# 2022 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

The 2022 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was an IndyCar motor race held on February 27, 2022 at the Streets of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was the season opener of the 2022 IndyCar Series. The race lasted for 100 laps.
Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske scored his first pole in qualifying and claimed his first race victory in the series over Álex Palou, after leading the most laps in the race. Will Power, McLaughlin's teammate, finished third to complete the podium.

## Background

In September 2021, it was announced that St. Petersburg, Florida would host the first race of the 2022 season on February 27, 2022. This marked the first February start for the IndyCar series since the 2004 season and the earliest the season has started since 2003 (at the same circuit).
Colton Herta was the defending race winner, having won the previous Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in 2021.

### Entrants

26 drivers entered the race, with six of them classified as rookies for the 2022 season. Four rookies made their IndyCar race debut, two of them for A. J. Foyt Enterprises: Kyle Kirkwood made his debut with the team after winning the 2021 Indy Lights championship, alongside former Super Formula and WEC driver Tatiana Calderón, who secured her seat after impressing the team after a test with the team in 2021. 2021 Indy Lights runner-up David Malukas debuted for Dale Coyne Racing, while Canadian driver Devlin DeFrancesco, who had finished sixth in the 2021 Indy Lights championship, debuted for Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport.
| Key | Meaning |
| R | Rookie |
| W | Past winner |
| | Driver | Team | Engine |
| 2 | Josef Newgarden W | Team Penske | Chevrolet |
| 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | Chevrolet |
| 4 | Dalton Kellett | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet |
| 5 | Patricio O'Ward | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet |
| 06 | Hélio Castroneves W | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda |
| 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 |
| 11 | Tatiana Calderón R | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet |
| 12 | Will Power W | Team Penske | Chevrolet |
| 14 | Kyle Kirkwood R | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet |
| 15 | Graham Rahal W | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda |
| 18 | David Malukas R | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports | Honda |
| 20 | Conor Daly | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet |
| 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet |
| 26 | Colton Herta W | Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda |
| 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Honda |
| 28 | Romain Grosjean | Andretti Autosport | Honda |
| 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco R | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | Honda |
| 30 | Christian Lundgaard R | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda |
| 45 | Jack Harvey | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda |
| 51 | Takuma Sato | Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | Honda |
| 60 | Simon Pagenaud | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda |
| 77 | Callum Ilott R | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet |
| Source: ||||

## Qualifying
### Qualifying classification

| 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 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | Chevrolet | N/A | 00:59.5846 | 00:59.5157 | 00:59.4821 | 1 |
| 2 | 12 | Will Power W | Team Penske | Chevrolet | N/A | 00:59.3929 | 00:59.3466 | 00:59.6058 | 2 |
| 3 | 26 | Colton Herta W | Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | 00:59.4662 | N/A | 00:59.4051 | 00:59.7104 | 3 |
| 4 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 00:59.8046 | N/A | 00:59.6232 | 00:59.8102 | 4 |
| 5 | 28 | Romain Grosjean | Andretti Autosport | Honda | N/A | 00:59.6267 | 00:59.5559 | 00:59.8116 | 5 |
| 6 | 60 | Simon Pagenaud | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | N/A | 00:59.7039 | 00:59.5881 | 01:00.2041 | 6 |
| 7 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 00:59.8106 | N/A | 00:59.7579 | N/A | 7 |
| 8 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | N/A | 00:59.8815 | 00:59.8241 | N/A | 8 |
| 9 | 2 | Josef Newgarden W | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 00:59.9148 | N/A | 00:59.8862 | N/A | 9 |
| 10 | 10 | Álex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | N/A | 00:59.8956 | 00:59.9584 | N/A | 10 |
| 11 | 15 | Graham Rahal W | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 00:59.7760 | N/A | 00:59.9870 | N/A | 11 |
| 12 | 14 | Kyle Kirkwood R | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 00:59.8534 | N/A | 01:00.2616 | N/A | 12 |
| 13 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 00:59.9931 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 13 |
| 14 | 4 | Dalton Kellett | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | N/A | 00:59.9521 | N/A | N/A | 14 |
| 15 | 30 | Christian Lundgaard R | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 01:00.0276 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 15 |
| 16 | 5 | Pato O'Ward | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:00.0021 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
| 17 | 06 | Hélio Castroneves W | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 01:00.1426 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 17 |
| 18 | 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco R | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | Honda | N/A | 01:00.0850 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
| 19 | 77 | Callum Ilott R | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet | 01:00.2121 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 19 |
| 20 | 20 | Conor Daly | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:00.1921 | N/A | N/A | 20 |
| 21 | 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet | 01:00.3918 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 21 |
| 22 | 51 | Takuma Sato | Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:00.2930 | N/A | N/A | 22 |
| 23 | 45 | Jack Harvey | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 01:00.5333 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 22 |
| 24 | 18 | David Malukas R | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports | Honda | N/A | 01:00.4601 | N/A | N/A | 24 |
| 25 | 11 | Tatiana Calderón R | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 01:00.9391 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 25 |
| 26 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:01.0273 | N/A | N/A | 26 |
| Source: ||||||||||

