2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Race Notes

• The 2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was 100 laps on the 14-turn, 1.8-mile temporary street circuit totaling 180 miles. The pit road speed was 50 mph and the fuel window was 19–40 laps under green-flag conditions, depending on pit strategy.
• Pole sitter Romain Grosjean gridded drivers' left and the green flag to start the race was shown the third time by the start-line flag stand. Indy car race winner Oriol Servia drove the Honda Civic Type-R pace car.
• Five minutes before the scheduled green-flag time, the ambient temperature was 83 degrees with partly cloudy skies. The track temperature was 114 degrees according to Firestone engineers.
• At 12:25 p.m. EST, golfing legend Annika Sorenstam gave the command, "Drivers, start your engines." All 27 engines fired and all cars rolled on the grid.
• All cars but those of Scott McLaughlin, Felix Rosenqvist, Scott Dixon, Will Power, Alexander Rossi, Josef Newgarden, Santino Ferrucci, Graham Rahal, Calllum Ilott and Benjamin Pedersen started on alternate green-sidewalled Firestone Firehawk tires. Each car was required to use one set of new alternate ties and one set of primary tires during the race, unless rain tires were used in the race due to weather.
• Grosjean led the field into Turn 1, however the race slowed almost immediately when a multi-car incident in Turn 3 brought out a yellow flag. The race was subsequently red flagged for a total of 19 minutes and 25 seconds while INDYCAR tended to the drivers involved and cleared the track.
  • Seven cars were involved in the incident: No. 6 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet of Rosenqvist, No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Helio Castroneves, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet of Ferrucci, No. 29 Andretti Autosport Honda of Devlin DeFrancesco, No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda of Sting Ray Robb, No. 55 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet of Benjamin Pedersen, and No. 06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Simon Pagenaud.
  • All drivers who were unable to continue in the race were checked and released from the IU Health INDYCAR Medical Unit, including DeFrancesco whose car went airborne after being hit by Pedersen.
  • Engines re-fired at 12:54 p.m. and yellow-flag conditions resumed.
• The race restarted at the conclusion of Lap 5 and continued free of incidents for 22 laps until the caution flag flew again, kicking off a string of three cautions.
  • Lap 37: The No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet of Conor Daly made contact in Turn 9 and was stopped on course. During the four-lap caution, the leaders were McLaughlin, Grosjean, Pato O'Ward, Marcus Ericsson and Dixon.
  • Lap 42: The No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet of Rinus VeeKay made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 4, collecting the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda of Jack Harvey. Subsequently, the No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda of Kyle Kirkwood vaulted over Harvey's car after contact. Out of an abundance of caution, Harvey was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation but was in stable condition. The caution lasted for seven laps and the race returned to green-flag running at the conclusion of Lap 49.
  • Lap 50: The No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda of Colton Herta made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 8 after earlier contact with the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet of Will Power. Power was assessed a penalty for avoidable contact and was sent to the back of the field while Herta left the race. The race returned to green at the end of Lap 54.
• Dominance continued for leader McLaughlin and second-place Grosjean — the pair had swapped positions during the first round of green-flag pit stops — until they came together in Turn 3 on Lap 72 while battling for the lead. The incident ended Grosjean's race while McLaughlin was able to continue but ended up finishing a lap down.
• With McLaughlin and Grosjean out of the race, O'Ward inherited the lead on Lap 74 followed by Ericsson in the second position and Dixon in third.
• On Lap 97, O'Ward's car experienced a "plenum event" and momentarily lost power coming out of Turn 14, allowing Ericsson to sweep to the lead on the frontstretch. O'Ward dropped to second but was able to keep Dixon behind him.
• Ericsson went on to lead the final four laps of the race and took the checkered flag with a 2.4113-second margin of victory.
• The result was Ericsson's fourth series victory and first of 2023. His last win came at the 2022 Indianapolis 500. The victory also marked Chip Ganassi's second win in St. Petersburg, having previously won with Dario Franchitti in 2011.
• O'Ward finished second, his 14th podium and 24th top-five finish in 56 starts. The result matched his best finish at St. Petersburg.
• Dixon finished third, his seventh podium finish at St. Petersburg and the 132nd podium of his Indy car career. It was also his 193rd top-five finish, which ties Mario Andretti's all-time record.
• Callum Ilott finished fifth, his best result since joining the series. His previous best finish of eighth was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in May 2022.
• Championship points after the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg:
  1. Ericsson 51
  2. O'Ward 41
  3. Dixon 36
  4. Rossi 32
  5. Ilott 30
  6. Rahal 28
  7. Power 26
  8. Palou 24
  9. Lundgaard 22
  10. Malukas 21
      

Session Notes

• Warm-up for the 2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg began on time at 9 a.m. EST. The session was 30 minutes in duration.
• There were no incidents that interrupted warm-up, which ran green from flag to flag.
• Colton Herta ended the session with the fastest lap in the No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda: 1:00.5886.
  

