Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is back. Here's what you need to know
Earplug alert: The area's turbocharged rite of spring has returned, bringing horsepower and high drama to the streets of downtown St. Pete.
The 21st annual Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg — the first race of the NTT IndyCar Series season — is set for Sunday, but the roar of 2.2-liter, twin-turbo V6 engines will resonate most of the week. A slew of ancillary events (qualifying, testing, a 5K, fan events) will precede the actual racing, making our waterside the open-wheel epicenter for the next several days.
Here's the lowdown on what has evolved into our own Super Bowl with skid marks.
Amid practices and qualifying runs, eight races in five different series will be held Friday-Sunday, highlighted by the 100-lap Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, starting Sunday at 12:29 p.m. The other races are part of IndyCar's various developmental series, including Indy NXT (the open-wheel equivalent of Triple-A baseball) and USF Pro 2000 (a rung below Indy NXT). The entire race, qualifying and practice schedule can be found at gpstpete.com.
The 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street course again will feature The Dali Museum and Duke Energy Center for the Arts (Mahaffey Theater) as backdrops, and extend onto the Albert Whitted Airport runway. Minimum track width is 26 feet, maximum is 63. The front straight is 2,350 feet or four-tenths of a mile long. Track construction involves 20 million pounds of concrete and 25,000 feet of chain-link spectator fencing, according to IndyCar.
The broadcast partner, for one. Late last year, IndyCar announced a multiyear media rights agreement with Fox, which will broadcast all 17 series races live. Sunday's telecast starts at noon. Practice and qualifying sessions will air live on FS1 or FS2.
Drivers, start your hybrids
For the first time in St. Pete, the cars will be equipped with Honda- and Chevrolet-designed hybrid power units, which were introduced midway through the 2024 season.
Rather than relying on heavy batteries to store energy, IndyCar uses ultracapacitors. While not holding quite as much power, they're lighter and provide quick, powerful boosts, which can be deployed by drivers similar to the existing push-to-pass button. The units fit snugly inside the existing chassis from Dallara and offer plus-120 horsepower, according to IndyCar.
'I think it's interesting,' 2021 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg winner Colton Herta said.
'It kind of adds a little bit more for us to play with. It makes it a little bit more of a handful inside the cockpit, so I think it's going to be interesting to see how they take it to the streets of St. Pete. It's definitely not an easy thing to work with, so it will take a little bit of time to kind of affect that track. I think this will be one of the tougher tracks to use it at.'
Au revoir, Andretti
For the first time this event's history, iconic owner Michael Andretti won't have a conspicuous race-day presence. Last fall, the 62-year-old stepped down as CEO of Andretti Global, which has three Grand Prix entrants (Herta, Marcus Ericcson, Kyle Kirkwood).
His departure seems a natural part of Andretti Global's evolution from racing team to sprawling business (now owned by an investment firm), with teams in several series (IndyCar, IMSA, Formula E and soon-to-be Formula 1). Andretti Global now has a restructured ownership dynamic that reportedly has secured increased funding and resources, allowing it to concentrate even more on the three IndyCar entrants.
Herta hits century mark
Though still a few weeks shy of his 25th birthday, Herta — who once resided in Belleair — will be making his 100th IndyCar start. Herta enters the weekend with some momentum, earning two victories and three poles in 2024 after totaling one win the previous two seasons.
'It does seem a little crazy,' he said. 'I did not think at that age I'd have that many starts, so it's super cool to kind of think of that stat. I feel very fortunate, a lot of guys don't even get to that stat in their whole career. So to hit that mark is super special for me, and I can't wait for the next 100.'
A run for redemption?
Weeks after apparently winning the 2024 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Josef Newgarden had the title stripped, with the championship awarded to runnerup Pato O'Ward.
After an intense review, IndyCar determined that Team Penske (to which Newgarden belongs) 'manipulated the overtake system' to let its trio illegally use the push-to-pass system on starts and restarts. IndyCar doesn't allow cars to use that feature until they reach the alternate start-finish line on restarts.
Newgarden, who went on to win the Indy 500 less than three months later, appears poised to redeem himself this weekend. He and teammate Will Power were the top two performers earlier this month at the NTT IndyCar Group Test at Sebring International Raceway.
Power had the fastest overall lap (52.2549 seconds) in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, followed by Newgarden (52.3191) in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet.
Friday through Sunday, downtown
Main race: 12:29 Sunday TV: Fox
More info: Tickets, parking, event schedule and more at gpstpete.com
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