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.
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| 1st round of the 2023 IndyCar season | |
 Layout of the Streets of St. Petersburg | |
| Date | March 5, 2023 |
| Official name | Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg |
| Location | Streets of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Florida |
| Course | Temporary street circuit 1.800 mi / 2.897 km |
| Distance | 100 laps 180.000 mi / 289.682 km |
| Pole position | |
| Driver |  Romain Grosjean (Andretti Autosport) |
| Time | 00:59.5532 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver |  Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
| Time | 01:01.5104 (on lap 68 of 100) |
| Podium | |
| First |  Marcus Ericsson (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
| Second |  Pato O'Ward (Arrow McLaren) |
| Third |  Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
Entry list edit
| Key | Meaning |
|---|---|
| R | Rookie |
| W | Past winner |
Practice edit
Practice 1 edit
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Lap Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Scott Dixon
|
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 01:01.6145 |
| 2 | 26 |  Colton Herta W
|
Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | 01:01.6475 |
| 3 | 10 | Álex Palou
|
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 01:01.6790 |
| Source:[2] | |||||
Practice 2 edit
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Lap Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | Colton Herta W
|
Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | 01:00.0779 |
| 2 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin W
|
Team Penske | Chevrolet | 01:00.2511 |
| 3 | 21 |  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 | Romain Grosjean
|
Andretti Autosport | Honda | N/A | 00:59.8790 | 00:59.7320 | 00:59.5532 | 1 |
| 2 | 26 | Colton Herta W
|
Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | N/A | 00:59.8220 | 00:59.5442 | 00:59.9687 | 2 |
| 3 | 5 | Pato O'Ward
|
Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet | 01:00.1146 | N/A | 00:59.7367 | 01:00.0163 | 3 |
| 4 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson
|
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 01:00.2018 | N/A | 00:59.7624 | 01:00.4435 | 4 |
| 5 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin W
|
Team Penske | Chevrolet | 01:00.1201 | N/A | 00:59.7686 | No Time | 5 |
| 6 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood
|
Andretti Autosport | Honda | 01:00.0451 | N/A | 00:59.6357 | No Time | 6 |
| 7 | 10 | Álex Palou
|
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | N/A | 00:59.8879 | 00:59.7781 | N/A | 7 |
| 8 | 6 | Felix Rosenqvist
|
Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet | 00:59.9396 | N/A | 00:59.7971 | N/A | 8 |
| 9 | 9 | Scott Dixon
|
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | N/A | 00:59.8213 | 00:59.8010 | N/A | 9 |
| 10 | 12 |  Will Power W
|
Team Penske | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:00.0211 | 00:59.9482 | N/A | 10 |
| 11 | 45 |  Christian Lundgaard
|
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 01:00.0121 | N/A | 00:59.9618 | N/A | 11 |
| 12 | 7 | Alexander Rossi
|
Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet | N/A | 00:59.9527 | 01:00.0040 | N/A | 12 |
| 13 | 11 | Marcus Armstrong R
|
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 01:00.3158 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 13 |
| 14 | 2 | Josef Newgarden W
|
Team Penske | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:00.0605 | N/A | N/A | 14 |
| 15 | 06 |  Hélio Castroneves W
|
Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 01:00.5049 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 15 |
| 16 | 18 | David Malukas
|
Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports | Honda | N/A | 01:00.0796 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
| 17 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci
|
A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 01:00.5301 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 17 |
| 18 | 29 |  Devlin DeFrancesco
|
Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | Honda | N/A | 01:00.1798 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
| 19 | 30 |  Jack Harvey
|
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 01:00.7270 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 19 |
| 20 | 15 | Graham Rahal W
|
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:00.3714 | N/A | N/A | 20 |
| 21 | 78 |  Agustín Canapino R
|
Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet | 01:01.0692 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 21 |
| 22 | 77 | Callum Ilott
|
Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:00.3868 | N/A | N/A | 22 |
| 23 | 51 | Sting Ray Robb R
|
Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | Honda | 01:02.3711 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 23 |
| 24 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay
|
Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:00.4831 | N/A | N/A | 24 |
| 25 | 60 | Simon Pagenaud
|
Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 06:37.4112 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 25 |
| 26 | 20 | Conor Daly
|
Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:00.6066 | N/A | N/A | 26 |
| 27 | 55 | 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
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Lap Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | Colton Herta W
|
Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | 01:00.5886 |
| 2 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood
|
Andretti Autosport | Honda | 01:00.7213 |
| 3 | 9 | 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
Championship standings after the race edit
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included.
References edit
- ^ "Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg entry list" (PDF). February 27, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ "Practice - Results" (PDF). indycar.com. March 3, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ "Practice - Results" (PDF). indycar.com. March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ "Qualifications - Postings" (PDF). indycar.com. March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ "Practice - Results" (PDF). indycar.com. March 5, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ "Airborne wreck on first lap of IndyCar opener causes red flag - NBC Sports". MotorSportsTalk | NBC Sports. 2023-03-05. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
- ^ "McLaughlin: "Big mistake" took out Grosjean in St. Pete IndyCar battle". motorsport.com |. 2023-03-05.
- ^ a b "Marcus Ericsson wins wild IndyCar opener in St. Petersburg - NBC Sports". MotorSportsTalk | NBC Sports. 2023-03-05. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
- ^ a b "Race - Results (11inch) - Final" (PDF). indycar.com. March 5, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ "Points - Indycar Engine" (PDF). motorsports.nbcsports.com. March 5, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2023.