Before the start of the race, there was a long period of uncertainty over whether it would be able to start as scheduled at 12:45 p.m. local time due to the threat of rain. However, the weather stayed dry, allowing the green flag to wave around the expected start time.
Palou and Rossi battle in the opening laps
At the start, Alexander Rossi immediately passed Alex Palou for the lead in Turn 1, but Palou quickly reclaimed the top spot. The entire field made it through the opening laps without incident, after which Rossi and Palou traded the lead several times.Crashes trigger two early cautions
The race saw its first caution after eighteen laps when Ryan Hunter-Reay lost control of his car exiting Turn 2. In an attempt to avoid the crashing car, Katherine Legge then crashed into the inside wall of the circuit, bringing the first part of her “Double” to an end after just eighteen laps.During the caution period, nearly the entire field came into the pits. Rossi’s pit stop went completely wrong, causing the American to drop far down the order. Among the top twenty, Rinus VeeKay was the only driver not to pit, moving him up into the race lead.
With rain threatening the event, it was already expected that drivers would start fighting for positions earlier than usual. That became clear on the restart when, in Turn 1, Ed Carpenter’s right-front wheel made contact with Takuma Sato’s left-rear wheel, sending Carpenter spinning hard into the wall.
VeeKay used this caution period to make his pit stop, after which it did not take long following the restart for Palou to retake the lead. Behind Palou was Daly, who had fought his way impressively through the field. Starting 23rd, Josef Newgarden was also charging forward and had already climbed into the top five after the second restart.
Scott Dixon moves to the front
Another driver making impressive progress through the field was Scott Dixon, who started tenth and moved into the top three after the second round of pit stops, even briefly taking over the lead.With 92 laps completed, the pace car once again had to leave pit lane after Will Power came to a stop on the straight with what appeared to be an oil leak, before spinning on his own oil at pit exit. Almost simultaneously, Alexander Rossi was forced to retire his car in the pits with smoke coming from the rear of the machine.
Light rain temporarily halts the race
As the field prepared for the restart following this caution, light rain began falling over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After several laps behind the pace car, race control displayed the red flag to wait for better conditions. At that point, Dixon was leading the race ahead of Palou and Malukas.On the restart, Dixon quickly came under pressure and dropped back to fifth place. Malukas fared better and fought his way into the lead, after which he and Palou exchanged the top position several times. However, it would only take ten more laps before the race had to be neutralized again due to another batch of dark clouds moving over the circuit.
Alternative strategy turns the race upside down
This caution created a split in strategy. While the leaders stayed out, drivers such as Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Armstrong, Rinus VeeKay, Santino Ferrucci, and Dennis Hauger came into the pits in an attempt to make it to the finish with just one more stop.After the penultimate pit stops for the leaders, it was Rosenqvist leading the race ahead of O’Ward and a surprising Dennis Hauger. The drivers on the alternative strategy made their final pit stop at the very edge of the fuel window, while the drivers on the primary strategy were able to stay out longer before making their final stop.
After the entire field had made its final pit stop, O’Ward led the race ahead of Rosenqvist. However, O’Ward had made his stop two laps earlier and was therefore in a more critical fuel-saving situation. With fifteen laps to go, Rosenqvist eventually completed the pass on O’Ward for the lead.
Late yellow brings field back together
The race appeared set to finish without any further cautions until Caio Collet crashed heavily into the Turn 2 wall with nine laps remaining after losing balance through the corner. In an attempt to still finish the race under green, race control displayed the red flag. This was particularly bad news for the leaders, who were running on significantly older tires than drivers such as David Malukas, who had already worked his way up to fourth place.
The race appeared set to run to the finish without any further cautions until Caio Collet crashed heavily into the Turn 2 wall with nine laps remaining after a moment of oversteer through the corner. In an attempt to still finish the race under green, race control displayed the red flag. This was particularly bad news for the leaders, who were running on significantly older tires than drivers such as David Malukas, who had already worked his way up to fourth place.
Following the red flag, the race was restarted with four laps remaining, with Rosenqvist leading ahead of O’Ward, Armstrong, and Malukas. On the restart, it was Armstrong who took the lead ahead of Malukas and Rosenqvist. Further back in the field, Schumacher ran wide, lightly brushed the wall, and triggered another caution.
The race was then restarted again with one lap to go, with Malukas and Rosenqvist both passing Armstrong. Malukas appeared to be on his way to his first IndyCar and Indianapolis 500 victory, but on the run to the checkered flag Rosenqvist picked up a strong slipstream and managed to edge past Malukas just before the finish line.
Updates standings
Full results of the race on Indianapolis
PhotographyPenske Entertainment
