjean (Andretti Autosport)
Time00:59.5532
Fastest lap
DriverSpain Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time01:01.5104 (on lap 68 of 100)
Podium
FirstSweden Marcus Ericsson (Chip Ganassi Racing)
SecondMexico Pato O'Ward (Arrow McLaren)
ThirdNew Zealand Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing)

The 2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the first round of the 2023 IndyCar season. The race was held on March 5, 2023, in St. Petersburg, Florida on the Streets of St. Petersburg. The race consisted of 100 laps and was won by Marcus Ericsson.

Entry list

[edit]
Key Meaning
 R  Rookie
 W  Past winner
No. Driver Team Engine
2 United States Josef Newgarden  W  Team Penske Chevrolet
3 New Zealand Scott McLaughlin  W  Team Penske Chevrolet
5 Mexico Patricio O'Ward Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
06 Brazil Hélio Castroneves  W  Meyer Shank Racing Honda
6 Sweden Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
7 United States Alexander Rossi Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
8 Sweden Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
9 New Zealand Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
10 Spain Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
11 New Zealand Marcus Armstrong  R  Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
12 Australia Will Power  W  Team Penske Chevrolet
14 United States Santino Ferrucci A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
15 United States Graham Rahal  W  Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
18 United States David Malukas Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda
20 United States Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
21 Netherlands Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
26 United States Colton Herta  W  Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda
27 United States Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Autosport Honda
28 France Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Honda
29 Canada Devlin DeFrancesco Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda
30 United Kingdom Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
45 Denmark Christian Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
51 United States Sting Ray Robb  R  Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda
55 Denmark Benjamin Pedersen  R  A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet
60 France Simon Pagenaud Meyer Shank Racing Honda
77 United Kingdom Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
78 Argentina Agustín Canapino  R  Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
Source:[1]

Practice

[edit]

Practice 1

[edit]
Top Practice Speeds
Pos No. Driver Team Engine Lap Time
1 9 New Zealand Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:01.6145
2 26 United States Colton Herta  W  Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda 01:01.6475
3 10 Spain Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:01.6790
Source:[2]

Practice 2

[edit]
Top Practice Speeds
Pos No. Driver Team Engine Lap Time
1 26 United States Colton Herta  W  Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda 01:00.0779
2 3 New Zealand Scott McLaughlin  W  Team Penske Chevrolet 01:00.2511
3 21 Netherlands Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 01:00.4601
Source:[3]

Qualifying

[edit]

Qualifying classification

[edit]
Pos No. Driver Team Engine Time Final
grid
Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
Group 1 Group 2
1 28 France Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Honda N/A 00:59.8790 00:59.7320 00:59.5532 1
2 26 United States Colton Herta  W  Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda N/A 00:59.8220 00:59.5442 00:59.9687 2
3 5 Mexico Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 01:00.1146 N/A 00:59.7367 01:00.0163 3
4 8 Sweden Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:00.2018 N/A 00:59.7624 01:00.4435 4
5 3 New Zealand Scott McLaughlin  W  Team Penske Chevrolet 01:00.1201 N/A 00:59.7686 No Time 5
6 27 United States Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Autosport Honda 01:00.0451 N/A 00:59.6357 No Time 6
7 10 Spain Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda N/A 00:59.8879 00:59.7781 N/A 7
8 6 Sweden Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 00:59.9396 N/A 00:59.7971 N/A 8
9 9 New Zealand Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda N/A 00:59.8213 00:59.8010 N/A 9
10 12 Australia Will Power  W  Team Penske Chevrolet N/A 01:00.0211 00:59.9482 N/A 10
11 45 Denmark Christian Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 01:00.0121 N/A 00:59.9618 N/A 11
12 7 United States Alexander Rossi Arrow McLaren Chevrolet N/A 00:59.9527 01:00.0040 N/A 12
13 11 New Zealand Marcus Armstrong  R  Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:00.3158 N/A N/A N/A 13
14 2 United States Josef Newgarden  W  Team Penske Chevrolet N/A 01:00.0605 N/A N/A 14
15 06 Brazil Hélio Castroneves  W  Meyer Shank Racing Honda 01:00.5049 N/A N/A N/A 15
16 18 United States David Malukas Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda N/A 01:00.0796 N/A N/A 16
17 14 United States Santino Ferrucci A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 01:00.5301 N/A N/A N/A 17
18 29 Canada Devlin DeFrancesco Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda N/A 01:00.1798 N/A N/A 18
19 30 United Kingdom Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 01:00.7270 N/A N/A N/A 19
20 15 United States Graham Rahal  W  Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda N/A 01:00.3714 N/A N/A 20
21 78 Argentina Agustín Canapino  R  Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet 01:01.0692 N/A N/A N/A 21
22 77 United Kingdom Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet N/A 01:00.3868 N/A N/A 22
23 51 United States Sting Ray Robb  R  Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda 01:02.3711 N/A N/A N/A 23
24 21 Netherlands Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet N/A 01:00.4831 N/A N/A 24
25 60 France Simon Pagenaud Meyer Shank Racing Honda 06:37.4112 N/A N/A N/A 25
26 20 United States Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet N/A 01:00.6066 N/A N/A 26
27 55 Denmark Benjamin Pedersen  R  A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet N/A 01:01.4355 N/A N/A 27
Source:[4]
Notes
  • Bold text indicates fastest time set in session.

