The 2021 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the second round of the 2021 IndyCar season. The race was held on April 25, 2021, in St. Petersburg, Florida. The race lasted for 100 laps, and was won by Colton Herta.
Background The race was originally due to take place on 7 March 2021 as the opening round of the championship, but the COVID-19 pandemic was still a concern for event organisers and IndyCar officials as the 2020 race was postponed from March to October. On January 6, 2021, the race was rescheduled to 25 April 2021 so the event can accommodate more fans with loosening restrictions but it was capped to 20,000 fans to attend.
Entry list
KeyMeaningRookiePast winner Driver Team Engine2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet4 Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet5 Patricio O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet7 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet14 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda18 Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda20 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda29 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda48 Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda51 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda59 Max Chilton Carlin Chevrolet60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing HondaSOURCE
Practice Practice 1 There were 2 red flags during the session, one at the start due to timing and scoring issues, causing the session to be extended by 10 minutes, and another at the end after Sebastien Bourdais spun and stalled his car. + Top Practice Speeds Driver Team Engine Lap Time12 Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevrolet1:00.8029212 Will PowerTeam PenskeChevrolet1:00.8102326 Colton HertaAndretti AutosportHonda1:00.8348 OFFICIAL REPORT
Practice 2
+ Top Practice Speeds Driver Team Engine Lap Time12 Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevrolet1:00.0622227 Alexander RossiAndretti AutosportHonda1:00.1749360 Jack HarveyMeyer Shank RacingHonda1:00.2192 OFFICIAL REPORT
Qualifying Qualifying classification
The field was split into two groups of twelve drivers, with the top 6 of each group progressing to the Fast 12. The top 6 of the Fast 12 proceeded to the Firestone Fast 6.
Driver Team Engine Time Round 1 Group 1 Group 2 1 26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda 01:00.3659N/A 01:00.2207 01:00.3210 1 2 60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing HondaN/A 01:00.5028 01:00.4262 01:00.5709 2 3 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske ChevroletN/A 01:00.4437 01:00.3428 01:00.6078 3 4 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 01:00.6375N/A 01:00.4385 01:00.6353 4 5 14 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 01:00.7182N/A 01:00.3573 01:01.0017 5 6 5 Patricio O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 01:00.6026N/A 01:00.3999 01:01.0799 6 7 21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing ChevroletN/A 01:00.5414 01:00.4858N/A 7 8 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:00.7921N/A 01:00.4997N/A 8 9 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing HondaN/A 01:00.4825 01:00.5678N/A 9 10 10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing HondaN/A 01:00.6521 01:00.6220N/A 10 11 27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda 01:00.2949N/A 01:00.6476N/A 11 12 29 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport HondaN/A 01:00.6368 01:00.8671N/A 12 13 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 01:00.8524N/AN/AN/A 13 14 3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske ChevroletN/A 01:00.7044N/AN/A 14 15 30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 01:00.9167N/AN/AN/A 15 16 8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing HondaN/A 01:00.7058N/AN/A 16 17 7 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 01:00.9569N/AN/AN/A 17 18 51 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing HondaN/A 01:00.8127N/AN/A 18 19 20 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 01:01.4220N/AN/AN/A 19 20 12 Will Power Team Penske ChevroletN/A 01:01.1140N/AN/A 20 21 18 Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda 01:01.4453N/AN/AN/A 21 22 59 Max Chilton Carlin ChevroletN/A 01:01.5065N/AN/A 22 23 48 Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:01.8364N/AN/AN/A 23 24 4 Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt Enterprises ChevroletN/A 01:02.3396N/AN/A 24 Source: Notes Bold text indicates fastest time set in session.
Warmup Warmup
+ Top Practice Speeds Driver Team Engine Lap Time126 Colton HertaAndretti AutosportHonda01:00.6632230 Takuma SatoRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda01:00.676839 Scott DixonChip Ganassi RacingHonda01:00.8092 Source:
Race
Race classification Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired PitStops Grid LapsLed 1 26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda 100 1:51:51.4115 2 1 97 54 2 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet 100 +2.4933 2 3 40 3 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 100 +6.1496 2 4 1 36 4 60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda 100 +8.0833 2 2 32 5 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 100 +8.9497 2 8 30 6 30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 100 +11.6802 2 15 28 7 8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 100 +11.9393 2 16 26 8 12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 100 +13.2363 3 20 24 9 21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 100 +13.7194 2 7 22 10 14 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 100 +15.9951 2 5 20 11 3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet 100 +17.5926 3 14 19 12 7 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 100 +18.5638 3 17 18 13 51 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda 100 +22.7276 3 18 17 14 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 100 +24.1275 3 13 16 15 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 100 +24.7928 3 9 15 16 20 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 100 +48.1603 5 19 14 17 10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 99 +1 Lap 2 10 2 14 18 29 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda 99 +1 Lap 3 12 12 19 5 Patricio O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 99 +1 Lap 3 6 11 20 18 Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda 99 +1 Lap 5 21 10 21 27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda 98 +2 Laps 3 11 9 22 48 Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 95 +5 Laps 3 23 8 23 4 Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 67 Off Course 2 23 7 24 59 Max Chilton Carlin Chevrolet 18 Mechanical 1 22 6Fastest lap: Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) – 01:01.4568 (lap 67) Source:
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points1 Álex Palou672 Will Power653 Scott Dixon654 Colton Herta625 Simon Pagenaud54 Source:
Engine manufacturer standings Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 178 2 Chevrolet 148 Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included.
References
External links