2018 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg explained

The 2018 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the first round of the 2018 IndyCar Series. The race was held on March 11, 2018, in St. Petersburg, Florida, on the city's temporary street circuit.

Background

The race was the debut of the new standard aero kits.

Report

Qualifying

Rookie Robert Wickens took the pole in his first ever IndyCar Series start, while newcomers Matheus Leist and Jordan King also made the Firestone Fast Six, qualifying third and fourth, respectively.

Race

The race featured a record number of cautions (8), on-track passes (366) and lead changes (11).^[1]

Robert Wickens lead most of the race, until the last restart, when the 2nd place car of Alexander Rossi attempted a pass down the inside of turn 1. It seemed as though Rossi had completed the move, until he slid up the track, taking Wickens out, and leaving himself to limp home to 3rd in a damaged car.

Results

Icon	Meaning
R	Rookie
W	Past winner

Qualifying

Pos	No.	Name	Grp.	Round 1	Round 2	Firestone Fast 6
1	6	Robert Wickens R	1	1:00.0999	1:00.5428	1:01.6643
2	12	Will Power W	2	1:00.5969	1:00.5911	1:01.7346
3	4	Matheus Leist R	2	1:00.6331	1:00.7679	1:01.7631
4	20	Jordan King R	1	1:00.0476	1:00.7305	1:01.7633
5	30	Takuma Sato	2	1:00.9580	1:00.8470	1:01.8821
6	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	1	1:00.4087	1:00.9243	1:02.0385
7	5	James Hinchcliffe W	2	1:00.8441	1:00.9986
8	88	Gabby Chaves	2	1:00.8507	1:01.1191
9	9	Scott Dixon	2	1:00.8435	1:01.6527
10	14	Tony Kanaan	1	1:00.2828	1:01.7213
11	22	Simon Pagenaud	1	1:00.3242	1:04.6739
12	27	Alexander Rossi	1	1:00.0936	1:07.0377
13	1	Josef Newgarden	1	1:00.4320
14	18	Sébastien Bourdais W	2	1:00.9587
15	26	Zach Veach R	1	1:00.4585
16	21	Spencer Pigot	2	1:00.9668
17	10		1	1:00.5009
18	98	Marco Andretti	2	1:01.3013
19	60	Jack Harvey R	1	1:01.0270
20	59	Max Chilton	2	1:01.3360
21	23	Charlie Kimball	1	1:01.1868
22	19	Zachary Claman DeMelo R	2	1:01.8567
23	32	René Binder R	1	1:01.7003
24	15	Graham Rahal W	2	1:04.0990
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Source for individual rounds:^[2]

Race

		Driver	Team	Engine	Laps	Time/Retired	Pit Stops	Grid	Laps Led
1	18	Sébastien Bourdais W	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda	110	2:17:48.4954	4	14	30	51
2	15	Graham Rahal W	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	110	+0.1269	3	24		40
3	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	110	+0.7109	3	12	5	36
4	5	James Hinchcliffe W	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	Honda	110	+1.5175	3	7		32
5	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Honda	110	+1.9907	4	6	1	31
6	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	110	+2.2716	6	9		28
7	1	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	110	+3.3842	4	13		26
8	10	Ed Jones	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	110	+4.2992	3	17		24
9	98	Marco Andretti	Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian	Honda	110	+4.8363	3	18		22
10	12	Will Power W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	110	+6.1272	4	2		20
11	14	Tony Kanaan	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	110	+6.5176	3	10		19
12	30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	110	+7.4005	5	5		18
13	22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Chevrolet	110	+7.9903	4	11		17
14	88	Gabby Chaves	Harding Racing	Chevrolet	110	+9.2272	4	8		16
15	21	Spencer Pigot	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	109	+1 Lap	6	16		15
16	26	Zach Veach R	Andretti Autosport	Honda	109	+1 Lap	5	15		14
17	19	Zachary Claman DeMelo R	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda	109	+1 Lap	5	22		13
18	6	Robert Wickens R	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports	Honda	108	Contact	3	1	69	16
19	59	Max Chilton	Carlin	Chevrolet	108	+2 Laps	5	20		11
20	23	Charlie Kimball	Carlin	Chevrolet	107	+3 Laps	6	21		10
21	20	Jordan King R	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	107	+3 Laps	5	4	5	10
22	32	René Binder R	Juncos Racing	Chevrolet	100	Contact	5	23		8
23	60	Jack Harvey R	Michael Shank Racing with Schmidt Peterson	Honda	38	Off Course	1	19		7
24	4	Matheus Leist R	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	16	Contact	2	3		6
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

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	Sebastien Bourdais	51
2	Graham Rahal	40
3	Alexander Rossi	36
4	James Hinchcliffe	32
5	Ryan Hunter-Reay	31

Manufacturer standings

Pos	Manufacturer	Points
1	Honda	96
2	Chevrolet	46

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.

External links

• Official Pit Stop Data

Notes and References

1. News: Record-Setting Weekend for IndyCar at St. Pete • The Apex. 2018-03-11. The Apex. 2018-03-12. en-US.
2. News: Race Report: 2018 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg • The Apex - Page 2. 2018-03-11. The Apex. 2018-03-12. en-US.