2021 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

The 2021 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the second round of the 2021 IndyCar season. The race was held on April 25, 2021, in St. Petersburg, Florida. The race lasted for 100 laps, and was won by Colton Herta.

2021 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Race details
2nd round of the 2021 IndyCar season
Date	April 25, 2021
Official name	Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Location	Streets of St. Petersburg
Course	Temporary street circuit 1.800 mi / 2.897 km
Distance	100 laps 180.000 mi / 289.682 km
Pole position
Driver	Colton Herta (Andretti Autosport)
Time	01:00.3210
Fastest lap
Driver	Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time	01:01.4568 (on lap 67 of 100)
Podium
First	Colton Herta (Andretti Autosport)
Second	Josef Newgarden (Team Penske)
Third	Simon Pagenaud (Team Penske)
Chronology
Previous Next 2020 2022

Background

The race was originally due to take place on 7 March 2021 as the opening round of the championship, but the COVID-19 pandemic was still a concern for event organisers and IndyCar officials as the 2020 race was postponed from March to October. On January 6, 2021, the race was rescheduled to 25 April 2021 so the event can accommodate more fans with loosening restrictions but it was capped to 20,000 fans to attend.^[1]

Entry list

Further information: 2021 IndyCar Series § Contracted teams and drivers

Key	Meaning
R	Rookie
W	Past winner

No.	Driver	Team	Engine
2	Josef Newgarden  W	Team Penske	Chevrolet
3	Scott McLaughlin  R	Team Penske	Chevrolet
4	Dalton Kellett	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet
5	Patricio O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet
7	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet
8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
12	Will Power  W	Team Penske	Chevrolet
14	Sébastien Bourdais  W	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet
15	Graham Rahal  W	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
18	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda
20	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Chevrolet
26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport	Honda
27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda
28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Honda
29	James Hinchcliffe  W	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda
30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
48	Jimmie Johnson  R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
51	Romain Grosjean  R	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing	Honda
59	Max Chilton	Carlin	Chevrolet
60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda
SOURCE [2]

Practice

Practice 1

There were 2 red flags during the session, one at the start due to timing and scoring issues, causing the session to be extended by 10 minutes, and another at the end after Sebastien Bourdais spun and stalled his car.^[3]

Top Practice Speeds

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Lap Time
1	2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	1:00.8029
2	12	Will Power	Team Penske	Chevrolet	1:00.8102
3	26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport	Honda	1:00.8348
OFFICIAL REPORT

Practice 2

Top Practice Speeds

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Lap Time
1	2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	1:00.0622
2	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	1:00.1749
3	60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	1:00.2192
OFFICIAL REPORT

Qualifying

Qualifying classification

The field was split into two groups of twelve drivers, with the top 6 of each group progressing to the Fast 12. The top 6 of the Fast 12 proceeded to the Firestone Fast 6.

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Time				Final grid
					Round 1		Round 2	Round 3
					Group 1	Group 2
1	26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport	Honda	01:00.3659	N/A	01:00.2207	01:00.3210	1
2	60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	N/A	01:00.5028	01:00.4262	01:00.5709	2
3	2	Josef Newgarden  W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	N/A	01:00.4437	01:00.3428	01:00.6078	3
4	22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Chevrolet	01:00.6375	N/A	01:00.4385	01:00.6353	4
5	14	Sébastien Bourdais  W	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	01:00.7182	N/A	01:00.3573	01:01.0017	5
6	5	Patricio O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	01:00.6026	N/A	01:00.3999	01:01.0799	6
7	21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	N/A	01:00.5414	01:00.4858	N/A	7
8	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	01:00.7921	N/A	01:00.4997	N/A	8
9	15	Graham Rahal  W	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	N/A	01:00.4825	01:00.5678	N/A	9
10	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	N/A	01:00.6521	01:00.6220	N/A	10
11	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	01:00.2949	N/A	01:00.6476	N/A	11
12	29	James Hinchcliffe  W	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda	N/A	01:00.6368	01:00.8671	N/A	12
13	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Honda	01:00.8524	N/A	N/A	N/A	13
14	3	Scott McLaughlin  R	Team Penske	Chevrolet	N/A	01:00.7044	N/A	N/A	14
15	30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	01:00.9167	N/A	N/A	N/A	15
16	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	N/A	01:00.7058	N/A	N/A	16
17	7	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	01:00.9569	N/A	N/A	N/A	17
18	51	Romain Grosjean  R	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing	Honda	N/A	01:00.8127	N/A	N/A	18
19	20	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	01:01.4220	N/A	N/A	N/A	19
20	12	Will Power  W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	N/A	01:01.1140	N/A	N/A	20
21	18	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda	01:01.4453	N/A	N/A	N/A	21
22	59	Max Chilton	Carlin	Chevrolet	N/A	01:01.5065	N/A	N/A	22
23	48	Jimmie Johnson  R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	01:01.8364	N/A	N/A	N/A	23
24	4	Dalton Kellett	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	N/A	01:02.3396	N/A	N/A	24
Source:[4][5][6][7]

Notes

• Bold text indicates fastest time set in session.

Warmup

Warmup

Top Practice Speeds

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Lap Time
1	26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport	Honda	01:00.6632
2	30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	01:00.6768
3	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	01:00.8092
Source:[8]

Race

Race classification

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Laps	Time/Retired	Pit Stops	Grid	Laps Led	Pts.
1	26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport	Honda	100	1:51:51.4115	2	1	97	54
2	2	Josef Newgarden  W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	100	+2.4933	2	3		40
3	22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Chevrolet	100	+6.1496	2	4	1	36
4	60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	100	+8.0833	2	2		32
5	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	100	+8.9497	2	8		30
6	30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	100	+11.6802	2	15		28
7	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	100	+11.9393	2	16		26
8	12	Will Power  W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	100	+13.2363	3	20		24
9	21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	100	+13.7194	2	7		22
10	14	Sébastien Bourdais  W	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	100	+15.9951	2	5		20
11	3	Scott McLaughlin  R	Team Penske	Chevrolet	100	+17.5926	3	14		19
12	7	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	100	+18.5638	3	17		18
13	51	Romain Grosjean  R	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing	Honda	100	+22.7276	3	18		17
14	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Honda	100	+24.1275	3	13		16
15	15	Graham Rahal  W	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	100	+24.7928	3	9		15
16	20	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	100	+48.1603	5	19		14
17	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	99	+1 Lap	2	10	2	14
18	29	James Hinchcliffe  W	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda	99	+1 Lap	3	12		12
19	5	Patricio O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	99	+1 Lap	3	6		11
20	18	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda	99	+1 Lap	5	21		10
21	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	98	+2 Laps	3	11		9
22	48	Jimmie Johnson  R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	95	+5 Laps	3	23		8
23	4	Dalton Kellett	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	67	Off Course	2	23		7
24	59	Max Chilton	Carlin	Chevrolet	18	Mechanical	1	22		6
Fastest lap: Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) – 01:01.4568 (lap 67)
Source:[9]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Álex Palou 67 2 Will Power 65 3 Scott Dixon 65 4 Colton Herta 62 5 Simon Pagenaud 54 Source:[10]

Engine manufacturer standings Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 178 2 Chevrolet 148 Source:

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.