Reigning IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou has won the IndyCar Series season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg. Palou took the lead during the first round of pit stops by staying out longer. Scott McLaughlin, who started from pole position, narrowly held on to second place ahead of Christian Lundgaard.

Immediate trouble on the opening lap

After the green flag waved, pole sitter Scott McLaughlin managed to retain the lead. Rookie Dennis Hauger, who started third, took a cautious approach and was passed by both Alex Palou and Marcus Armstrong.

The entire field made it through the opening corners without issues, but things went wrong in Turn 4: Sting Ray Robb locked up under braking, hit Santino Ferrucci’s car and ended up in the tire barriers together with the American. Debutant Mick Schumacher was unable to avoid Ferrucci’s car and crashed into the back of it. Schumacher and Ferrucci were able to climb out, while Robb had to head to the pits for extensive repairs. Robb received a 30-second stop-and-go penalty for the incident.

McLaughlin retained the lead after the restart, followed by Ericsson and Palou. Behind them, several smaller incidents occurred:

On lap twelve, David Malukas lost a lap due to a puncture.

Will Power became the third retirement after hitting the wall in Turn 10.

Christian Rasmussen lost significant ground following contact with Kyffin Simpson in Turn 1.

McLaughlin loses the lead during first round of pit stops

After 36 laps, McLaughlin was the first of the leaders to pit. One lap later, Ericsson made his stop and rejoined ahead of McLaughlin. McLaughlin immediately launched an attack on the Andretti Global car but was unable to find a way past. Because of this battle, Armstrong — who pitted a lap later — was able to rejoin ahead of the pair. He was first passed by Ericsson in Turn 4, after which Malukas made a bold move around the outside of Armstrong in Turn 10.

The biggest beneficiary of these battles was reigning champion Palou, who made his first pit stop last and rejoined the track as the virtual race leader.

The second caution of the day came on lap 40 after Scott Dixon was overtaken by his own rear wheel. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver had just made a pit stop, during which the right-rear wheel was apparently not fitted correctly. This caution was particularly bad news for race leader Louis Foster and Rinus VeeKay, both of whom were on an alternate pit strategy. They were forced to pit under yellow and dropped outside the top ten.

Palou builds a commanding lead

After the restart, race leader Palou quickly opened a small gap to Ericsson, steadily extending his advantage. Toward the end of the stint, Ericsson began struggling with his softer compound tires much earlier than his rivals, costing him significant time. By the moment McLaughlin managed to pass Ericsson, Palou’s lead had already grown to more than ten seconds.

Starting from fifteenth on the grid, Kyle Kirkwood drove an impressive charge into the top five. An early final pit stop even promoted him to second place, just ahead of McLaughlin. However, the American still had to save a significant amount of fuel, allowing the gap to shrink steadily in the closing stages of the race.

In the end, Kirkwood had to save more fuel than he had hoped, giving McLaughlin the opportunity to pass him in Turn 10. One corner later, Christian Lundgaard also moved past Kirkwood, after which Lundgaard immediately began attacking McLaughlin. However, no further move materialized.

Up front, Palou cruised unchallenged to his first victory of the season, giving him the perfect start to the year. McLaughlin finished second, just ahead of Lundgaard.

Full results of the race on St. Petersburg