Cplton Herta led this morning’s final warm up for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, edging Josef Newgarden by 0.27 seconds. Herta’s quick lap of 1:00.328 came late in the session.
Two red flags interrupted action. The first was for Jimmie Johnson who spun and stopped on track. the second came with just about three minutes remaining. Cars returned to the track for one timed lap.
Romain Grosjean had some adventures in turn 1. He tried to pass a car on the inside, locked his brakes, and went into the run off area. The car he tried to pass narrowly avoided a collision and continued.
Grosjean points his car in the right direction after sliding into the run-off area.
Later Grosjean and Helio Castroneves went side by side into the first turn. The cars made contact but continued without any issues.
8:45AM – 9:15AM NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warm Up Peacock 9:30AM – 10:30AM Indy Lights Race Peacock 10:45AM – 11:25AM USF2000 Race 2 11:50AM NTT INDYCAR SERIES Driver Introductions 12:30PM Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding NTT INDYCAR SERIES Race (100 Laps) NBC coverage begins at noon
It’s time to begin the 2022 season. Thye Grand Prix of St. Petersburg begins at 12:30 PM Eastern time on NBC.
I still like Colton Herta to win today, but any of the top five candidates could take the checkered flag. Look for a possibly chaotic race with pit strategy possibly deciding the outcome,
Scott McLaughlin answers a question after winning the pole Saturday.
The start will be interesting with Team Penske teammates Scott McLaughlin and Will Power on the front row. It’s McLaughlin’s first pole in Indycar. Will he have a decent pace for the start?
Alternate tires are an unknown factor heading into today’s race. In yesterday’s post qualifying press conference, Will Power was asked how long he thought the reds will last. He answered,
‘Yeah, it’s a good question because no one has done more than two laps on them. We heat cycled them and did another one or two laps. Yeah, that will be an interesting story tomorrow because I don’t even think in warmup you’ll be able to tell because the condition will be so cool and good, you won’t get a feel for is it going to go off or not.”
The temperature for the morning warmup will be 71 degrees. By race time it will climb to 78 and stay there for the entire race.
The Rookie Factor
Kyle Kirkwood is the only rookie starting in the top half of the grid. No other first year driver starts higher than 15 (Christian Lundgaard.). How this group reacts in traffic and handles pit stops may affect other drivers and alter the outcome.
I look for a mostly clean race from these six. They have had enough race experience. Some of them have not made a lot of pit stops. In the warmup, we might see the rookies pitting frequently to practice pit procedures.
Big Movers?
Drivers who should finish ahead of where they start- Josef Newgarden (9th), Alex Palou (10th), Graham Rahal (11th), Pato O’Ward (16th), and Helio Castroneves (17th). Cautions should the ones further back on the grid.
It will be great to get the new season underway. Enjoy the race.
Scott McLaughlin turned a sizzling final lap as time expired to win the pole for tomorrow’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Presented by RP Funding. He edged teammate Will Power, who will start on the front row for the 12th time at St. Pete.
Scott McLaughlin on his pole winning lap
Group 1 in Round 1 ended with six different teams advancing, including A. J Foyt Racing with Kyle Kirkwood, Ed Carpenter Racing driver Rinus Veekay. Colton Herta led the round with a time of 59.466 seconds, followed by Graham Rahal, VeeKay, Scott Dixon, Kirkwood, and Josef Newgarden.
Group 2 saw Power lead with a lap of 59,394 seconds, followed by McLaughlin, Romain Grosjean, Simon Pagenaud, Marcus Ericsson, Alex Palou. Palou and Grosjean recovered from heavy damage in the morning practice.
The second round saw a great battle for the lead between Power, Grosjean, McLaughlin, and Herta, with Power taking the round. Power set a track record with his lap of 59.346 seconds.
Will Power
The Firestone Fast Six looked to be comfortably in Power’s grasp as Herta, Grosjean, and Pagenaud all failed to beat his time. McLaughlin’s final lap was 0.12 seconds better than his teammate. The second year driver has earned his first career pole.
Two drivers and teams who had great drives today- Kyle Kirkwood of A. J. Foyt Racing and Rinus VeeKay of Ed Carpenter Racing. Neither team is known for their prowess on road and street courses, nut today may be a sign that the situation could be about to change. Kirkwood finished fifth in Round 1. The rookie has shown in two days how talented he is.
