The 2013 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the first race of the 2013 IndyCar Series season, with the race taking place on March 24 in St. Petersburg, Florida, on the city's temporary street course. The race was won by James Hinchcliffe, his first ever victory in the IndyCar Series, coming at his 33rd attempt.

Report

Background Ryan Hunter-Reay entered this race as the defending series champion, having clinched the title in the last race of the previous year, after title rival Will Power spun out early in the race while battling for track position with each other.

The relative lack of rookies for the 2013 season meant that Tristan Vautier and A. J. Allmendinger were the only newcomers onto the grid from last season for this race, with Allmendinger not officially being considered a true rookie by the IndyCar officials due to his previous drives in Champ Car, leaving Vautier the only full-time driver eligible for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award.

Qualifying Will Power once again proved his one-lap dominance on this circuit, taking his 4th consecutive St. Petersburg pole, going nearly 2 tenths of a second faster than his record pole attempt last year, and going fastest in each of the three Qualifying Rounds. Second to him was Japanese driver Takuma Sato, while Simona de Silvestro and James Hinchcliffe took the Second Row, and last year's race winner Hélio Castroneves and impressive rookie Tristan Vautier just behind them. Five different teams had drivers in the Firestone Fast Six, Team Penske being the only team with more than one representative, with both Power and Castroneves.

Further back, defending champ Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified 8th, missing out on qualifying for the Fast Six by less than a tenth of a second, while Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon failed to progress from the first part of qualifying after his fast lap was disrupted by a piece of track signage left on the circuit from a previous incident.

Race Will Power drove away from the field at the green flag, pulling out a few car lengths lead over Takuma Sato before he even reached the first corner. Power went on to control the first part of the race. He held a 12-second advantage when the yellows came out on Lap 20, after Dario Franchitti was put out of the race by sliding into the wall just out of the pits on cold tyres.

This incident proved to be costly for Power, as upon the restart, Hélio Castroneves overtook him for the lead at the first corner. Meanwhile, a bunch-up in the midfield caused Ana Beatriz to turn Charlie Kimball's machine around near the back of the field, blocking the track for E. J. Viso, James Jakes and Sebastian Bourdais, Beatriz coming to a stop at the next corner as she'd stalled her car. J. R. Hildebrand also made contact with the wall at Turn 10, having been punted by Sebastián Saavedra, while Simon Pagenaud pulled into the pits to retire with a mechanical issue. Power lost another place to James Hinchcliffe upon the restart after this.

Ryan Hunter-Reay's race came to a stuttering end in the pit lane with throttle issues, while Beatriz and Josef Newgarden also suffered similar mechanical failures which forced them out the race, before Saavedra crashed out at Turn 10, bringing out the yellow's once again. It was behind the safety car that a bizarre crash happened, as Power, who was slowing down and speeding up his car to warm his tyres, was clattered into the back of by Hildebrand, who seemingly wasn't looking at the track when Power suddenly slowed until it was too late. Hildebrand's car rode over the top of Power's, coming to a halt in the wall, the suspension broken beyond repair and putting him out of the grand prix. Power's car was less severely damaged, but it also ruined his race, he was running 3rd at the time, and ended up finishing 16th after having to come into the pits to sort out a puncture caused by Hildebrand's car.

Hinchcliffe overtook Castroneves at the restart on Lap 85, after Castroneves made a mistake out of the first corner, which allowed the Canadian to settle into a lead that he never relinquished afterward. Following behind the two leaders was Simona de Silvestro, who had been putting in a very strong performance all weekend, and Scott Dixon, who had driven all way up from 20th to 4th at the restart. Castroneves pressured Hinchcliffe for the entirety of the 25 laps after the restart, but Hinch held on to take the top spot of the podium, Castroneves followed him home 2nd, while de Silvestro had 3rd cruelly snatched from her when she ran wide at the last corner of the penultimate lap, allowing Marco Andretti through to come home 3rd, leading home a tight pack, with just over 6 seconds separating him and Bourdais in 11th place.

