The 2016 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the first round of the 2016 IndyCar Series. The race was held on March 13, 2016 in St. Petersburg, Florida on the city's temporary street circuit. Team Penske driver Will Power qualified on pole for the race, but was diagnosed with a concussion shortly after the conclusion of the session and was forced to miss the race. Oriol Servià filled in place of Power. Second place qualifier Simon Pagenaud inherited the pole position.
Simon Pagenaud led the opening 48 laps of the race before being passed by his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya would lead 44 laps en route to his second win in a row at St. Petersburg and most recent IndyCar victory to date. Rookie driver Conor Daly also led 15 laps during the race due to pit strategy, but was shuffled outside the top 10 by the end of the race. Alexander Rossi was the highest finishing rookie in the race, coming across the line in 12th position. The race tied the record for fewest caution flags in a race at St. Petersburg with only two coming out over the whole of the race. The first came on lap 46 when Luca Filippi and Marco Andretti made contact in the first turn. The second came on the restart from the prior caution when Carlos Muñoz made contact with Graham Rahal in turn four, creating a logjam that completely blocked the race course.
After the race, Will Power was reevaluated and deemed not to have a concussion, but instead to be suffering from a lingering ear infection. Power would be cleared to race for the following round at Phoenix International Raceway.
Report Key Meaning R Rookie W Past winner
Qualifying Pos No. Name Grp. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 112 Will Power W21:00.56781:00.06581:00.2450 2 22 Simon Pagenaud21:00.65031:00.38051:00.4421 33 Hélio Castroneves W21:00.73201:00.51681:00.4995 42 Juan Pablo Montoya W21:00.70601:00.44311:00.5312 59 Scott Dixon11:00.89211:00.23181:00.5395 628 Ryan Hunter-Reay21:00.98301:00.55301:00.8803 715 Graham Rahal W11:00.95781:00.5893 811 Sébastien Bourdais11:01.14501:00.6711 95 James Hinchcliffe W11:00.99731:00.6724 1041 Jack Hawksworth11:01.13221:00.7188 1114 Takuma Sato21:00.79201:00.9745 1221 Josef Newgarden11:01.08361:01.0571 1326 Carlos Muñoz11:01.1856 1483 Charlie Kimball21:01.0433 1527 Marco Andretti11:01.2417 1619 Luca Filippi21:01.1699 178 Max Chilton R11:01.5372 187 Mikhail Aleshin21:01.2934 1998 Alexander Rossi R11:01.5794 2010 Tony Kanaan21:01.3414 2118 Conor Daly R11:01.9385 2216 Spencer Pigot R21:01.3881OFFICIAL BOX SCORE Source for Individual Rounds:
Race results Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Pit Stops Grid Laps Led 12 Juan Pablo Montoya WTeam PenskeChevrolet1102:13:28.4650334451222 Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeChevrolet110 +2.3306314843328 Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportHonda110 +8.87643533643 Hélio Castroneves WTeam PenskeChevrolet110 +9.3237323257 Mikhail AleshinSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsHonda110 +9.716751730614 Takuma SatoA. J. Foyt EnterprisesHonda110 +26.03735102879 Scott DixonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet110 +40.70564426826 Carlos MuñozAndretti AutosportHonda110 +55.945951224910 Tony KanaanChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet110 +59.1204419221083 Charlie KimballChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet109Contact413201141 Jack HawksworthA. J. Foyt EnterprisesHonda109 +1 Lap79191298 Alexander Rossi RAndretti Herta AutosportHonda109 +1 Lap418181318 Conor Daly RDale Coyne RacingHonda109 +1 Lap42015181416 Spencer Pigot RRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda109 +1 Lap521161527 Marco AndrettiAndretti AutosportHonda109 +1 Lap514151615 Graham Rahal WRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda109 +1 Lap5614178 Max Chilton RChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet109 +1 Lap416131812 Oriol ServiàTeam PenskeChevrolet109 +1 Lap42212195 James Hinchcliffe WSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsHonda109 +1 Lap78112019 Luca FilippiDale Coyne RacingHonda108 +2 Laps615102111 Sébastien BourdaisKVSH RacingChevrolet87Contact4792221 Josef NewgardenEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet47Electrical8118OFFICIAL BOX SCORE
Notes Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.
Source for time gaps:
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Juan Pablo Montoya 51 2 Simon Pagenaud 43 3 Ryan Hunter-Reay 36 4 Hélio Castroneves 32 5 Mikhail Aleshin 30
Note: Only the top five positions are included.
References
External links Official Pit Stop Data Official Race Broadcast