2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg explained

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

Key	Meaning
	Rookie
	Past winner

align=center	!	Driver	Team	Engine
2	Josef Newgarden		Chevrolet
3	Scott McLaughlin		Chevrolet
5			Chevrolet
06	Hélio Castroneves		Honda
6			Chevrolet
7			Chevrolet
8			Honda
9			Honda
10			Honda
11	Marcus Armstrong		Honda
12	Will Power		Chevrolet
14			Chevrolet
15	Graham Rahal		Honda
18			Honda
20			Chevrolet
21		Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
26	Colton Herta		Honda
27			Honda
28			Honda
29			Honda
30			Honda
45			Honda
51	Sting Ray Robb		Honda
55	Benjamin Pedersen		Chevrolet
60			Honda
77			Chevrolet
78	Agustín Canapino		Chevrolet
Source:^[1]

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:^[2]

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:^[3]

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:^[4]

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:^[5]

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.^[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. 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	Pit Stops	Grid	Laps Led
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		5
Fastest lap Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) – 01:01.5104 (lap 68)
Source:^[9]

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:^[10]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.

Notes and References

1. Web site: February 27, 2023. Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg entry list. March 6, 2023.
2. Web site: March 3, 2023. Practice - Results. March 6, 2023. indycar.com.
3. Web site: March 4, 2023. Practice - Results. March 6, 2023. indycar.com.
4. Web site: March 4, 2023. Qualifications - Postings. March 6, 2023. indycar.com.
5. Web site: March 5, 2023. Practice - Results. March 6, 2023. indycar.com.
6. Web site: 2023-03-05 . Airborne wreck on first lap of IndyCar opener causes red flag - NBC Sports . 2023-03-06 . MotorSportsTalk NBC Sports . en-US.
7. Web site: 2023-03-05 . McLaughlin: "Big mistake" took out Grosjean in St. Pete IndyCar battle . motorsport.com . en-US.
8. Web site: 2023-03-05 . Marcus Ericsson wins wild IndyCar opener in St. Petersburg - NBC Sports . 2023-03-06 . MotorSportsTalk NBC Sports . en-US.
9. Web site: March 5, 2023. Race - Results (11inch) - Final. March 6, 2023. indycar.com.
10. Web site: March 5, 2023. Points - Indycar Engine. March 7, 2023. motorsports.nbcsports.com.