The IndyCar 2025 season sprang to life with a surprising victory from Alex Palou, who defied the odds and silenced the perennial questions that have dogged the start of every season: ‘Can anyone hold a candle to Palou?’ and ‘Does he have any Achilles heel?’
This past Sunday, Palou put these queries to rest, emerging as the dark horse in St. Petersburg, and leaving a flurry of bewildered and speedy racers in his dust. The final standings saw Palou on top, followed by Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden.
An unexpected early tactical move left Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who seemed to be the fastest driver on the track, in the lurch. Meanwhile, a cleverly-executed pit-stop strategy saw Palou steal the show from his Ganassi team-mate, Scott Dixon, a veteran racer who is yet to clinch a victory on this track.
Josef Newgarden of Penske climbed from 10th position on the grid to close a five-second gap behind Palou, nearly overcoming the gloomy specter of his disqualification last year. This tale was a major talking point of the last season.
We also had our eyes on McLaren’s Pato O’Ward and how his new teammate would fare against him. The answer came in the form of Christian Lundgaard, who implemented an unconventional strategy that shone for a significant part of the race. However, a late tyre change proved to be his downfall.
The race was heavily influenced by a tyre compound battle and an early caution, which seemed to favor one side. A crash at the start of the race allowed cars with softer tyres to make a pit stop, forcing those with harder tyres to run at full speed later in the race.
It was Penske’s Will Power who triggered the caution after a collision with Nolan Siegel. The typical St. Pete lap one concertina effect at Turn 3 somewhat absolved Power of guilt. Indy NXT champion Louis Foster was also caught up in the mayhem on his IndyCar debut with Rahal Letterman Lanigan.
Colton Herta, who started second for Andretti, led the early pitters, but a slow second stop and a recurring fuel issue put a damper on his race. Dixon managed to overtake Newgarden during this stop, securing the lead.
McLaughlin was dominating at the front but chose to switch to softer tyres at his first stop, while Lundgaard opted to stay on hard tyres until the end. This brought three different strategies into play.
However, it was Palou who emerged victorious, undercutting Dixon at the last stop and astonishingly pulling out a four-second lead which he quickly extended to over five seconds.
Newgarden put up a spirited fight chasing Palou, but fell short after being passed by Dixon on the last lap. Dixon’s performance was all the more impressive as he raced without any working radio communications and had no access to vital fuel mileage information.
Despite a disappointing fourth-place finish, McLaughlin displayed admirable pace throughout the race. Herta, through no fault of his own, ended up in 16th place. His Andretti team-mates Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson made a promising start to the season, finishing fifth and sixth respectively.
As the 2025 IndyCar season commences, all eyes are on Fox Sports, the new broadcaster for the season. Their seamless coverage, spearheaded by Will Buxton, James Hinchcliffe, and Townsend Bell, promises a thrilling season ahead.
So, as the dust settles on the St. Petersburg track, one thing is clear – Alex Palou has thrown down the gauntlet, and the new era of IndyCar has truly begun.