Palou opens title defense in style with St. Petersburg victory

Yesterday at 04:10 PM

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg saw Alex Palou lead the field of 27 drivers and 11 teams home to earn the first victory of the year. Palou crossed the finish line 2.867s ahead of second-place Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon as the duo secured a 1-2 for themselves and Honda. Team Penske's Josef Newgarden held second until the closing lap but an electronics issue demoted him to third; he was the first driver home for Chevrolet.

St. Pete’s warm 100-lap contest was run under clear blue skies and what appeared to be the largest turnout across three days at the 1.8-mile street course in decades.

"It's massive," Palou said of starting his championship defense with a victory. "It shows everybody in the shop that their work means a lot. Super happy that we got the win, amazing job by HRC and the No. 10 team. So hungry for more."

For Dixon, who has finished second at St. Petersburg a half-dozen times, the race was turned on its head for him as a radio problem meant he pitted from the lead one lap later than intended. The unanticipated deviation from race strategy left Dixon in a sour state.

"I’m pretty ," he said, after hearing nothing from the team and using a low-fuel warning on the dash to know when to pit. "We had a good race going, and you know, we didn’t get it done. Doesn’t feel good, that’s for sure."

Newgarden rallied from 10th and got close to challenging Palou for the win, but had to give up on that pursuit, and his hold on second, when an electronics matter—a mis-shift—required the Penske driver to attend to the issue, which let Dixon by for second.

"We had a shift that was unexpected, with a lap to go, and we just had to hit the emergency button, which was unfortunate," he said. "We started that last lap in emergency mode, and then said, 'You just have to pull the chute here, just finish.' It happens. Really pleased to come out of here with points."

It wasn't the most entertaining race during the first 90 laps or so, but thanks to Sting Ray Robb, who was fighting to stay on the lead lap, Palou's sizable lead over Newgarden was progressively surrendered. What was slightly over 5s was whittled down to 4s and then 2s. Over the final minutes, it was culled to less than 1s as Palou appeared helpless to get by as Robb used all but eight seconds of his push-to-pass to stay ahead of the leader.

Palou got by with five laps to go, recovered more of his margin over Newgarden, and was relieved when the mis-shift intervened and cruised to the checkered flag under no pressure.

Behind the podium, polesitter Scott McLaughlin owned the race after leading 40 laps, but he was bitten by tire choice as the race played out. Starting on the more durable primary Firestones, a first-lap crash and caution gave those who started on the short-life alternates a chance to complete the two mandatory laps on each of the two compounds, pit at the end of lap two, and spend the rest of the race on primaries.

Palou, Dixon and Newgarden opened on alternates, shed them during the caution, and spent the rest of the race on the preferred tire. McLaughlin, on primaries, wasn't treated to another caution to try and make the tire change and get off the alternates in an advantageous manner. He sank after pitting for alternates on lap 33, fought his way back to fourth, but had the potential to score the win if not for the way strategy fell.

Of the other notable finishers, Pato O'Ward turned a 23rd-place start into a 11th-place finish to salvage something positive from a frustrating weekend. Two spots ahead, Rinus VeeKay put in a stellar performance for Dale Coyne Racing, claiming ninth on debut for IndyCar's smallest team.

The race opened with a big crash at Turn 3—an annual tradition that left Will Power, Nolan Siegel, and Louis Foster wrecked and out of the contest—and Pato O'Ward with a tire puncture that required a pit stop on the second lap.

KEY MOMENT

The last round of pit stops is where the race came alive. Suffering from a lack of radio communication with his team, Dixon, the leader at the time, pitted one lap later than desired. The original plan, on the team side, was to pit Dixon on lap 72, but they weren't able to share the instruction. Palou did receive the call and stopped on lap 72, which turned into an unanticipated strategy undercut on Dixon. Palou got in, had a fast stop, executed an excellent out-lap on cold tires, and when Dixon pitted and left on lap 73, Palou had eked out enough of a lead to have Dixon return to the track behind the teammate he'd led moments prior.

RACE NOTES

McLaughlin rocketed away from pole on Firestone primary tires and had a clear lead into Turn 1 over P2 Colton Herta on alternates.

