Even the lengthy offseason couldn’t halt Alex Palou’s momentum. The reigning and four-time IndyCar Collection champion opened up the 2026 season with a runaway victory on the Streets of St. Petersburg.
Group Penske’s Scott McLaughlin completed a distant second, forward of Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard. There have been intervals of tight battles in what was in any other case an easy 100-lap race across the 1.8-mile, 14-turn short-term avenue circuit, which featured simply two warning intervals.
Let’s check out among the greatest winners and losers from the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
WINNER: Alex Palou can’t cease, received’t cease
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Photograph by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen through Getty Photographs
This one’s apparent. Anybody that leads 59 laps and scores a walk-off win by a race-record 12.4948s margin of victory goes to be on the prime of this checklist, and that’s precisely what the Spaniard did on Sunday. The driving force of the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda began fourth and utilized his infamous pit technique – this time going for an prolonged overcut that ran 38 laps on the primary stint – to vault frontrunner rivals Scott McLaughlin and Andretti World’s Marcus Ericsson. From there, it was merely a matter of controlling the tempo for Palou, which he did comfortably en path to his twentieth victory in profession begin 99.
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LOSER: Scott Dixon’s free wheel dashes probability of victory
Scott Dixon was poised to be the one for Chip Ganassi Racing, a minimum of till the wheels, actually, fell off. The opening lap warning interval left the New Zealander pitting twice – on Lap 2 and 4 – to prime off for gasoline. In flip, he discovered himself in place to run away with what would have been his sixtieth profession victory. The six-time collection champion discovered the lead on Lap 38 and pitted the next lap. Upon rejoining is when every little thing unraveled because the right-rear was not secured and got here off as he approached Flip 4. He ended up within the run-off space, together with his wheel skating by and colliding with the tire obstacles. The incident, which left Dixon ending twenty third, introduced out the second warning and formally elevated his teammate, Palou, to the lead.
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WINNER: Josef Newgarden marches by the sector
Josef Newgarden, Group Penske
Photograph by: Gavin Baker / Lumen through Getty Photographs
Josef Newgarden turned his weekend round with a march by the sector from twenty third to seventh. It was the form of rebound the Tennessee native desperately wanted after a number of points within the buildup, with an off into the tire obstacles in Flip 13 in opening observe, after which faltering in qualifying. In all, the motive force of the #2 Group Penske Chevrolet referred to as it a “boring day” as he leaned on technique calls by race strategist – and Penske Racing President – Jonathan Diuguid. Gaining 16 positions to attain a robust prime 10 end undoubtedly helps Newgarden carry momentum into the following spherical at Phoenix Raceway, the place he’s the latest winner when IndyCar final raced there in 2018.
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LOSER: Will Energy’s no good, very dangerous weekend
Will Energy, Andretti World
Photograph by: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen through Getty Photographs
Will Energy was carrying a ton of buzz into this subsequent section of his profession with Andretti World, nevertheless it has began off on a tough notice. Struggles in opening observe had been met with a crash lower than three minutes into the second session in Flip 10. Issues appeared promising after his #26 Honda was repaired and he narrowly missed out on the Quick 12 in qualifying, ending up thirteenth. That might all be short-lived, nevertheless, because the Aussie, who turned 45 on the day of the race, discovered Flip 10 once more after 20 laps. He was put behind the wall for in depth repairs, however returned to finish 55 laps and completed twenty second.
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WINNER: Dale Coyne Racing shines within the Florida solar
Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing Honda
Photograph by: Penske Leisure
The duo of rookie Dennis Hauger and veteran Romain Grosjean executed a exceptional weekend for Dale Coyne Racing. Not solely did each drivers make the Quick Six, led by Hauger’s third-place run in qualifying, the pair transformed the outing right into a double prime 10 outing. Each Grosjean, 39, and Hauger, 22, had been regulars within the prime 10 all through, solely falling down the working order throughout pit cycles. In the long run, it was the Swiss-born Frenchman Grosjean main the way in which, together with his #18 Honda crossing the end line eighth, with the ‘Norwegian Nightmare’ Hauger’s #19 in tenth.
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LOSER: Mick Schumacher will get stung
Mick Schumacher’s much-anticipated debut in North America’s premier open-wheel championship ended seconds after taking the inexperienced flag. On the method to Flip 4 through the opening lap, 26-year-old German was left with nowhere to go because the collision between Sting Ray Robb (Juncos Hollinger Racing) and Santino Ferrucci (AJ Foyt Racing) blocked the monitor. The collision led to Schumacher’s #47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda climbing over the again of Ferrucci’s #14 Chevrolet. It’s an terrible end result contemplating the largest factor Schumacher, son of seven-time Method 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, wants is expertise in an Indy automotive. Now, with restricted working alongside his opponents, the uphill climb simply received much more steep as he braces for his first oval begin this upcoming weekend in Phoenix.
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