McLaughlin second as perfect Palou wins IndyCar opener

Palou, who started fourth, largely dominated the 100-lap race for Chip Ganassi Racing after assuming the lead after the first round of pit stops.

“Amazing. It’s been an amazing off-season. Everybody at CGR and Honda have done a tremendous job,” said Palou.

“I don’t know what to say. The car was unbelievable today. It felt like those Firestones were everlasting. They would just keep going.

“I had an amazing car today, a lot of power. Cannot thank these guys enough.”

McLaughlin said he was happy despite coming up short, noting the disparity in strategy.

“Good start for the Dex Chevy and the Thirsty Threes,” said McLaughlin.

“I was super fast, it was just a mixed bag of what tyre you start on. Maybe we come back here again and maybe you start on reds (soft compound) and just get them out of the way.

“Overall, made the passes that we needed to make at the right times and I thought we maximised our day, and that’s what we needed to do.”

McLaughlin started from second and navigated the first few corners without trouble to maintain first position over Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson.

There was carnage deep in the field as Sting Ray Robb locked up on cold tyres into Turn 4 and took out Santino Ferrucci with him into the tyre wall and left Mick Schumacher nowhere to go.

After a brief Safety Car intervention, the race resumed on Lap 6.

In his first race for Team Penske, David Malukas suffered a sizable lock-up into Turn 1, which damaged his tyre to the point of delamination on Lap 12 and forced him to make an unscheduled pit stop out of the top five. Malukas went on to finish 13th.

Will Power’s debut with Andretti Global wound up with another clash with the Turn 10 wall.

Damage to the right rear suspension forced the Australian to pit for repairs. He returned to the race, but was ultimately not classified.

“It felt like the same issue I had the other [day] when I hit the wall,” Power explained.

“Exactly the same problem that we’ve had. I feel really bad for the guys.

“The car was really good. It’s just plagued us all weekend. We fixed it for qualifying. I feel really bad.”

McLaughlin controlled the opening stanza of the race, though he never skipped away from Ericsson. On Lap 35, the Kiwi pitted out of the lead.

Ericsson followed suit a lap later, and pulled off an overcut to take the projected lead of the race.

What followed proved decisive in the complexion of the race. As McLaughlin fought to get by Ericsson and was mired in traffic, Palou ran long.

Having been third before the pit stops, Palou came in on Lap 39 and resumed with the effective lead of the race.

On Lap 40, the caution came out for Scott Dixon, whose right rear wheel parted company after his pit stop and forced him to retire. It’s the first time since 2009 that Dixon has not finished the season-opening race.

Palou led the Lap 44 restart ahead of Ericsson, McLaughlin, Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong, and Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood.

As Palou skipped away with the lead, McLaughlin managed to dispatch Ericsson for second place on Lap 65 at Turn 1.

Palou pitted for his final stop on Lap 67 with a 14-second advantage over McLaughlin. The Kiwi responded a lap later, but wound up getting undercut by Kirkwood who pitted on Lap 66.

Again, McLaughlin found himself battling with another Andretti for second. With seven laps to go, McLaughlin finally got by at Turn 10.

Quiet achiever Christian Lundgaard followed suit, taking third place away in the chute between Turn 10 and 11.

Ultimately, Palou was unstoppable for his second straight St Petersburg win.

IndyCar returns on March 7 at Phoenix.

Results: IndyCar Series Grand Prix of St Petersburg