VeeKay appears to be fully recovered from the shoulder injury he suffered mid -season last year. VeeKay was third in Round 1, sixth in Round 2, will start fourth tomorrow.
Scott McLaughlin led a disjointed practice session interrupted by three red flags, which consumed nearly a third of the time allotted. Indycar plans to extend sessions in this instance when possible. A street event, with a packed schedule, does not allow for time extensions.
McLaughlin, in his second Indycar season, posted a time of 0.59.734, the only lap under 60 seconds so far. Colton Herta was second for the second day in a row, 0.351 seconds behind.
Simon Pagenaud, fourth on Friday moved up to third.
Romain Grosjean, yesterday’s leader, was involved in a multicar incident. He ran into the back of a slowing Takuma Sato.
The first red flag flew 20 minutes into the session when Jack Harvey clipped the turn 9 wall. The last red flag with about five minutes left involved 2021 series champion Alex Palou, who had a hard hit at turn 9. The session restarted for one more lap.
Ed Carpenter Racing had a strong practice with Rinus VeeKay sixth and Conor Daly 11th. Rookie Kyle Kirkwood, 12th Friday, improved to eighth this morning.
8:00AM – 8:45AM Indy Pro 2000 Race 2 9:00AM – 9:45AM NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 2 Peacock 10:00AM – 10:45AM Mazda MX-5 Cup Race 2 11:00AM – 12:00PM SRO GT America Race 2 12:30PM – 1:45PM NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying Peacock
2:00 PM-2:30 PM Indy Lights Autograph Session Fan Village
3:00 PM- 4:00 PM Indycar Autograph Session Fan Village
4:00 PM-6:00 PM Party in the Park North Straub Park
8:00 PM Fireworks
On track activity is packed into just five hours today. The Indycar field has just 45 minutes to prepare for qualifying. Andretti Autosport had three drivers in the top 10 Friday while Team Penske and Rahal letterman Lanigan Racing each had two drivers near the top. The team that puzzled me the most was Arrow McLaren SP, who had Felix Rosenqvist 16th and Pato O’Ward 20th.
Chip Ganassi Racing didn’t have any driver higher than 15th place Marcus Ericsson.
The practice round today will be run in cooler conditions than Fridy’s late day session. The temperature at 12:30 when qualifying starts is expected to be 76 degrees and sunny, rising to 78 by the time the Fast Six begins.
Indycsr decided not to alter it’s qualifying format in spite of a larger full time grid and even more cars at some events. We saw a few cars backed up in turn 10 yesterday trying to make a gap, but not a huge line. A qualifying round may look different.
Yesterday’s fastest driver, Romain Grosjean, said about his session,
“I think we’ve got a very, very strong baseline, but I think there’s a little bit more to come if we put it all together. Hopefully we can find that and have fun for the rest of the weekend.”
Will Power said about qualifying this season,
“It will be very tight qualifying sessions, and it’ll come down to whether you get a clean lap and don’t get held up, if someone doesn’t back up or you don’t go through a yellow. Yeah, it’s going to be that sort of year, which is great. I think it’s very good, very fun.”
Today will be a fun day. Practice and qualifying can be seen on Peacock.
New year, different team, but Romain Grosjean hasn’t missed a beat. The second year driver led the first practice of the season at the Firestone Grand Prix this afternoon. Grosjean’s first run for Andretti Autosport turned a quick lap of 1:01.0525. His teammate, Colton Herta, was second fastest, 0.1042 seconds behind.
Six teams finished in the top 10, including three who switched teams for 2022- Grosjean, Simon Pagenaud, and Jack Harvey. Rookie David Malukas ended the session 10th.
Among the other rookies, Kyle Kirkwood was 12th, Devlin DeFrancesco 13th, Callum Ilott 22nd, Christian Lundgaard 25, and Tataiana Calderon 26th.
Defending series champion Alex Palou ended the day 17th, Marcus Ericsson in 15 was the fastest of the Ganassi drivers.
The session was halted briefly when Jimmie Johnson went into the runoff area in Turn 10 and returned to the track with his brakes on fire.
Some notes from wandering around the track this morning and some quotes from driver interviews.
