Pato O’Ward left St. Pete frustrated with a potential race victory seemingly left on the track. (Photo: Chris Owens | Penske Entertainment)
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — After the Lap 72 incident that took Romain Grosjean and Scott McLaughlin out of contention, it opened the door for Pato O’Ward to put himself in the perfect spot to take home the trophy, but a brief engine issue in the closing laps allowed Marcus Ericsson to pass the Arrow McLaren driver, stealing the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg as O’Ward settled for second-place.
In the 100-lap season-opening event, O’Ward led a total of 23 laps after starting third on the grid. For most of the race, it seemed like it would be a showdown between drivers from Andretti Autosport and Team Penske until Arrow McLaren entered the picture.
O”Ward took the lead on Lap 74 and his time out front came to an end when Ericsson got around him on Lap 97, with four laps remaining in the race. However, a random occurrence that only lasted for a few seconds with his Chevrolet-powered engine was the main culprit which cost him the win in St. Pete.
According to Chevrolet, O’Ward’s No. 5 car experienced a “plenum event” with the engine, causing a momentary loss of engine power, which ultimately slowed down the 23-year-old Mexican racing driver long enough for Ericsson to take full advantage of his misfortune.
After the race, O’Ward felt a great deal of frustration because he could just taste victory and watching it slip away was a hard pill to swallow.
“It’s always something,” O’Ward said. “All the boys deserve better than that. Compared to where we were at this point last year here, it’s a massive step.
“We just gave that one away. We can have that happen anymore. There was a flaming fire in the engine plenum. And that was just random. Yeah. That’s the way it goes sometimes in racing.”
That one stings. 🤬 P2. Great work @ArrowMcLaren
Esa duele. Chinetas 😤Excelente trabajo equipo. pic.twitter.com/pYVkL6Lfrz
— Pato O'Ward (@PatricioOWard) March 5, 2023
In regards to O’Ward’s Arrow McLaren teammates, the rest of the team saw ups and downs. In his first race with the organization, following seven years with Andretti Autosport, Alexander Rossi survived all the mayhem on the streets of St. Pete, barely missing the podium in fourth-place.
It’s safe to say that Rossi begins his tenure with his new team on a positive note as the 2016 Indianapolis 500 champion tries to return to a previous form of being a weekly contender and championship threat all season long.
“Today was just keeping your nose clean and staying out of trouble,” Rossi said. “It was a really good start for the (Arrow McLaren) organization. We struggled a little bit on Friday. All of the Arrow McLaren Chevy guys were able to put their heads together and we were able to come back.
“I think we will only get stronger from here. This is a really good opportunity for us going into a pretty long break ahead of Texas, a place where this team has been pretty strong in the past. To just really understand where we’re weak and work on improving those areas, but yes, it is a fantastic way to start the season.”
The third Arrow McLaren driver, Felix Rosenqvist, had his day ruined on the opening lap of the 2023 season when he got squeezed into the wall by Scott Dixon which ignited a scary multi-car incident.
A big crash at the start of the @GPSTPete.
Devlin DeFrancesco got airborne after being hit by Benjamin Pedersen. #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/1v3z5C6zq6
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) March 5, 2023
Despite the damage, Rosenqvist completed 51 laps before retiring from the race and finishing 19th.