Hinchcliffe dedicated his victory to the memory of Dan Wheldon, who had signed a deal to drive the Go Daddy car he was in on the morning of his death in the crash at Las Vegas.

Classification

Qualifying Pos No Name Grp. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 112 Will Power 21.01.40411.01.30341.01.2070 214 Takuma Sato 21.01.44851.01.39891.01.5776 378 Simona de Silvestro 21.01.86991.01.40171.01.7670 427 James Hinchcliffe 11.01.77901.01.63431.01.8229 53 Hélio Castroneves 11.01.40411.01.40441.01.5127 655 Tristan Vautier (R) 21.02.01381.01.66311.02.0645 725 Marco Andretti 21.02.15601.01.6883 81 Ryan Hunter-Reay 11.01.89271.01.7339 96 Sebastián Saavedra 11.01.75301.01.7944 1010 Dario Franchitti 21.01.91721.01.8150 1111 Tony Kanaan 21.01.77601.01.9139 1222 Oriol Servià 1 1.01.94941.02.1483 1319 Justin Wilson 11.02.1777 1483 Charlie Kimball 21.02.1198 1515 Graham Rahal 11.02.2709 1667 Josef Newgarden 21.02.1592 1798 Alex Tagliani 11.02.3328 1816 James Jakes 21.02.1658 1977 Simon Pagenaud 11.02.4736 209 Scott Dixon 21.02.1715 217 Sebastian Bourdais 11.02.6537 225 E. J. Viso 21.02.1986 2320 Ed Carpenter 11.02.6634 244 J. R. Hildebrand 21.02.3179 2518 Ana Beatriz 21.03.2551

Starting grid RowInsideOutside 112 Will Power14 Takuma Sato 278 Simona de Silvestro27 James Hinchcliffe 33 Hélio Castroneves55 Tristan Vautier (R) 425 Marco Andretti1 Ryan Hunter-Reay 56 Sebastián Saavedra10 Dario Franchitti 611 Tony Kanaan22 Oriol Servià 719 Justin Wilson83 Charlie Kimball 815 Graham Rahal67 Josef Newgarden 998 Alex Tagliani16 James Jakes 1077 Simon Pagenaud9 Scott Dixon 117 Sebastian Bourdais5 E. J. Viso 1220 Ed Carpenter4 J. R. Hildebrand 1318 Ana Beatriz

Race results Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Pit Stops Grid Laps Led Points127 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Chevrolet1102:22:12:550234265123 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet110+ 1.0982354243325 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Chevrolet110+ 16.36643735411 Tony Kanaan KV Racing Technology Chevrolet110+ 19.60833113259 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda110+ 20.762732030678 Simona de Silvestro KV Racing Technology Chevrolet110+ 20.7890332875 E. J. Viso Andretti Autosport Chevrolet110+ 20.822932226814 Takuma Sato A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda110+ 21.18785224919 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing Honda110+ 21.6832313221098 Alex Tagliani Barracuda Racing Honda110+ 22.556931720117 Sebastian Bourdais Dragon Racing Chevrolet110+ 22.7354421191283 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Honda110+ 24.5429614181315 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda110+ 37.5324615171420 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet110+ 45.2054723161516 James Jakes Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda110+ 45.7793618151612 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet107+ 3 laps6126161722 Oriol Servià Panther Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet104+ 6 laps5121614181 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Chevrolet79Throttle4812194 J. R. Hildebrand Panther Racing Chevrolet78Contact42411206 Sebastián Saavedra Dragon Racing Chevrolet72Contact39102155 Tristan Vautier Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda69Mechanical2692218 Ana Beatriz Dale Coyne Racing Honda55Throttle52582367 Josef Newgarden Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda50Throttle21672477 Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports Honda26Mechanical11962510 Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing Honda18Contact1105

Notes Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.

Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 James Hinchcliffe 51 2 Hélio Castroneves 43 3 Marco Andretti 35 4 Tony Kanaan 32 5 Scott Dixon 30

References