# 2021 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

The 2021 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the second round of the 2021 IndyCar season. The race was held on April 25, 2021, in St. Petersburg, Florida. The race lasted for 100 laps, and was won by Colton Herta.

## Background

The race was originally due to take place on 7 March 2021 as the opening round of the championship, but the COVID-19 pandemic was still a concern for event organisers and IndyCar officials as the 2020 race was postponed from March to October. On January 6, 2021, the race was rescheduled to 25 April 2021 so the event can accommodate more fans with loosening restrictions but it was capped to 20,000 fans to attend.

## Entry list

| Key | Meaning |
| R | Rookie |
| W | Past winner |
| No. | Driver | Team | Engine |
| 2 | Josef Newgarden W | Team Penske | Chevrolet |
| 3 | Scott McLaughlin R | Team Penske | Chevrolet |
| 4 | Dalton Kellett | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet |
| 5 | Patricio O'Ward | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet |
| 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet |
| 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda |
| 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda |
| 10 | Álex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda |
| 12 | Will Power W | Team Penske | Chevrolet |
| 14 | Sébastien Bourdais W | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet |
| 15 | Graham Rahal W | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda |
| 18 | Ed Jones | Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan | Honda |
| 20 | Conor Daly | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet |
| 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet |
| 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Chevrolet |
| 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti Autosport | Honda |
| 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Honda |
| 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Honda |
| 29 | James Hinchcliffe W | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | Honda |
| 30 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson R | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda |
| 51 | Romain Grosjean R | Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | Honda |
| 59 | Max Chilton | Carlin | Chevrolet |
| 60 | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda |
| SOURCE ||||

## Practice
### Practice 1

There were 2 red flags during the session, one at the start due to timing and scoring issues, causing the session to be extended by 10 minutes, and another at the end after Sebastien Bourdais spun and stalled his car.

### Practice 2
## Qualifying
### Qualifying classification

The field was split into two groups of twelve drivers, with the top 6 of each group progressing to the Fast 12. The top 6 of the Fast 12 proceeded to the Firestone Fast 6.
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Time | Time | Time | Time | Final grid |
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Final grid |
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Group 1 | Group 2 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Final grid |
| 1 | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 01:00.3659 | N/A | 01:00.2207 | 01:00.3210 | 1 |
| 2 | 60 | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:00.5028 | 01:00.4262 | 01:00.5709 | 2 |
| 3 | 2 | Josef Newgarden W | Team Penske | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:00.4437 | 01:00.3428 | 01:00.6078 | 3 |
| 4 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 01:00.6375 | N/A | 01:00.4385 | 01:00.6353 | 4 |
| 5 | 14 | Sébastien Bourdais W | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 01:00.7182 | N/A | 01:00.3573 | 01:01.0017 | 5 |
| 6 | 5 | Patricio O'Ward | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet | 01:00.6026 | N/A | 01:00.3999 | 01:01.0799 | 6 |
| 7 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:00.5414 | 01:00.4858 | N/A | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 01:00.7921 | N/A | 01:00.4997 | N/A | 8 |
| 9 | 15 | Graham Rahal W | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:00.4825 | 01:00.5678 | N/A | 9 |
| 10 | 10 | Álex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:00.6521 | 01:00.6220 | N/A | 10 |
| 11 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 01:00.2949 | N/A | 01:00.6476 | N/A | 11 |
| 12 | 29 | James Hinchcliffe W | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | Honda | N/A | 01:00.6368 | 01:00.8671 | N/A | 12 |
| 13 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 01:00.8524 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 13 |
| 14 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin R | Team Penske | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:00.7044 | N/A | N/A | 14 |
| 15 | 30 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 01:00.9167 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 15 |
| 16 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:00.7058 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
| 17 | 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet | 01:00.9569 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 17 |
| 18 | 51 | Romain Grosjean R | Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:00.8127 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | Conor Daly | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 01:01.4220 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 19 |
| 20 | 12 | Will Power W | Team Penske | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:01.1140 | N/A | N/A | 20 |
| 21 | 18 | Ed Jones | Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan | Honda | 01:01.4453 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 21 |
| 22 | 59 | Max Chilton | Carlin | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:01.5065 | N/A | N/A | 22 |
| 23 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson R | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 01:01.8364 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 23 |
| 24 | 4 | Dalton Kellett | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:02.3396 | N/A | N/A | 24 |
| Source: ||||||||||

#### Notes

* Bold text indicates fastest time set in session.

## Race
### Race classification

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Laps | Time/Retired | Pit Stops | Grid | Laps Led | Pts. |
| 1 | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 100 | 1:51:51.4115 | 2 | 1 | 97 | 54 |
| 2 | 2 | Josef Newgarden W | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 100 | +2.4933 | 2 | 3 | | 40 |
| 3 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 100 | +6.1496 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 36 |
| 4 | 60 | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 100 | +8.0833 | 2 | 2 | | 32 |
| 5 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 100 | +8.9497 | 2 | 8 | | 30 |
| 6 | 30 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 100 | +11.6802 | 2 | 15 | | 28 |
| 7 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 100 | +11.9393 | 2 | 16 | | 26 |
| 8 | 12 | Will Power W | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 100 | +13.2363 | 3 | 20 | | 24 |
| 9 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | +13.7194 | 2 | 7 | | 22 |
| 10 | 14 | Sébastien Bourdais W | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 100 | +15.9951 | 2 | 5 | | 20 |
| 11 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin R | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 100 | +17.5926 | 3 | 14 | | 19 |
| 12 | 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet | 100 | +18.5638 | 3 | 17 | | 18 |
| 13 | 51 | Romain Grosjean R | Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | Honda | 100 | +22.7276 | 3 | 18 | | 17 |
| 14 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 100 | +24.1275 | 3 | 13 | | 16 |
| 15 | 15 | Graham Rahal W | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 100 | +24.7928 | 3 | 9 | | 15 |
| 16 | 20 | Conor Daly | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | +48.1603 | 5 | 19 | | 14 |
| 17 | 10 | Álex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 99 | +1 Lap | 2 | 10 | 2 | 14 |
| 18 | 29 | James Hinchcliffe W | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | Honda | 99 | +1 Lap | 3 | 12 | | 12 |
| 19 | 5 | Patricio O'Ward | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet | 99 | +1 Lap | 3 | 6 | | 11 |
| 20 | 18 | Ed Jones | Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan | Honda | 99 | +1 Lap | 5 | 21 | | 10 |
| 21 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 98 | +2 Laps | 3 | 11 | | 9 |
| 22 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson R | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 95 | +5 Laps | 3 | 23 | | 8 |
| 23 | 4 | Dalton Kellett | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 67 | Off Course | 2 | 23 | | 7 |
| 24 | 59 | Max Chilton | Carlin | Chevrolet | 18 | Mechanical | 1 | 22 | | 6 |
| Fastest lap: Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) – 01:01.4568 (lap 67) |||||||||||
| Source: |||||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos. | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Álex Palou | 67 |
| 2 | Will Power | 65 |
| 3 | Scott Dixon | 65 |
| 4 | Colton Herta | 62 |
| 5 | Simon Pagenaud | 54 |
| Source: |||
| Pos. | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Honda | 178 |
| 2 | Chevrolet | 148 |
| Source: |||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included.