2014 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

2014 St. Petersburg
Race details
1st round of the 2014 IndyCar Series season
Date March 30, 2014
Official name Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Location Streets of St. Petersburg
Course Temporary street circuit
1.800 mi / 2.897 km
Distance 110 laps
198.000 mi / 318.670 km
Pole position
Driver Takuma Sato (A. J. Foyt Enterprises)
Time 1:01.8686
Fastest lap
Driver Will Power (Team Penske)
Time 1:02.3404 (on lap 95 of 110)
Podium
First Will Power (Team Penske)
Second Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport)
Third Hélio Castroneves (Team Penske)

The 2014 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the first race of the 2014 IndyCar Series season, the race took place on March 30 in St. Petersburg, Florida, on the city's temporary street course. The race was won by Will Power for Team Penske. Ryan Hunter-Reay finished second ahead of Hélio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, and Simon Pagenaud. The top finishing rookie in the race was Mikhail Aleshin, in 12th position.

Report

Background

Scott Dixon entered this race as the defending series champion, having won his third Indycar title in the 2013 IndyCar Series season from Hélio Castroneves.

This was the first race for 3 Indycar rookies. Jack Hawksworth raced in the number 98 for Bryan Herta Autosport after moving up from the Indy Lights series. Mikhail Aleshin and Carlos Huertas, who both raced in Formula Renualt 3.5 in 2013, made their debuts as well, with Aleshin racing for Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports and Huertas Dale Coyne Racing. Carlos Muñoz was the 4th rookie in the field with 3 Indycar races in the 2013 IndyCar Series season, most notably the 2013 Indianapolis 500.

Returning to American open wheel racing, since his last race in 2000, is Juan Pablo Montoya, the 1999 CART Champion and the 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner. In 2014 he will drive for Team Penske in the number 2 car.

This was also the first race for Chip Ganassi Racing using Chevrolet engines after the switch from Honda, with Tony Kanaan replacing Dario Franchitti, after his career ending crash in the second Houston race last year. Other drivers racing for a new teams are; Ryan Briscoe with Chip Ganassi Racing, Mike Conway with Ed Carpenter Racing, Sébastien Bourdais and Sebastián Saavedra with KV Racing Technology.

Classification

Qualifying

Pos Name Grp. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3
1 Japan Takuma Sato 2 1:12.0073 1:03.0131 1:01.8686
2 Brazil Tony Kanaan 1 1:13.4961 1:03.2674 1:02.1637
3 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay 1 1:13.7241 1:03.1647 1:02.2167
4 Australia Will Power 2 1:12.2248 1:03.2183 1:02.3955
5 New Zealand Scott Dixon 2 1:12.0083 1:03.3753 1:02.3955
6 United States Marco Andretti 1 1:14.7209 1:03.2406 1:02.9595
7 Colombia Carlos Muñoz (R) 2 1:12.0603 1:03.3955
8 United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth (R) 2 1:12.1556 1:03.5738
9 Australia Ryan Briscoe 1 1:15.6860 1:03.6206
10 Brazil Hélio Castroneves 1 1:14.8811 1:03.6635
11 Colombia Sebastián Saavedra 2 1:12.3060 1:03.8374
12 United Kingdom Mike Conway 1 1:13.9450 1:03.9618
13 France Sébastien Bourdais 1 1:15.8337
14 France Simon Pagenaud 2 1:12.3741
15 Russia Mikhail Aleshin (R) 1 1:15.9111
16 United Kingdom Justin Wilson 2 1:12.5890
17 Colombia Carlos Huertas (R) 1 1:16.8105
18 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya 2 1:12.6994
19 Canada James Hinchcliffe 1 2:34.4862
20 United States Charlie Kimball 2 1:13.0048
21 United States Graham Rahal 1 no time
22 United States Josef Newgarden 2 1:13.1170

Race results

Pos Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Pit Stops Grid Laps Led Points1
1 Australia Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 110 2:06:57.6288 3 4 74 53
2 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 110 + 1.9475 3 3 40
3 Brazil Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet 110 + 7.8716 3 10 2 36
4 New Zealand Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 110 + 15.9685 3 5 32
5 France Simon Pagenaud Sam Schmidt Motorsports Honda 110 + 17.3937 3 14 30
6 Brazil Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 110 + 20.3882 3 2 28
7 Japan Takuma Sato A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 110 + 20.8561 3 1 33 28
8 United Kingdom Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing Honda 110 + 21.0622 3 16 24
9 United States Josef Newgarden Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda 110 + 21.5544 3 22 22
10 Australia Ryan Briscoe Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 110 + 23.9897 3 9 20
11 Colombia Sebastian Saavedra KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 110 + 34.4041 3 17 19
12 Russia Mikhail Aleshin (R) Sam Schmidt Motorsports Honda 110 + 34.9969 5 15 18
13 France Sébastien Bourdais KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 110 + 35.3526 4 13 17
14 United States Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 110 + 38.9881 4 21 16
15 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske Chevrolet 110 + 40.3350 4 18 15
16 United Kingdom Mike Conway Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 110 + 40.9140 4 12 1 15
17 Colombia Carlos Muñoz (R) Andretti Autosport Honda 110 + 44.6244 4 7 13
18 Colombia Carlos Huertas (R) Dale Coyne Racing Honda 110 + 47.5637 4 17 12
19 Canada James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Honda 109 + 1 Lap 3 19 11
20 United States Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 108 + 2 Laps 4 20 10
21 United Kingdom Jack Hawksworth (R) Bryan Herta Autosport Honda 83 Contact 3 8 9
22 United States Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Honda 82 Contact 3 6 8
Notes

1 Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Australia Will Power 53
2 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay 40
3 Brazil Hélio Castroneves 36
4 New Zealand Scott Dixon 32
5 France Simon Pagenaud 30

Manufacturer standings
Pos Manufacturer Points
1 United States Chevrolet 122
2 Japan Honda 72

References

    Previous race:
    None
    IndyCar Series
    2014 season
    Next race:
    2014 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
    Previous race:
    2013 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
    Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Next race:
    2015 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
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