The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Preview

By Teagan Crump

After a long few months, IndyCar is back! There have been several big money moves and drivers promoted, which you can read about here.

📸: Chris Owens

This year’s Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will be happening on the streets of St Pete on Sunday 1st March at 5pm UK time (12pm local time).

IndyCar's pre-season tests showed that the expected front runners, Penske, looked to be strong but the results were varied.

2025 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg recap

📸: St Pete Catalyst

Last year, Scott McLaughlin claimed the NTT P1 Award for the St. Pete Grand Prix.

The New Zealand driver managed to retain P1 whilst being hunted down by former Andretti driver Colton Herta. The green flag running did not last for long, with an incident between Will Power and Nolan Siegel bringing out the caution.

Racing soon resumed, and it was relatively uneventful until Josef Newgarden and Christian Lundgaard were close to coming together on lap 72.

By lap 94, it was clear that only the two IndyCar powerhouses, Ganassi and Penske were in the fight for the win. On lap 99, Scott Dixon overtook Newgarden in a stunning way to move up to P2.

Lap 100 saw Álex Palou claim his first victory of 2025 and kick-start his championship-winning season.

What to expect at the 2026 St Pete Grand Prix

📸: BBC Weather

The weather for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg looks to be changeable- throughout the weekend, several sessions look to be wet but warm.

The typical front-runners of Penske and Ganassi have one again proven themselves at the top of the sport, and Álex Palou looks set to continue his winning ways.

After the first practice, fans cannot count out Scott McLaughlin with the New Zealander gaining an early lead.

There have been several crashes and mistakes from seasoned drivers, which may hint that the race will be filled with action.