The 2026 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the first round of the 2026 IndyCar Series. The race was held on March 1, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Florida at the Streets of St. Petersburg. The race was contested of 100 laps. Álex Palou won the race, followed by Scott McLaughlin and Christian Lundgaard.
Background
The St. Petersburg street circuit is a 1.800-mile long street circuit in St. Petersburg, Florida, utilizing downtown streets, and one runway of Albert Whitted Airport. The track is notable for hosting the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the IndyCar Series season-opening race annually. The event dates back to 1985, with Indy cars first competing in 2003.
Entry list
KeyMeaningRookiePast winner
Driver Team Engine 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet 3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet 4 Caio Collet A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet 5 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 6 Nolan Siegel Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 7 Christian Lundgaard Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 8 Kyffin Simpson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 12 David Malukas Team Penske Chevrolet 14 Santino Ferrucci A. J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 18 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing Honda 19 Dennis Hauger Dale Coyne Racing Honda 20 Alexander Rossi ECR Chevrolet 21 Christian Rasmussen ECR Chevrolet 26 Will Power Andretti Global Honda 27 Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian Honda 28 Marcus Ericsson Andretti Global Honda 45 Louis Foster Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 47 Mick Schumacher Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 60 Felix Rosenqvist Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Honda 66 Marcus Armstrong Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Honda 76 Rinus VeeKay Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet 77 Sting Ray Robb Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet Spotter guide
Prema Racing was scheduled to run full-time, but was confirmed to miss the opening round.
Practice Practice 1 The first practice session was held on Friday, February 27, 2026.
+ Top Practice Speeds Driver Team Engine Lap Time 1 3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet 1:01.1020 2 60 Felix Rosenqvist Meyer Shank Racing Honda 1:01.1660 3 27 Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Global Honda 1:01.1777 Practice 1 results
Practice 2 The second and final practice session was held on Saturday, February 28, 2026.
+ Top Practice Speeds Driver Team Engine Lap Time 1 7 Christian Lundgaard Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 1:01.6157 2 66 Marcus Armstrong Meyer Shank Racing Honda 1:01.6592 3 10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 1:01.6947 Practice 2 results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Saturday, February 28, 2026.
Scott McLaughlin, driving for Team Penske, would score the pole for the race with a time of 1:00.5426 and a speed of .
+ Classification Driver Team Engine Time 13 Scott McLaughlin Team PenskeChevrolet 1:00.5426 1 228 Marcus Ericsson Andretti GlobalHonda 1:00.5621 2 3 19 Dennis Hauger Dale Coyne Racing Honda 1:00.5743 3 4 10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 1:00.6842 4 5 12 David Malukas Team Penske Chevrolet 1:00.7638 5 6 18 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing Honda 1:01.3462 6 7 66 Marcus Armstrong Meyer Shank Racing Honda 1:00.7820 7 8 5 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 1:00.8863 8 9 45 Louis Foster Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 1:00.9472 9 10 8 Kyffin Simpson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 1:00.9811 10 11 60 Felix Rosenqvist Meyer Shank Racing Honda 1:00.9840 11 12 7 Christian Lundgaard Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 1:00.9842 12 13 26 Will Power Andretti Global Honda 1:01.1936 13 14 21 Christian Rasmussen ECR Chevrolet 1:01.1835 14 15 27 Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Global Honda 1:01.2308 15 16 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 1:01.2109 16 17 14 Santino Ferrucci A. J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet 1:01.2630 17 18 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 1:01.2257 18 19 76 Rinus VeeKay Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet 1:01.3719 19 20 77 Sting Ray Robb Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet 1:01.3666 20 21 47 Mick Schumacher Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 1:01.3983 21 22 6 Nolan Siegel Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 1:01.4498 22 23 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet 1:01.4174 23 24 4 Caio Collet A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet 1:01.5719 24 25 20 Alexander Rossi ECR Chevrolet 1:01.6031 25 Qualifying results Notes Bold text indicates fastest time.
Warmup The warmup session was held on Sunday, March 1, 2026.
+ Top Practice Speeds Driver Team Engine Lap Time 1 5 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 1:01.5944 2 10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 1:01.5962 3 7 Christian Lundgaard Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 1:01.7964 Warmup results
Race The race was held on Sunday, March 1, 2026.
+ Classification Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired PitStops Grid LapsLed 1 10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 100 1:52:21.69972 4 59 53 2 3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet 100 1:52:34.1945 2 1 34 42 3 7 Christian Lundgaard Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 100 1:52:34.6151 2 12 1 36 4 27 Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Global Honda 100 1:52:46.9735 2 15 – 32 5 5 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 100 1:52:47.7751 2 8 – 30 6 28 Marcus Ericsson Andretti Global Honda 100 1:52:47.9560 2 2 1 29 7 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet 100 1:52:48.1216 2 23 1 27 8 18 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing Honda 100 1:52:49.7386 2 6 – 24 9 76 Rinus VeeKay Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet 100 1:52:50.4148 3 19 – 22 10 19 Dennis Hauger Dale Coyne Racing Honda 100 1:52:51.5719 2 3 – 20 11 66 Marcus Armstrong Meyer Shank Racing Honda 100 1:52:52.1680 2 7 – 19 12 60 Felix Rosenqvist Meyer Shank Racing Honda 100 1:52:52.5102 3 11 – 18 13 12 David Malukas Team Penske Chevrolet 100 1:52:55.4753 3 5 – 17 14 45 Louis Foster Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 100 1:52:59.7387 3 9 2 17 15 8 Kyffin Simpson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 100 1:53:00.6090 2 10 – 15 16 20 Alexander Rossi ECR Chevrolet 100 1:53:11.3124 4 25 – 14 17 4 Caio Collet A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 100 1:53:23.6771 3 24 – 13 18 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 100 1:53:24.8340 2 18 – 12 19 21 Christian Rasmussen ECR Chevrolet 100 1:53:24.8909 3 14 – 11 20 6 Nolan Siegel Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 99 1:52:23.5695 3 22 – 10 21 77 Sting Ray Robb Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet 93 1:52:24.9430 4 20 – 9 22 26 Will Power Andretti Global Honda55Retired2 13–8 23 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda39 Lost right-rear wheel 1 16 2 8 24 14 Santino Ferrucci A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 0 Contact 0 17 – 6 25 47 Mick Schumacher Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 0 Contact 0 21 – 5Fastest lap: Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Global) – 1:02.2131 (Lap 68) Race results
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points1 Álex Palou532 Scott McLaughlin423 Christian Lundgaard364 Kyle Kirkwood325 Pato O'Ward30 Point standings
Engine manufacturer standings Manufacturer Points1 Honda872 Chevrolet76 Point standings
Note: Only the top five positions are included.
References