Scott Dixon has finished third in this morning’s IndyCar Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in a race which was filled with drama.
Fellow Kiwi competitors Marcus Armstrong and Scott McLaughlin were unlucky casualties of separate incidents but still finished 11th and 13th respectively.
The result will hurt for McLaughlin in particular who was leading the Grand Prix but ran off line on cold tyres and made contact with Romain Grosjean who was making a move for first.
The Kiwi #3, which had won this race last year, had been showing great pace all day and led for 37 laps, the most of any driver. Grosjean had also been at or near the front off pole position and was looking likely to pass on McLaughlin to take the lead as the race entered its final stages.
It was not to be for the former Formula 1 driver, the Kiwi going too deep into Turn 4 on cold tyres sending the top two into the tyres and forcing Grosjean from the race. McLaughlin was able to return a lap down and was ultimately issues with a drive through penalty for causing the collision.
The then-third Pato O’Ward couldn’t believe his luck having recently stopped, taking the lead following the cautions with Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon also moving up into the podium places.
The restart saw O’Ward quickly build to a 3 second lead and maintain that until the dying stages before Ericsson and Dixon began closing in.
With just five laps remaining an issue for the McLaren allowed Ericsson through for the lead, O’Ward able to recover quickly to keep Dixon at bay.
That was how things remained, Ericsson starting his season brilliantly with race victory over O’Ward and Dixon.
A series of incidents plagued the race with two incidents in particular sending cars airborne. A red flag was brought out on Lap 1 for the first of these after Santino Ferrucci spun Helio Castroneves in the mid-field.
Devlin De Francesco skidded to a halt to avoid the impact, only to be drilled side-on by rookie Benjamin Pedersen. The impact launched De Francesco into the air, his car spinning 180 degrees mid-flight before landing.
Dixon was also involved in a Lap 1 mishap before the flag came out after Felix Rosenqvist made contact with his left rear the corner prior, sending the Swede into the wall and leaving him to limp to the pits.
It was not long after the restart where Armstrong came into grief, hit from behind at the Turn 3 and 4 complex by David Mulukas, receiving a left rear puncture. He was able to limp to the pits and return to running. Mulukas was issued a drive through for the impact.
Dixon and McLaughlin were both running in the top seven through the mid-stages with McLaughlin running an alternate tyre strategy to those ahead.
This worked in favor later on as the pace ahead dropped off, Grosjean’s clear lead beginning to evaporate.
Once the leaders all stopped McLaughlin took the lead over Dixon for a Kiwi 1-2 on the road. Once McLaughlin made his stop he emerged ahead of Grosjean to hold the lead, the wo running side-by-side until Turn 4 where the kiwi held the inside line to maintain position.
Dixon did appear to briefly hold the lead after his own stop but was ordered to drop to fifth as the yellows came out moments before he exited the lane. Footage showed the CGR racer hadn’t crossed the pit exit line whilst the four cars on track had worked through on-track just moments before.
There was another caution not long after this restart with a frightening incident sending Kyle Kirkwood airborne over Rinus VeeKay and Jack Harvey.
VeeKay was the first involved in that incident, sliding into the tyres before being collected by Harvey from behind. Harvey had nowhere to go, as did Kirkwood who leapt over his car on contact before landing on all fours.
Miraculously, Kirkwood would return to the pits despite his air display and was able to return three laps off the pace. VeeKay was able to exit from his cockpit unscathed but Harvey was slow to emerge. Once he did he was checked by medical staff before being taken to a local hospital for further checks.
Lap 50 was where the race got underway again, Dixon passing Ericsson with defending champion Will Power also trying to follow. He wasn’t able to do, bumped off-line before running into Colton Herta causing yet another caution. Power was adjudged at fault for the incident and served a drive through.
A rhythm finally established off the next restart with Grosjean holding on to McLaughlin as he pulled away from the pack.. The Kiwi then began putting time on the Frenchman and looked likely for a good result heading into the final round of stops. Grosjean was the first of the two to flinch with the contenders behind having stopped, coming in for the final time on Lap 70.
As McLaughlin attempted to avoid an undercut he was held up by a back-marker, Grosjean making good time to put the #3 under pressure when he came in a lap later.
Just like the first stop McLaughlin pulled out with the lead, just. It wasn’t to be this time, however, with the duo running side-by-side before their Turn 4 impact brought out the final Safety Car.
O’Ward led Ericsson and Dixon off the restart, before his own issues allowed the Swede through for the win.
There was still drama to unfold in the pack as Josef Newgarden’s car caught fire with five laps to go. He too returned to the lane before finishing last of the classified drivers, in 17th.
IndyCar now takes a four week break before the 250-Lap PPG 375. McLaughlin and Dixon will both be back in action for that race whilst Armstrong, who is not competing on ovals this year, will sit out.
Header Image: Chip Ganassi Racing
