Álex Palou started off his 2026 IndyCar season just like last year, with a win on the streets of St. Petersburg.
Photo by Makenna Wozniak | The Crow’s Nest
By Irena Mesa, Dominic Feo, and Julia Birdsall
In a repeat of the 2025 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Álex Palou parked his No.10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in victory lane on March 1. He grabbed the lead in Lap 42 out of 100 and didn’t let go until the checkered flag waved.
He finished 12.4948 seconds ahead of Scott McLaughlin, who took pole in qualifying on Feb. 28, for the largest margin of victory in the history of the street circuit.
“[Palou] uses guard base and gets track position,” McLaughlin said in a post-race press conference. “Obviously, I think the correct decision today was probably to start with red tires, but we didn’t know that going in.”
“Red” or “soft” tires are used exclusively for street courses. They get up to racing temperature, or the optimal level of grip, much quicker than other tire compounds. That extra speed is essential on street courses like St. Petersburg, where track position is essential.
“Red” tires can also be changed more often than the “hard” or “black” tires, which last longer and are more durable. However, drivers who put a set of hard tires on in a pit stop are at a disadvantage because they are going to be much slower than drivers on track when coming out of the pit lane.
Palou did not switch to hard tires until the end of Lap 67.
His tire and pit stop strategy allowed him to get ahead of McLaughlin, who had been leading the race for 34 laps before he pitted.
Photo by Makenna Wozniak | The Crow’s Nest
McLaughlin was not the only driver to have tire trouble. In the opening laps, David Malukas made a braking error that rubbed a flat spot into his front left tire. A few laps later, the tire gave out and Malukas had to duck down an escape road.
He then fell a lap behind the leading cars, but good strategy and a solid recovery drive allowed for Malukas to climb back into 13th place.
After grabbing the lead and holding it for two laps, Scott Dixon’s right rear tire rolled off going into Turn 4. The runaway tire was the result of a bad pit stop; it ended the race for Dixon.
He was the fourth driver who did not finish the race.
On the first lap, Sting Ray Robb and Santino Ferrucci collided at Turn 4.
They both went into the barriers, but Robb was able to repair his car in a lengthy pit stop and finish the race.
Mick Schumacher, unable to avoid the crash, collided with Ferrucci and ended the race for both drivers.
There was suspense surrounding new Andretti driver Will Power before his first race with the team after a 17-year stint with Team Penske.
Suspension, however, ended Power’s race on Lap 21 when his right rear suspension was damaged after grazing the wall on Turn 10 — the same spot where he crashed during the second practice session.
He returned to the pit lane for lengthy repairs and fell 31 laps behind the field. He eventually returned to run 34 more laps before retiring the car.
2025 Indy NXT Series champion and current IndyCar rookie Dennis Hauger — who impressed fans with his third-place finish during qualifying — slowly dropped down to 12th place, before making up two places to finish in his first IndyCar race in 10th.
Photo by Irena Mesa | The Crow’s Nest
Christian Lundgaard took advantage of the battle between Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson in the closing laps of the race and rose to finish in third.
However, he was unhappy with his position behind Palou.
“Every time I’m on the podium — second or third — he’s first,” Lundgaard said after the race. “So that’s pretty annoying.”
Palou’s win at the 2025 St. Petersburg Grand Prix was one of eight that allowed him to clinch his fourth IndyCar Series championship.
Time will tell if he is able to replicate his success in 2026.
IndyCar is back in action next weekend on March 7 for the Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway.