The Grand Prix is back to full concessions and vendor booths. In 2021 food and vendors were fewer than normal. Sadly, Wild Bill’s Root Beer stand is still missing. The crowd came late,but is now a healthy Friday attendance. The late arrivals have may been because of the late start for the first Indycar practice.
Some photos from the paddock:
Pato O’WardCallum Ilott
Herta Sets Plaque
Colton Herta took his place permanently in St. Petersburg racing history as he placed his plaque on the winner’s monument just behind Dan Wheldon Way. Of the now twelve names on the stone column, six are no longer racing in the series.
Herta’s nameplate completes the front side of the winner’s stone.
I’ll be back later with some driver quotes from this morning and a practice wrapup.
Indy lights just completed their qualifying session. Hunter McElreay won the pole.
The eighteenth Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg began late this morning with a gala luncheon. Drivers from each of the series racing on the downtown streets were present. Mayor Ken Welch, who will serve as the race’s Grand Marshall, welcomed everyone. The race expects a record crowd for the three day long event.
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch
The drivers each gave brief remarks.
I chatted with Takuma Sato, David Malukas, and Kyle Kirkwood.
Sato is enjoying his new team, Dale Coyne Racing.
Takuma Sato
“I love it. Right obviously you know some nervousness but it’s a lot of excitement in a new team new boys engineers and you know, I’m happily settling. So very, very good.”
About his rookie teammate, Sato said,
“…he’s obviously the one of the upcoming young drivers, is very bright and cheerful and he’s been quick to learn so I think we have a really good opportunity to work together.”
Sato is excited for this weekend, but thinks there are a lot of unknowns.
“Well, I would say you know, re are little unknown factors but yeah, that’s how it is and in particular for the first practice for the day.”
David Malukas
Sato’s teammate, David Malukas is eager to begin his Indycar career. He ha d a lot of praise for Sato, who was on his radio during the first test day at Sebring.
“Sebring was great. I mean, the first day was amazing, I think we ended up being like P two on the time. It’s like I was always surprised. Second day, we tried many different changes, because the whole goal we’re not winning Sebring. We didn’t want to chase the car to try to get ready for today. And we found some pluses somewhere like confusing, but in the end we were exactly right. After three months off, I was like really impressed with the car. I was like, What do I do? Takuma has been a big help. Oh, of course. I mean, he has so much expertise and he helped me so incredibly. Like he helped me so much the first day; he didn’t actually drive so like he had the headset on and he was talking to me telling me some information like what I should do. He’s awesome. He’s so friendly.”
Malukas is concerned about pit stops and driving on the alternate tires. About the red tires, he said,
“So I hear rumors. I heard some rumors that like actually sometimes the car’s slower with it because it’s so much grip and it’s so hard that they don’t want you to stand on it, I don’t know. Hopefully we could see like, I mean, there’s a big jump with it. Hopefully we can figure it out and hope like I still hold on to the wheel. Because I heard it gets even heavier.”
Pit stops are totally new to Malukas, but he thinks the walls and the limiter may help him.
“Oh, that’s still very new to me. We did some practice and man I’m not gonna lie I was pretty bad. Takuma did it like perfectly every time so that’s gonna be, I think, the hard part for me is getting it right. I’ve never done that my whole life. So we’ll see how it goes. I think now you know that I like an actual wall and there’s people everywhere. I think it’d be a bit easier because you know, at Sebring we’re trying to simulate a situation with tires, everything and it just wasn’t good. So we’ll see.”
Kyle Kirkwood
Kyle Kirkwood is happy with how testing went last week and appreciates the help he has received from his A. J. Foyt Racing teammates, Dalton Kellett and Tatiana Calderon.
“Dalton has obviously a wealth of knowledge as well as engineering capabilities and Tatiana hsa a lot of experience. She n a lot of different cars, so there’s a lot of things that she’s been able to add to the team that are just like I’ve never really thought to do that.”
Kirkwood is uncertain how the alternate tires will perform.
“They changed this weekend. I don’t know what’s gonna happen. I think from my knowledge, looking at the seat they’re gonna be quicker but they’re going to go away faster. I don’t know what made you know, I’ll let you know I’ve never driven on red tire so that’s what I was wondering. Yeah, anticipation. I’ll let you know after the first practice.”
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 