The 2022 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was an IndyCar motor race held on February 27, 2022 at the Streets of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was the season opener of the 2022 IndyCar Series. The race lasted for 100 laps.
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| 1st round of the 2022 IndyCar season | |
 Layout of the Streets of St. Petersburg | |
| Date | February 27, 2022 |
| 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 |  Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske) |
| Time | 00:59.4821 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver |  Conor Daly (Ed Carpenter Racing) |
| Time | 01:00.9868 (on lap 53 of 100) |
| Podium | |
| First | Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske) |
| Second |  Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
| Third |  Will Power (Team Penske) |
Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske scored his first pole in qualifying and claimed his first race victory in the series over Álex Palou, after leading the most laps in the race. Will Power, McLaughlin's teammate, finished third to complete the podium.
Background edit
In September 2021, it was announced that St. Petersburg, Florida would host the first race of the 2022 season on February 27, 2022. This marked the first February start for the IndyCar series since the 2004 season and the earliest the season has started since 2003 (at the same circuit).[1]
Colton Herta was the defending race winner, having won the previous Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in 2021.[2]
Entrants edit
26 drivers entered the race, with six of them classified as rookies for the 2022 season. Four rookies made their IndyCar race debut, two of them for A. J. Foyt Enterprises: Kyle Kirkwood made his debut with the team after winning the 2021 Indy Lights championship,[3] alongside former Super Formula and WEC driver Tatiana Calderón, who secured her seat after impressing the team after a test with the team in 2021.[4] 2021 Indy Lights runner-up David Malukas debuted for Dale Coyne Racing, while Canadian driver Devlin DeFrancesco, who had finished sixth in the 2021 Indy Lights championship, debuted for Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport.
| Key | Meaning |
|---|---|
| R | Rookie |
| W | Past winner |
Practice edit
Practice 1 edit
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Lap Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 |  Romain Grosjean
|
Andretti Autosport | Honda | 1:01:0525 |
| 2 | 26 | Colton Herta W
|
Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | 1:01:1567 |
| 3 | 12 | Will Power W
|
Team Penske | Chevrolet | 1:01:2282 |
| Source:[6] | |||||
Practice 2 edit
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Lap Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin
|
Team Penske | Chevrolet | 00:59.7342 |
| 2 | 26 | Colton Herta
|
Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | 01:00.0851 |
| 3 | 60 | Simon Pagenaud
|
Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 01:00.0853 |
| Source:[7] | |||||
Qualifying edit
Qualifying classification edit
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Time | Final grid | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | |||||||
| Group 1 | Group 2 | ||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin
|
Team Penske | Chevrolet | N/A | 00:59.5846 | 00:59.5157 | 00:59.4821 | 1 |
| 2 | 12 | Will Power W
|
Team Penske | Chevrolet | N/A | 00:59.3929 | 00:59.3466 | 00:59.6058 | 2 |
| 3 | 26 | Colton Herta W
|
Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | 00:59.4662 | N/A | 00:59.4051 | 00:59.7104 | 3 |
| 4 | 21 |  Rinus VeeKay
|
Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 00:59.8046 | N/A | 00:59.6232 | 00:59.8102 | 4 |
| 5 | 28 | Romain Grosjean
|
Andretti Autosport | Honda | N/A | 00:59.6267 | 00:59.5559 | 00:59.8116 | 5 |
| 6 | 60 | Simon Pagenaud
|
Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | N/A | 00:59.7039 | 00:59.5881 | 01:00.2041 | 6 |
| 7 | 9 | Scott Dixon
|
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 00:59.8106 | N/A | 00:59.7579 | N/A | 7 |
| 8 | 8 |  Marcus Ericsson
|
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | N/A | 00:59.8815 | 00:59.8241 | N/A | 8 |
| 9 | 2 | Josef Newgarden W
|
Team Penske | Chevrolet | 00:59.9148 | N/A | 00:59.8862 | N/A | 9 |
| 10 | 10 | Álex Palou
|
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | N/A | 00:59.8956 | 00:59.9584 | N/A | 10 |
| 11 | 15 | Graham Rahal W
|
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 00:59.7760 | N/A | 00:59.9870 | N/A | 11 |
| 12 | 14 | Kyle Kirkwood R
|
A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 00:59.8534 | N/A | 01:00.2616 | N/A | 12 |
| 13 | 27 | Alexander Rossi
|
Andretti Autosport | Honda | 00:59.9931 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 13 |
| 14 | 4 |  Dalton Kellett
|
A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | N/A | 00:59.9521 | N/A | N/A | 14 |
| 15 | 30 |  Christian Lundgaard R
|
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 01:00.0276 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 15 |
| 16 | 5 |  Pato O'Ward
|
Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:00.0021 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
| 17 | 06 |  Hélio Castroneves W
|
Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 01:00.1426 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 17 |
| 18 | 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco R
|
Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | Honda | N/A | 01:00.0850 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
| 19 | 77 |  Callum Ilott R
|
Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet | 01:00.2121 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 19 |
| 20 | 20 | Conor Daly
|
Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:00.1921 | N/A | N/A | 20 |
| 21 | 7 | Felix Rosenqvist
|
Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet | 01:00.3918 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 21 |
| 22 | 51 |  Takuma Sato
|
Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:00.2930 | N/A | N/A | 22 |
| 23 | 45 | Jack Harvey
|
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 01:00.5333 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 22 |
| 24 | 18 | David Malukas R
|
Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports | Honda | N/A | 01:00.4601 | N/A | N/A | 24 |
| 25 | 11 |  Tatiana Calderón R
|
A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 01:00.9391 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 25 |
| 26 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson
|
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:01.0273 | N/A | N/A | 26 |
| Source:[8] | |||||||||
- Notes
- Bold text indicates fastest time set in session.
Warmup edit
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Lap Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | Colton Herta W
|
Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | 01:00.3283 |
| 2 | 2 | Josef Newgarden W
|
Team Penske | Chevrolet | 01:00.5971 |
| 3 | 10 | Álex Palou
|
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 01:00.8311 |
| Source:[9] | |||||
Race edit
The race started at 12:00 PM ET on February 27, 2022.
Race classification edit
Championship standings after the race edit
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Note: Only the top five positions are included.
References edit
- ^ "NTT INDYCAR SERIES Announces 17-Race 2022 Schedule". IndyCar.com. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
- ^ Ryan, Nate (2021-04-25). "Colton Herta beats Newgarden to win IndyCar St. Petersburg - NBC Sports". MotorSportsTalk | NBC Sports. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
- ^ "Foyt signs Indy Lights champ Kirkwood full-time for 2022". www.motorsport.com. 10 November 2021. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
- ^ "'Others should learn from IndyCar' - Calderon on debut test". The Race. 2021-07-07. Retrieved 2022-03-01.
- ^ "Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Entry List" (PDF). motorsports.nbcsports.com. February 25, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
- ^ "Practice - Results" (PDF). indycar.com. February 27, 2022. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
- ^ "Practice - Results" (PDF). indycar.com. February 27, 2022. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
- ^ "Qualifications - Results (Road Course Elimination)" (PDF). indycar.com. February 26, 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- ^ "Practice - Results" (PDF). indycar.com. February 27, 2022. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
- ^ a b "Race - Results (11inch) - Final" (PDF). indycar.com. February 27, 2022. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
- ^ "Points - Indycar Engine" (PDF). motorsports.nbcsports.com. March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.