The 2021 Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey was an IndyCar motor race held on September 19, 2021, at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. It was the 15th round of the 2021 IndyCar Series.
Andretti Autosport's Colton Herta won the race after leading 91 of 95 laps of the race, scoring his second win of the season and his second IndyCar win at Laguna Seca after he won the previous edition in 2019. Championship leader Álex Palou finished in second, ahead of rookie Romain Grosjean, who came third after gaining ten positions from his starting position, scoring his third IndyCar career podium.
Background The event, which was held on the weekend of September 17–19, 2021 at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, returned to the series after its absence in the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the penultimate race of the 2021 season, following the Grand Prix of Portland at the Portland International Raceway, which was held one week before this race, and preceding the season finale in the following week at the Streets of Long Beach.
Colton Herta was the previous race winner, having won the race in 2019 with Harding Steinbrenner Racing.
Championship standings before the race After his win at the Grand Prix of Portland, Álex Palou retook the championship lead with a 25-point advantage from Pato O'Ward, who only finished 14th and subsequently dropped to second place in the standings. Third-placed Josef Newgarden closed the difference to O'Ward into a nine-point gap with a fifth-placed finish at Portland, while Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson improved their points tally in fourth and fifth respectively after strong finishes at Portland, with Dixon scoring a podium.
Honda remained in the lead of the manufacturer's standings over Chevrolet.
Entrants
KeyMeaningRookiePast winner DriverTeamEngine2 Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevrolet3 Scott McLaughlin Team PenskeChevrolet4 Dalton KellettA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet5 Patricio O'WardArrow McLaren SPChevrolet06 Hélio CastronevesMeyer Shank RacingHonda7 Felix RosenqvistArrow McLaren SPChevrolet8 Marcus EricssonChip Ganassi RacingHonda9 Scott DixonChip Ganassi RacingHonda10 Álex PalouChip Ganassi RacingHonda12 Will PowerTeam PenskeChevrolet14 Sébastien BourdaisA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet15 Graham RahalRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda18 Ed JonesDale Coyne Racing with Vasser-SullivanHonda20 Conor DalyEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet21 Rinus VeeKayEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet22 Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeChevrolet26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb AgajanianHonda27 Alexander RossiAndretti AutosportHonda28 Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportHonda29 James HinchcliffeAndretti Steinbrenner AutosportHonda30 Takuma SatoRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda45 Oliver AskewRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda48 Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi RacingHonda51 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware RacingHonda59 Max ChiltonCarlinChevrolet60 Jack HarveyMeyer Shank RacingHonda77 Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger RacingChevrolet
Practice
Practice 1 Practice 1 took place at 5:30 PM ET on September 17. The session saw numerous incidents happen, such as Colton Herta going off-track past the Corkscrew and Hélio Castroneves making contact with the tire barriers in Turn 2, though no major damage was caused. Josef Newgarden topped the first practice charts with a time of 01:11.7125, besting Herta in second and Álex Palou in third. +Top Practice SpeedsDriverTeamEngineLap Time12 Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevrolet01:11.7125226 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb AgajanianHonda01:11.7927310 Álex PalouChip Ganassi RacingHonda01:11.9750 Source:
Practice 2 Practice 2 took place at 1:45 PM ET on September 18. The session was marred with two red flags, which cut up to 20 minutes of session time. Dalton Kellett lost control of and crashed his No. 4 car in Turn 4, triggering the first red flag. After the session restarted, Rinus VeeKay crashed at nearly the same spot as Kellett did, bringing out the second red flag of the session. Both drivers were unharmed. Rookie Scott McLaughlin topped the session with the best time of 01:10.8755, with Colton Herta and Álex Palou finishing second and third fastest. +Top Practice SpeedsDriverTeamEngineLap Time13 Scott McLaughlin Team PenskeChevrolet01:10.8755226 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb AgajanianHonda01:11.0224310 Álex PalouChip Ganassi RacingHonda01:11.0312 Source:
Qualifying Qualifying took place at 5:05 PM ET on September 18. Colton Herta took pole position with a time of 01:10.7994, ahead of Andretti teammate Alexander Rossi and Penske driver Will Power, who finished second and third respectively.
Qualifying classification Driver Team Engine Time Round 1 Group 1 Group 2 1 26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb Agajanian Honda 01:10.9020N/A 01:10.5847 01:10.7994 1 2 27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport HondaN/A 01:11.0691 01:10.9169 01:10.9951 2 3 12 Will Power Team Penske ChevroletN/A 01:11.2836 01:10.8333 01:11.1317 3 4 10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing HondaN/A 01:11.4397 01:10.8351 01:11.3317 4 5 45 Oliver Askew Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing HondaN/A 01:11.0155 01:10.9117 01:11.8937 5 6 5 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 01:11.2992N/A 01:11.0220 01:24.2715 6 7 8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:11.3179N/A 01:11.2581N/A 7 8 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:11.5276N/A 01:11.2768N/A 8 9 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 01:11.3775N/A 01:11.3067N/A 9 10 59 Max Chilton Carlin ChevroletN/A 01:11.1852 01:11.3088N/A 10 11 29 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport HondaN/A 01:11.3542 01:11.4567N/A 11 12 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 01:10.9915N/A 01:12.5932N/A 12 13 51 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda 01:11.5303N/AN/AN/A 13 14 18 Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan HondaN/A 01:11.4692N/AN/A 14 15 7 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 01:11.5446N/AN/AN/A 15 16 3 Scott McLaughlin Chip Ganassi Racing HondaN/A 01:11.5767N/AN/A 16 17 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet 01:11.5503N/AN/AN/A 17 18 20 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing ChevroletN/A 01:11.5921N/AN/A 18 19 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 01:11.6721N/AN/AN/A 19 20 60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing HondaN/A 01:11.6689N/AN/A 20 21 14 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 01:11.9776N/AN/AN/A 21 22 06 Hélio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing HondaN/A 01:11.8071N/AN/A 22 23 30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 01:12.1443N/AN/AN/A 22 24 21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing ChevroletN/A 01:12.2843N/AN/A 24 25 48 Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 01:12.2865N/AN/AN/A 25 26 77 Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger Racing ChevroletN/A 01:12.3558N/AN/A 26 27 4 Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt Enterprises ChevroletN/A 01:12.6055N/AN/A 27 Source: Notes Bold text indicates fastest time set in session. - Will Power was initially second fastest, but had his lap invalidated, as officials judged him to have failed to slow down during a local yellow caused by Pato O'Ward's spin at the Corkscrew. - Pato O'Ward had his best time invalidated due to a penalty for his spin at the Corkscrew.