#### Notes

* Bold text indicates fastest time set in session.

## Warmup

Top Warmup Speeds :
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Lap Time |
| 1 | 26 | Colton Herta W | Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | 01:00.3283 |
| 2 | 2 | Josef Newgarden W | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 01:00.5971 |
| 3 | 10 | Álex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 01:00.8311 |
| Source: ||||||

## Race

The race started at 12:00 PM ET on February 27, 2022.

### Race classification

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Laps | Time/Retired | Pit Stops | Grid | Laps Led | Pts. |
| 1 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 100 | 1:51:27.3466 | 2 | 1 | 49 | 54 |
| 2 | 10 | Álex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 100 | +0.5095 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 41 |
| 3 | 12 | Will Power W | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 100 | +2.4671 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 36 |
| 4 | 26 | Colton Herta W | Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | 100 | +15.8442 | 2 | 3 | | 32 |
| 5 | 28 | Romain Grosjean | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 100 | +18.4525 | 2 | 5 | | 30 |
| 6 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | +20.6514 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 29 |
| 7 | 15 | Graham Rahal W | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 100 | +21.4181 | 2 | 11 | | 26 |
| 8 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 100 | +22.0277 | 3 | 7 | 26 | 25 |
| 9 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 100 | +22.3674 | 2 | 8 | | 22 |
| 10 | 51 | Takuma Sato | Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | Honda | 100 | +23.2743 | 2 | 22 | | 20 |
| 11 | 30 | Christian Lundgaard R | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 100 | +24.4244 | 2 | 15 | | 19 |
| 12 | 5 | Pato O'Ward | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet | 100 | +26.2750 | 3 | 16 | | 18 |
| 13 | 45 | Jack Harvey | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 100 | +31.6687 | 3 | 23 | | 17 |
| 14 | 06 | Hélio Castroneves W | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 100 | +33.5985 | 3 | 17 | | 16 |
| 15 | 60 | Simon Pagenaud | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 100 | +34.2147 | 3 | 6 | | 15 |
| 16 | 2 | Josef Newgarden W | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 100 | +36.2603 | 3 | 9 | | 14 |
| 17 | 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet | 100 | +39.0361 | 3 | 21 | | 13 |
| 18 | 14 | Kyle Kirkwood R | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 100 | +58.1240 | 3 | 12 | | 12 |
| 19 | 77 | Callum Ilott R | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | +58.7223 | 3 | 19 | | 11 |
| 20 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 100 | +59.1634 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 11 |
| 21 | 20 | Conor Daly | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | +1:00.1358 | 3 | 20 | | 9 |
| 22 | 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco R | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | Honda | 100 | +1:02.8613 | 3 | 18 | | 8 |
| 23 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 99 | +1 Lap | 2 | 26 | | 7 |
| 24 | 11 | Tatiana Calderón R | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 97 | +3 Laps | 4 | 25 | | 6 |
| 25 | 4 | Dalton Kellett | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 62 | Gearbox | 3 | 14 | | 5 |
| 26 | 18 | David Malukas R | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports | Honda | 23 | Accident | 1 | 24 | | 5 |
| Fastest lap: Conor Daly (Ed Carpenter Racing)– 01:00.9868 (lap 53) |||||||||||
| Source: |||||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| | Pos. | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | Scott McLaughlin | 54 |
| | 2 | Álex Palou | 41 |
| | 3 | Will Power | 36 |
| | 4 | Colton Herta | 32 |
| | 5 | Romain Grosjean | 30 |
| Source: ||||
| | Pos. | Manufacturer | Points |
| | 1 | Chevrolet | 91 |
| | 2 | Honda | 72 |
| Source: ||||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included.