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 27. 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 St. Petersburg began on time at 2:15 p.m. EST.
• Fifteen minutes prior to the start time, the ambient temperature at the temporary street circuit was 82 degrees with fair skies. The track temperature was 119 degrees according to Firestone engineers.
• Immediately after the start of the session with Group 1, the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet of Santino Ferrucci was judged to have left its pit box early. Ferrucci was issued a drive-through penalty for violating Rule 9.3.1.7 which involves not following the direction of INDYCAR.
• Near the end of Group 1 qualifying, the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Simon Pagenaud made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 4. New rules in 2023 allow for stopping the clock for the first red flag of a qualifying segment which allowed INDYCAR to provide drivers one timed lap to finish Group 1. Pagenaud, however, was assessed a penalty and stripped of his two fastest laps and the ability to advance for causing a red flag.
• Group 2 and Round 2 ran without incident, except for a local yellow penalty levied against the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda of Jack Harvey during Round 2 qualifying. For running afoul of Rule 8.3.5.4, Harvey lost his fastest lap but was still able to advance to the Firestone Fast Six.
• Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, Romain Grosjean, Pato O'Ward, Marcus Ericsson and Scott McLaughlin competed in the Firestone Fast Six for the NTT P1 Award.
• Due to the round having guaranteed green-flag time, the two red flags during the Firestone Fast Six stopped the clock:
  • Almost immediately after its start time at 3:17 p.m., a red flag was displayed for Round 3 when the No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda of Kyle Kirkwood made contact with the barrier in Turn 14. The car later came to rest near pit entry.
  • With 14 seconds left on the clock, the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet of Scott McLaughlin made contact in Turn 12 and spun off course in Turn 13.
• Both drivers lost their two fastest laps for causing red flags.
• Grosjean ended the final round of qualifying with the fastest lap: 59.5532 seconds. The effort marked his second career pole position. Grosjean's first pole was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in May 2021.
  

Session Notes

• Practice 2 started 10 minutes after its scheduled time with a 10:10 a.m. EST green flag. The session consisted of 45 minutes of green-flag time in a one-hour window, allowing for 15 minutes of red flags with the clock stopped.
• Three red flags slowed the action during Practice 2:
  • Fourteen minutes into practice, the No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda of Romain Grosjean stopped of course in Turn 13. Grosjean was assessed a five-minute time penalty for causing the five-minute red flag. The driver was able to continue in the session, ultimately finishing with the seventh-fastest lap.
  • Six minutes after returning to green-flag running, the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda of Sting Ray Robb made contact with the barrier in Turn 3. Robb was able to exit his race car without assistance from the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team and was later checked and released by the IU Health INDYCAR Medical Unit.
  • Near the end of the session, the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Scott Dixon made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 4. The five-minute stoppage caused the 15-minute buffer to be exceeded, forcing the clock to begin counting down. Dixon exited his race car without assistance, and was later checked and released by the care center.
• Less than three minutes were on the clock following the third red flag for Dixon and most drivers had switched to alternate green-sidewalled Firestone tires.
• Colton Herta and the No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda ended the session with the fastest lap: 1:00.0779.
• The top 12 was separated by less than a second, with 0.9547 seconds separating Herta and 12-fastest Jack Harvey.
  

Session Notes

• The start time for Practice 1, the first on-track action of the 2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg race weekend, was delayed by 15 minutes. The session went green at 3:15 p.m. EST.
• The first of three red flags emerged 10 minutes into practice when the No. 55 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet of Benjamin Pedersen went off course in Turn 4. Pedersen was assessed a five-minute time penalty for causing the three-minute red flag.
• Eight minutes after practice resumed, INDYCAR issued a red flag for a track inspection focused on the surface of Turn 3. The second stoppage was six minutes in duration.
• At 3:52 p.m., Simon Pagenaud stopped on track in Turn 4 and required assistance. For running afoul of Rule 7.1.4.1.1, Pagenaud was assessed a five-minute time penalty.
• Following the two-minute red flag for Pagenaud, the remainder of Practice 1 ran under a green flag.
• At the conclusion of 75 minutes, Scott Dixon's 1:01.6145 in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was the fastest lap turned by the 27-driver field.