Final Practice Warmup took place at 12:00 PM ET on September 19. Rookie Callum Ilott spun off into the tire barriers in Turn 6 during the session, causing a red flag. Ilott was uninjured. Alexander Rossi went fastest with a time of 01:12.8632, with Colton Herta finishing second and Takuma Sato finishing third. +Top Warmup SpeedsDriverTeamEngineLap Time127 Alexander RossiAndretti AutosportHonda01:12.8632226 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb AgajanianHonda01:12.9651330 Takuma SatoRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda01:13.3539 Source:
Race The race started at 3:00 PM ET on September 19. On lap 2, race leader Colton Herta and Alexander Rossi made contact in Turn 2, as Rossi attempted to capitalize on a Herta mistake. However, while Herta managed to continue without problems, Rossi spun into the gravel and stalled, causing a caution as his car was restarted – he would later finish 25th, two laps behind. On lap 10, Will Power, who started third, suddenly had engine problems that prompted him to pit to resolve the issue – he finished the race two laps behind in 26th. Takuma Sato spun at the Corkscrew mid-race. As Sato's car stalled, it rolled backwards towards Scott Dixon, who attempted an evasive maneuver by driving off-track, but to no avail, as he suffered damage to his right sidepod and undertray. Dixon was forced to drive on with the damage and would later finish 13th.
Herta led most of the race, being in the lead for 91 of 95 laps. Romain Grosjean led the four remaining lead laps, as he made a surge to the front from thirteenth. Grosjean made several passes at the iconic Corkscrew corner, most notably his pass against fellow rookie Jimmie Johnson towards the end of the race, as Grosjean was quickly gaining to the lead pack after fitting on a fresh set of tires and as Johnson was defending to protect his teammate, Álex Palou, who was running in second place. The two were able to continue racing, but Grosjean's pace would dwindle after the incident.
Colton Herta won the race, clinching consecutive wins at the Monterey Grand Prix as he won the 2019 edition, repeating a feat achieved by his father, Bryan Herta, in 1998 and 1999. Championship leader Álex Palou finished second, extending his points lead over Pato O'Ward, who finished fifth, to 35 points. Rookie Romain Grosjean took his third IndyCar podium as he finished third, narrowing the gap in the battle for Rookie of the Year to fellow rookie Scott McLaughlin into 20 points. 2020 champion Scott Dixon saw his title hopes end, as the gap between him and Palou grew to 72 points, ruling out consecutive championship wins for Dixon.
Race classification DriverTeamEngineLapsTime/RetiredPitStopsGridLapsLed126 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb AgajanianHonda952:02:31.5444319154210 Álex PalouChip Ganassi RacingHonda95 +1.97473440351 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware RacingHonda95 +3.7087313436415 Graham RahalRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda95 +13.86163123255 Pato O'WardArrow McLaren SPChevrolet95 +24.6972363068 Marcus EricssonChip Ganassi RacingHonda95 +28.5032372872 Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevrolet95 +29.726741726822 Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeChevrolet95 +30.42153924945 Oliver AskewRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda95 +32.467535221018 Ed JonesDale Coyne Racing with Vasser-SullivanHonda95 +47.9944314201128 Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportHonda95 +1:07.1843319019123 Scott McLaughlin Team PenskeChevrolet95 +1:13.494031618139 Scott DixonChip Ganassi RacingHonda95 +1:16.359538171414 Sébastien BourdaisA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet94 +1 Lap321161560 Jack HarveyMeyer Shank RacingHonda94 +1 Lap320151620 Conor DalyEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet94 +1 Lap318141748 Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi RacingHonda94 +1 Lap425131821 Rinus VeeKayEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet94 +1 Lap42412197 Felix RosenqvistArrow McLaren SPChevrolet94 +1 Lap415112029 James HinchcliffeAndretti Steinbrenner AutosportHonda94 +1 Lap411102159 Max ChiltonCarlinChevrolet94 +1 Lap41092277 Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger RacingChevrolet94 +1 Lap5268234 Dalton KellettA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet94 +1 Lap32772406 Hélio CastronevesMeyer Shank RacingHonda94 +1 Lap42262527 Alexander RossiAndretti AutosportHonda93 +2 Laps3252612 Will PowerTeam PenskeChevrolet93 +2 Laps3352730 Takuma SatoRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda83 Mechanical4235Fastest lap: Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) – 01:13.0826 (lap 10) Source:
Championship standings after the race