Warmup

[edit]
Top Practice Speeds
Pos No. Driver Team Engine Lap Time
1 26 United States Colton Herta  W  Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda 01:00.5886
2 27 United States Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Autosport Honda 01:00.7213
3 9 New Zealand Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:00.8377
Source:[5]

Race

[edit]

The race started at 12:30 PM ET on March 5, 2023. Romain Grosjean took pole position, the second pole of his IndyCar career, ahead of Andretti teammate Colton Herta. Grosjean led away from the start however the race was red flagged due to an incident involving Devlin DeFrancesco, who was launched into the air following contact with rookie Benjamin Pedersen.[6] Grosjean would lead 31 laps, but retired on lap 71 following an incident with defending St. Petersburg race winner Scott McLaughlin. McLaughlin, who had just exited the pits in the lead of the race, attempted to defend against the charging Grosjean into turn 4, locking his cold rear tires. As a result, McLaughlin missed the apex of the corner and collided into Grosjean, sending them both into the tire barrier and ending Grosjean's race. [7] Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward would take over the lead of the race, however his engine briefly shut off exiting turn 14 due to a 'plenum backfire'[8] allowing Chip Ganassi Racing's Marcus Ericsson through into the lead. Ericsson would hold onto the lead to take his 4th IndyCar victory, and his first since the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500. O'Ward would finish 2nd, with Ericsson's teammate Scott Dixon finishing 3rd, ahead of Alexander Rossi and Callum Ilott, the latter scoring his career best IndyCar finish.[8] Ganassi's Marcus Armstrong was the highest-finishing rookie in 11th, just ahead of Argentine newcomer Agustín Canapino for Juncos Hollinger Racing.

Race classification

[edit]
Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Pit
Stops
Grid Laps
Led
Pts.
1 8 Sweden Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 100 2:05:30.7907 3 4 4 51
2 5 Mexico Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 100 +2.4113 3 3 23 41
3 9 New Zealand Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 100 +2.9257 3 9 3 36
4 7 United States Alexander Rossi Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 100 +6.7689 3 12 32
5 77 United Kingdom Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet 100 +8.2650 3 22 30
6 15 United States Graham Rahal  W  Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 100 +10.7671 3 20 28
7 12 Australia Will Power  W  Team Penske Chevrolet 100 +11.6798 3 10 26
8 10 Spain Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 100 +14.7244 3 7 24
9 45 Denmark Christian Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 100 +14.9528 3 11 22
10 18 United States David Malukas Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda 100 +15.4401 4 16 2 21
11 11 New Zealand Marcus Armstrong  R  Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 100 +15.8049 4 13 19
12 78 Argentina Agustín Canapino  R  Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet 100 +28.1332 3 21 18
13 3 New Zealand Scott McLaughlin  W  Team Penske Chevrolet 99 +1 Lap 6 6 37 20
14 20 United States Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 99 +1 Lap 5 26 16
15 27 United States Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Autosport Honda 97 +3 Laps 5 5 15
16 51 United States Sting Ray Robb  R  Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda 96 Off Course 6 23 14
17 2 United States Josef Newgarden  W  Team Penske Chevrolet 95 +5 Laps 4 14 13
18 28 France Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Honda 71 Contact 3 1 31 14
19 6 Sweden Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 51 Contact damage 3 8 11
20 26 United States Colton Herta  W  Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda 49 Contact 2 2 10
21 21 Netherlands Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 41 Contact 3 24 9
22 30 United Kingdom Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 41 Contact 2 19 8
23 06 Brazil Hélio Castroneves  W  Meyer Shank Racing Honda 0 Contact 15 7
24 14 United States Santino Ferrucci A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 0 Contact 17 6
25 29 Canada Devlin DeFrancesco Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda 0 Contact 18 5
26 60 France Simon Pagenaud Meyer Shank Racing Honda 0 Contact 25 5
27 55 Denmark Benjamin Pedersen  R  A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 0 Contact 27 5
Fastest lap: Spain Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) – 01:01.5104 (lap 68)
Source:[9]

Championship standings after the race

[edit]
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg entry list" (PDF). February 27, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  2. ^ "Practice - Results" (PDF). indycar.com. March 3, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  3. ^ "Practice - Results" (PDF). indycar.com. March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  4. ^ "Qualifications - Postings" (PDF). indycar.com. March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  5. ^ "Practice - Results" (PDF). indycar.com. March 5, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  6. ^ "Airborne wreck on first lap of IndyCar opener causes red flag - NBC Sports". MotorSportsTalk | NBC Sports. 2023-03-05. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  7. ^ "McLaughlin: "Big mistake" took out Grosjean in St. Pete IndyCar battle". motorsport.com |. 2023-03-05.
  8. ^ a b "Marcus Ericsson wins wild IndyCar opener in St. Petersburg - NBC Sports". MotorSportsTalk | NBC Sports. 2023-03-05. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  9. ^ a b "Race - Results (11inch) - Final" (PDF). indycar.com. March 5, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  10. ^ "Points - Indycar Engine" (PDF). motorsports.nbcsports.com. March 5, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2023.


Previous race:
2022 Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey
IndyCar Series
2023 season
Next race:
2023 PPG 375
Previous race:
2022 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Next race:
2024 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg