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
KeyMeaningRookiePast winner Driver Team Engine2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet5 Patricio O'Ward Arrow McLaren Chevrolet06 Hélio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda6 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren Chevrolet7 Alexander Rossi Arrow McLaren Chevrolet8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda11 Marcus Armstrong Chip Ganassi Racing Honda12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet14 Santino Ferrucci A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda18 David Malukas Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda20 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda27 Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Autosport Honda28 Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Honda29 Devlin DeFrancesco Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda30 Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda45 Christian Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda51 Sting Ray Robb Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda55 Benjamin Pedersen A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet60 Simon Pagenaud Meyer Shank Racing Honda77 Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet78 Agustín Canapino Juncos Hollinger Racing ChevroletSource:
Practice
Practice 1 + Top Practice Speeds Driver Team Engine Lap Time 1 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:01.6145 2 26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda 01:01.6475 3 10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:01.6790 Source:
Practice 2 + Top Practice Speeds Driver Team Engine Lap Time 1 26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda 01:00.0779 2 3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet 01:00.2511 3 21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 01:00.4601 Source:
Qualifying Qualifying classification Driver Team Engine Time 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 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 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 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 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:00.3158 N/A N/A N/A 13 14 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet N/A 01:00.0605 N/A N/A 14 15 06 Hélio Castroneves 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 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda N/A 01:00.3714 N/A N/A 20 21 78 Agustín Canapino 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 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 A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet N/A 01:01.4355 N/A N/A 27 Source: Notes Bold text indicates fastest time set in session.
Warmup + Top Practice Speeds Driver Team Engine Lap Time 1 26 Colton Herta 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:
Race 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. 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. 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' 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. Ganassi's Marcus Armstrong was the highest-finishing rookie in 11th, just ahead of Argentine newcomer Agustín Canapino for Juncos Hollinger Racing.
Race classification Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired PitStops Grid LapsLed 1 8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 100 2:05:30.7907 3 4 4 51 2 5 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 100 +2.4113 3 3 23 41 3 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 100 +2.9257 3 9 3 36 4 7 Alexander Rossi Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 100 +6.7689 3 12 32 5 77 Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet 100 +8.2650 3 22 30 6 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 100 +10.7671 3 20 28 7 12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 100 +11.6798 3 10 26 8 10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 100 +14.7244 3 7 24 9 45 Christian Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 100 +14.9528 3 11 22 10 18 David Malukas Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports Honda 100 +15.4401 4 16 2 21 11 11 Marcus Armstrong Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 100 +15.8049 4 13 19 12 78 Agustín Canapino Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet 100 +28.1332 3 21 18 13 3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet 99 +1 Lap 6 6 37 20 14 20 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 99 +1 Lap 5 26 16 15 27 Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Autosport Honda 97 +3 Laps 5 5 15 16 51 Sting Ray Robb Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda 96 Off Course 6 23 14 17 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet 95 +5 Laps 4 14 13 18 28 Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Honda 71 Contact 3 1 31 14 19 6 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 51 Contact damage 3 8 11 20 26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda 49 Contact 2 2 10 21 21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 41 Contact 3 24 9 22 30 Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 41 Contact 2 19 8 23 06 Hélio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda 0 Contact 15 7 24 14 Santino Ferrucci A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 0 Contact 17 6 25 29 Devlin DeFrancesco Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda 0 Contact 18 5 26 60 Simon Pagenaud Meyer Shank Racing Honda 0 Contact 25 5 27 55 Benjamin Pedersen A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 0 Contact 27 5Fastest lap: Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) – 01:01.5104 (lap 68) Source:
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points 1 Marcus Ericsson 51 2 Patricio O'Ward 41 3 Scott Dixon 36 4 Alexander Rossi 32 5 Callum Ilott 30 Source:
Engine manufacturer standings Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 91 2 Chevrolet 72 Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included.
References