For the first time since 2021, Romain Grosjean will lead an INDYCAR field to green. (Photo: Chris Owens | Penske Entertainment)
Andretti Autosport didn’t waste time showcasing that they’re still a threat in the NTT IndyCar Series. The team locked up the front row for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. With a time of 59.5532 seconds, Romain Grosjean bested teammate Colton Herta by 0.4155 seconds to earn his second career NTT P1 Pole Award.
Saturday’s pole effort marked Grosjean’s first since the 2021 GMR Grand Prix as he hopes the 100-lap race will end with a long-awaited maiden INDYCAR triumph. More importantly, he hopes to put a dire 2022 campaign behind him as he ended with just one podium and a 13th-place points finish.
Following an impressive showing during pre-season testing at Thermal Club last month, Grosjean has been impressed with the all-around improvement.
“We improved a lot from last year as a team. I was impressed when I came to Thermal, all the efforts. It was a good test. Sebring was another good one,” said Grosjean. “On track, obviously 27 cars, hard to get a lap. You never knew your best performance. Having three of us in the Fast Six, locked in the front row, is pretty impressive to start the season.
“Thankful for the team. We worked really hard from a tough season last year. There were some better days, but today is a good one.”
Similar to Grosjean, Herta also had a frustrating 2022 campaign. Although he won a wet GMR Grand Prix, he only scored one other podium and finished 10th in points. It’s unideal for a driver heavily touted to be in Formula One. A rough year certainly did him no favors in terms of his quest to 40 Super License points.
For now, Herta’s focus is snapping a 12-race winless streak and keeping his rivals from Penske, Ganassi and Arrow McLaren in his rearview mirror.
“I just missed it on that last run. We were looking really good all day. Just a sloppy last lap. But it was still good enough for P2,” said Herta. “Two Andretti cars on the front row and two Hondas on the front row. Keeping those Chevys and McLarens back. Good day, happy with it.”
Team owner Michael Andretti, who confirmed to AP’s Jenna Fryer that AlphaTauri isn’t for sale, explained that mistakes were made a year ago. But the speed was always there and he hopes the teams can capitalize on it in 2023.
“We did have many races where we had very fast cars last year,” said Andretti. “But we tended to do something wrong, shoot ourselves in the foot one way or another. That’s another thing we’ve really studied and worked on. Hopefully our pit stops will be better and strategies will be better. We feel if we just operate and don’t make mistakes, we feel like we are in a good position for the whole year.”
During the Firestone Fast Six, half of the group fighting for the pole were from Andretti with Kyle Kirkwood also in the fight.
However, Kirkwood didn’t set a time after crashing in the final corner, bringing out a red flag with under six minutes remaining. The crash denied a possible 1-2-3 for the team with Kirkwood explaining that windy conditions played a role in his accident.
“I honestly locked up on entry,” Kirkwood after crashing in the Fast Six. “The way the downwind section is a little bit sketchy. I got around the corner and still had a lot of weight unloaded on the left front. It is impossible to get the tire to unlock.”
In what’s been a breakthrough weekend so far, this certainly was a low point as Kirkwood is making his debut with the organization.
Defending race winner Scott McLaughlin will roll off sixth as he was the only Penske driver to advance into the Fast Six. Like Kirkwood, he didn’t set a lap time.
Live race coverage begins Sunday at 12 p.m. ET on NBC as 27 drivers will look to conquer the 1.98-mile street course and start the 17-round championship trail strong.
The last two winners of this race won from pole. Grosjean looks to extend the streak, but as is the case with any INDYCAR race, there’s no telling how it will unfold.
“Twenty-six other guys that are trying to do the same thing as I am tomorrow. INDYCAR is super competitive,” said Grosjean. “We’ve seen the lap times in practice have been very tight. Good thing is that we’ve got three cars up there, so we have good chances as a team to grab the win.
“I’m going to do the best I can. I’m going to work on the car for the FP3 warm-up to make sure we have a good race car, then we’re going to do our best. As Colton says, if the car is good enough to win, we win. If not, we finish where it is.”
2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Starting Lineup
- 1) 28 – Romain Grosjean
- 2) 26 – Colton Herta
- 3) 5 – Pato O’Ward
- 4) 8 – Marcus Ericsson
- 5) 27 – Kyle Kirkwood
- 6) 3 – Scott McLaughlin
- 7) 10 – Alex Palou
- 8) 6 – Felix Rosenqvist
- 9) 9 – Scott Dixon
- 10) 12 – Will Power
- 11) 45 – Christian Lundgaard
- 12) 7 – Alexander Rossi
- 13) 11 – Marcus Armstrong (R)
- 14) 2 – Josef Newgarden
- 15) 06 – Helio Castroneves
- 16) 18 – David Malukas
- 17) 14 – Santino Ferrucci
- 18) 29 – Devlin DeFrancesco
- 19) 30 – Jack Harvey
- 20) 15 – Graham Rahal
- 21) 78 – Agustin Canapino (R)
- 22) 77 – Callum Ilott
- 23) 51 – Sting Ray Robb (R)
- 24) 21 – Rinus VeeKay
- 25) 60 – Simon Pagenaud
- 26) 20 – Conor Daly
- 27) 55 – Benjamin Pedersen (R)
