2022 Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey

Race Notes

• The 2022 Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey was 95 laps on the 11-turn, 2.238-mile WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca road course totaling 212.66 miles. The pit road speed was 45 mph and the pit window was 17–26 laps under green-flag conditions, but cars could have pitted as early as Lap 8 due to strategy.
• Pole sitter Will Power gridded drivers' left and the green flag to start the race was the third time past the start-line flag stand. Indy car race winner Oriol Servia drove the Honda Civic Type R Safety Car during the race.
• At 12:20 p.m. PDT, 10 minutes before the scheduled green-flag time, the ambient temperature was 82 degrees with 57% relative humidity and fair skies. The track temperature was 114 degrees according to Firestone engineers.
• At 12:23 p.m., Olympic bobsled champion Kaillee Humphries gave the command "Drivers, start your engines." All 26 cars started and were rolling on the grid.
• All cars but those of Scott McLaughlin, Felix Rosenqvist, Alex Palou, Christian Lundgaard, Kyle Kirkwood, Graham Rahal, Jack Harvey, Josef Newgarden and Simona De Silvestro started the race on red alternate tires. All cars were required to use one new set of red alternate tires and one set of black primary tires during the race.
• Power led the field into Turn one at the race's start and went on to lead the opening lap, earning a bonus point.
• On Lap 27, Palou passed Power for the lead in Turn 5 and went on to dominate the race, leading a total of 67 laps.
• The race's only full-course caution period began on Lap 37 when the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of Callum Ilott stopped on track in Turn 2 with a mechanical issue. The yellow flag was displayed for three laps.
• Palou went on to take the white flag with a 30.6716-second lead over Josef Newgarden.
• Palou took the checkered flag to win his first race of 2022 and the fourth race of his NTT IndyCar Series career.
• With a third-place finish and 560 total points, Power earned his second series championship on the strength of one victory, nine podium finishes and five NTT P1 Awards. Power's first championship was in 2014, also with Team Penske. He joins five other winners of multiple championships for Team Penske: Rick Mears, Tom Sneva, Al Unser, Gil De Ferrran and Newgarden.
• Championship points after the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey:
  1. Power 560
  2. Newgarden 544 (-16)
  3. Dixon 521 (-39)
  4. McLaugnlin 510 (-50)
  5. Palou 510 (-50)
  6. Ericsson 506 (-54)
  7. O'Ward 480 (-80)
     

Qualifying Notes

• Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award consists of three segments. In the first round, each group receives 10 minutes of track time. The fastest six cars from each group advance to Round 2 while the remaining cars are assigned positions 13 to 26. Group 1 drivers will occupy the odd-numbered positions while Group 2 drivers will occupy the even-numbered positions based on their fastest lap times. During Round 2, the 12 advancing cars receive 10 minutes of track time with the fastest six advancing to the Firestone Fast Six while the remaining cars are ranked in positions seven through 12 based on their fastest laps. During the Firestone Fast Six, the six cars receive six minutes of guaranteed green-flag time. At the end of session, cars are ranked one through six based on their fastest laps.
• Qualifying in Monterey began on time at 2:05 p.m. PDT.
• Five minutes prior to the session's start, the ambient temperature at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was 73 degrees with cloudy skies. The track temperature was 102 degrees according to Firestone Racing engineers.
• Five minutes into Group 1 Round 1, Josef Newgarden spun the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet in the Corkscrew and ended up off course in Turn 8. The incident led to a five-minute red flag that caused Newgarden to be penalized his two fastest laps and the ability to advance. It also ate up valuable time and forced Race Control to extend the session and allow all cars to have a single timed lap. Championship contenders Scott Dixon and Newgarden were unable to make it into the top six to advance to Round 2.
• Aside from local yellows and a pit speed violation for Dalton Kellett, there were no other incidents during the remaining rounds of qualifying.
• Alexander Rossi, Romain Grosjean, Will Power, Pato O'Ward, Alex Palou and Callum Ilott competed in the Firestone Fast Six for the NTT P1 Award. It was Illott's first career appearance in the third round of qualifying.
• Power ended the final round of qualifying with the fastest lap: 1:11.6127. The effort marked his 68th career pole position, setting a new Indy car record for most poles and breaking a tie with Mario Andretti.
  

Session Notes

• The start of Practice 2, originally scheduled at 10:15 a.m. PDT, was delayed by two minutes. The session was 45 minutes in duration with a 60-minute window to account for 15 minutes of red-flag time without having to run down the clock.
• The session was slowed by two red flags:
  • Graham Rahal caused a two-minute stoppage when his No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda spun off course at the Corkscrew.
  • Pato O'Ward's No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet spun off course in Turn 10 and made light contact with the tire barrier, causing a nine-minute red flag.
• Both drivers were assessed five-minute time penalties for causing red flags during practice.
• Alex Palou, who was eliminated from title contention following Round 16 at Portland International Raceway, had the fastest Practice 2 lap: 1:11 3847.
• Three of the five remaining championship contenders were in the top 10: Will Power was third fastest with a 1:11.7183, Josef Newgarden was fourth fastest with a 1:11.7973 and Scott Dixon was sixth fastest with a 1:11.9192.
• The remaining two challengers were farther down the order, with Scott McLaughlin in 18th and Marcus Ericsson in 20th.
  

Session Notes

• Practice 1 for the 2022 Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey began on time at 2:30 p.m. PDT. The session was 75 minutes in duration.
• Just past the halfway point at 3:17 p.m., the session's only red flag came out when the No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Jimmie Johnson made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 6. The incident led to a seven-minute pause in the action. Johnson was penalized five minutes of practice time for causing a red flag.
• At the end of the session, championship contender Josef Newgarden's 1:11.4103 in the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet was fastest overall and 0.4163 seconds quicker than second-fastest Colton Herta.
• The other championship contenders placed throughout the order, with points leader Will Power seventh fastest in the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet with a 1:11.9858. 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson was 10th fastest in the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Scott McLaughlin was 11th quick in the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet and Scott Dixon was 17th fastest in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
• Despite having tested at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in preparation for the season's final race, Dixon's performance and the team's overall was subpar.
• "We came in with a pretty different setup than what we did at the test," said Dixon after practice in a quote supplied by his team. "We just wanted to try a few different things. We could see that the 8 car already backed up on some of those, so it looked like he moved in a positive direction. Still, all of us outside the top 10 is not ideal."