The green flag lasted three corners until Siegel had to hit the brakes at the apex of Turn 3 in reaction to a slowing car ahead of him and got nerfed from behind by an innocent Power who was hit by an equally innocent Foster. Three corners into the first race and two of IndyCar's three rookies and a perennial championship contender were out.

A number of drivers pitted at the end of lap two to change from their alternate tires onto primaries. Herta was the first to pit, and he returned in P10 with Newgarden, Dixon, Palou, Kyle Kirkwood, Rinus VeeKay, and others behind him.

Coming back to green on lap eight, McLaughlin led Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Armstrong, Christian Lundgaard, the vaulting Alexander Rossi, and the rest of the nine drivers who started on long-run primaries.

Lap 13 and McLaughlin held 1.1s over Rosenqvist. Armstrong 3.1s back and Lundgaard 4.5s down to the leader.

Lap 20 and Rosenqvist stayed with McLaughlin at 1.2s behind but they pulled away from Armstrong (4.3s) and Lundgaard (6.7s).

Pato O'Ward pitted on lap 25 for a fresh set of primaries; he started on primaries, switched to alternates after two laps after suffering a puncture, and dropped to 25th and last as a result of two early stops.

At the one-quarter mark of the race, McLaughlin led all 25 laps and had 1.3s over Rosenqvist.

Lap 29 and McLaughlin's lead over Rosenqvist doubled to 2.5s. Rosenqvist pitted on lap 32. He returned in 16th. McLaughlin dove in one lap later and returned in ninth on alternates. Marcus Armstrong inherited the lead before pitting on lap 36.

Herta pitted on lap 37 — a long stop with a recalcitrant right-rear tire.

Trouble in the pits for Colton Herta. #INDYCARpic.twitter.com/aVnXFo8JHx

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) March 2, 2025

With the cycle complete, McLaughlin was back and leading with ease, holding 8.8s over Armstrong, 10.9s over Lundgaard and 11.7 on Rosenqvist.

Lap 45 and Armstrong came in to trade alternates for primaries but lost time with a left-rear suspension inspection after he tapped the wall. McLaughlin came in a lap later to do the same alternates-for-primaries trade.

Lap 47 and Rosenqvist got new primaries. Lundgaard inherited the lead.

Lap 48 and Herta pits to fill his fuel tank; there was an issue getting it topped up on the last stop. Armstrong pits and retires with a suspension issue.

At halfway, Lundgaard held 1.7s over Rossi. Both need to pit and run alternates; they're the only two who haven't, along with Callum Ilott.

Lap 65 and Rossi pits from P2 to take alternates.

Lap 67 and Lundgaard has Dixon 1.1s behind, Newgarden 2.8s back, and Palou 4.1s arrears. Lundgaard's slowing pace was bringing his pursuers closer, but also disadvantaging them. He finally pits for alternates on lap 70.

Lap 71 and Newgarden came in for primaries and exited ahead of Lundgaard and Rossi.

Lap 73 and Dixon pits one lap after Palou. Running order was McLaughlin who needs to pit, Palou, Dixon, and Newgarden.

Lap 74 and McLaughlin comes in. Newgarden passes Dixon in Turn 1 for P3.

Three-quarter distance and Palou had 5.1s over Newgarden and 5.7s on Dixon.

Lap 79 and Newgarden turned his best lap to cut the lead to 5.2s.

Lap 85 and Newgarden was lapping 0.5s faster than Palou and had the lead down to 4.5s. Palou was stuck behind Sting Ray Robb running in P21.

The lead was down to 2.0s by lap 89. A lap later and it was 1.6s with Robb holding his place, down to 0.8s on lap 91, to 0.6 on lap 93, then stabilized at 0.7s on lap 94.

Lap 95 and Palou finally passed Robb in Turn 1. Once they got to Turn 3, Robb moved over for Newgarden and Dixon.

Lap 98 and the lead was 0.9s over Newgarden.

Alex Palou wins by 2.8s over Dixon and Newgarden, who had an issue and fell to third.