How Palou made a perfect start to his IndyCar title defence after a winter of discontent

IndyCar’s six-month off-season always creates the potential for a letdown at the first event of the new campaign. But that was certainly not the case this year, as the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was blessed by perfect weather that drew an enormous crowd to see Alex Palou win an entertaining race while several of his expected championship competitors saw their year get off to a fizzling start.

Palou entered the St. Pete weekend with a weight lifted from his shoulders as a settlement was announced on the Friday morning between Chip Ganassi Racing and the McLaren Formula 1 team as the final resolution to their long-running contractual dispute. “It’s the first time I can finally say that it’s over,” Palou said. “I can finally focus on what’s important, which is just to race, win races. Very happy about that.”

Practice and qualifying coughed up a few surprises, including crashes for former series champions Scott Dixon, Will Power on his debut for Andretti Global, plus a back-row start for Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden. Penske’s Scott McLaughlin took pole position, and the Kiwi entered the race with Penske stalwart Tim Cindric on his pitbox to call his race strategy. Former team president Cindric and two other Penske executives took the fall in May 2025 for a pair of cheating scandals, but to the surprise of many, Cindric was rehired in a reduced role.

In dire need of results in a contract year with Andretti, Marcus Ericsson qualified on the outside of the front row, while rookie Dennis Hauger showed his potential by nabbing third on the grid in his Dale Coyne Racing entry. It was a great weekend for the Coyne team, as Romain Grosjean also qualified in the top six in his full-time return to IndyCar, and both Coyne cars finished in the top 10.

McLaughlin controlled the pace from the start, leading Ericsson and Palou, who started from 10th on the grid, but, almost predictably, the reigning IndyCar champion stretched his fuel to lap 39 of 100, two laps longer than Ericsson and three laps longer than McLaughlin, to emerge in the lead after the first round of pitstops. Ericsson held serve in second, while McLaughlin dropped from first to third.

Then Dixon, whose Ganassi team switched him to an alternate tyre strategy after the Kiwi made a mistake in qualifying and lined up 16th, lost his right-rear wheel following his second pitstop. By then Power was also out of contention after locking up on entry and slapping the wall exiting Turn 10 in a near carbon-copy of his practice incident. “Felt like exactly the same problem we had in practice, it’s plagued us all weekend, this thing,” Power said. “I feel really bad.”

It wasn't a weekend to remember for Power on his Andretti debut, as he hit the wall which forced an early exit

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images

Power’s replacement at Team Penske David Malukas fared only slightly better on his “Welcome to the Big Time” weekend. He qualified fifth, but severely flat-spotted his left-front front tyre early in the race and soon suffered a blowout, getting home in a lowly 13th place.

Meanwhile, once in front, Palou turned the St. Petersburg GP into a Sunday drive. He built a 14-second lead in his second stint on the red-sidewall Firestone alternate tyres (as newly mandated for 2026) and was then on the preferred primary compound for the final stint. He finished 12.816s ahead of McLaughlin, with Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard rallying from a disappointing 12th place qualifying effort to earn third place.

Local favourite Kyle Kirkwood could tell a similar story after starting 15th and finishing fourth for Andretti, slipping back from second in the closing laps when his alternate tyres gave out while he also needed to save fuel. Pato O’Ward salvaged fifth after an underwhelming opening weekend, while Ericsson took sixth ahead of a recovering Newgarden.

Palou’s metronomic precision was on display once again as he claimed his 20th career IndyCar victory and he showed no reason to believe anyone will be capable of stopping him

The new season always brings hope that the established order might be shaken up. But that’s a far more likely proposition under a new set of regulations and open competition in Formula 1 as opposed to IndyCar’s long-established spec-car formula. Palou’s metronomic precision was on display once again as he claimed his 20th career IndyCar victory and he showed no reason to believe anyone will be capable of stopping him from steamrolling to a fifth (and fourth consecutive) IndyCar championship. “We’re so back,” Palou exclaimed over his in-car radio as he crossed the line. “I don’t know what to say, the car was so unbelievable today.”

The new season always brings hope that the established order might be shaken up. But that’s a far more likely proposition under a new set of regulations and open competition in Formula 1 as opposed to IndyCar’s long-established spec-car formula. Palou’s metronomic precision was on display once again as he claimed his 20th career IndyCar victory and he showed no reason to believe anyone will be capable of stopping him from steamrolling to a fifth (and fourth consecutive) IndyCar championship. “We’re so back,” Palou exclaimed over his in-car radio as he crossed the line. “I don’t know what to say, the car was so unbelievable today.”

“It’s interesting, all the other teams aren’t flat-footing over the off-season; they’re trying to beat us,” said 17-time IndyCar championship-winning team owner Chip Ganassi. “We work hard to keep a gap between us, and I’m pleased with what we’ve been able to accomplish in the off-season to retain some gap with the competition.”

Palou was untouchable in front of an impressive crowd at St. Pete

Photo by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images

It was a sobering result for Palou’s competition, especially legacy stars like Dixon and Power as they stare down the twilight years of their career with the prospect of having to lift their games to defeat the 28-year-old Spaniard. McLaughlin, Kirkwood, and O’Ward can be thankful for what they salvaged from St. Pete with their distant top-five finishes.

Most street races in North America don’t have a long shelf life, so the growth of the St. Petersburg event is a significant feather in IndyCar’s cap. The downtown area was absolutely rammed with spectators for all three days, the weekend action bolstered by the addition of a NASCAR Truck Series support race that attracted a lot of fans and a handful of guest drivers including former IndyCar stars Dario Franchitti and James Hinchcliffe, plus versatile sportscar ace Colin Braun. Top-tier sportscar stars Earl Bamber and Sebastien Bourdais took part in the Mazda MX-5 Cup race that was also on the undercard.

IndyCar’s challenge is now to recreate St Petersburg’s energy and enthusiasm everywhere else on the schedule outside of the series’ other obvious success stories - Long Beach, Road America, and the Indianapolis 500.

Can anyone catch Palou?

Photo by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images