2018 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
# 2018 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

The 2018 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the first round of the 2018 IndyCar Series. The race was held on March 11, 2018, in St. Petersburg, Florida, on the city's temporary street circuit.

## Background

The race was the debut of the new standard aero kits.

## Report

### Qualifying

Rookie Robert Wickens took the pole in his first ever IndyCar Series start, while newcomers Matheus Leist and Jordan King also made the Firestone Fast Six, qualifying third and fourth, respectively.

### Race

The race featured a record number of cautions (8), on-track passes (366) and lead changes (11).

Robert Wickens lead most of the race, until the last restart, when the 2nd place car of Alexander Rossi attempted a pass down the inside of turn 1. It seemed as though Rossi had completed the move, until he slid up the track, taking Wickens out, and leaving himself to limp home to 3rd in a damaged car.

## Results

| Icon | Meaning |
| - | - |
| R | Rookie |
| W | Past winner |

### Qualifying

| Pos | No. | Name | Grp. | Round 1 | Round 2 | Firestone Fast 6 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 6 | Robert Wickens R | 1 | 1:00.0999 | 1:00.5428 | 1:01.6643 |
| 2 | 12 | Will Power W | 2 | 1:00.5969 | 1:00.5911 | 1:01.7346 |
| 3 | 4 | Matheus Leist R | 2 | 1:00.6331 | 1:00.7679 | 1:01.7631 |
| 4 | 20 | Jordan King R | 1 | 1:00.0476 | 1:00.7305 | 1:01.7633 |
| 5 | 30 | Takuma Sato | 2 | 1:00.9580 | 1:00.8470 | 1:01.8821 |
| 6 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 1 | 1:00.4087 | 1:00.9243 | 1:02.0385 |
| 7 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe W | 2 | 1:00.8441 | 1:00.9986 | |
| 8 | 88 | Gabby Chaves | 2 | 1:00.8507 | 1:01.1191 | |
| 9 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 2 | 1:00.8435 | 1:01.6527 | |
| 10 | 14 | Tony Kanaan | 1 | 1:00.2828 | 1:01.7213 | |
| 11 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | 1 | 1:00.3242 | 1:04.6739 | |
| 12 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | 1 | 1:00.0936 | 1:07.0377 | |
| 13 | 1 | Josef Newgarden | 1 | 1:00.4320 | | |
| 14 | 18 | Sébastien Bourdais W | 2 | 1:00.9587 | | |
| 15 | 26 | Zach Veach R | 1 | 1:00.4585 | | |
| 16 | 21 | Spencer Pigot | 2 | 1:00.9668 | | |
| 17 | 10 | Ed Jones | 1 | 1:00.5009 | | |
| 18 | 98 | Marco Andretti | 2 | 1:01.3013 | | |
| 19 | 60 | Jack Harvey R | 1 | 1:01.0270 | | |
| 20 | 59 | Max Chilton | 2 | 1:01.3360 | | |
| 21 | 23 | Charlie Kimball | 1 | 1:01.1868 | | |
| 22 | 19 | Zachary Claman DeMelo R | 2 | 1:01.8567 | | |
| 23 | 32 | René Binder R | 1 | 1:01.7003 | | |
| 24 | 15 | Graham Rahal W | 2 | 1:04.0990 | | |
| OFFICIAL BOX SCORE |||||||

Source for individual rounds:

### Race

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Laps | Time/Retired | Pit Stops | Grid | Laps Led | Pts. |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 18 | Sébastien Bourdais W | Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan | Honda | 110 | 2:17:48.4954 | 4 | 14 | 30 | 51 |
| 2 | 15 | Graham Rahal W | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 110 | +0.1269 | 3 | 24 | | 40 |
| 3 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 110 | +0.7109 | 3 | 12 | 5 | 36 |
| 4 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe W | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | 110 | +1.5175 | 3 | 7 | | 32 |
| 5 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 110 | +1.9907 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 31 |
| 6 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 110 | +2.2716 | 6 | 9 | | 28 |
| 7 | 1 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 110 | +3.3842 | 4 | 13 | | 26 |
| 8 | 10 | Ed Jones | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 110 | +4.2992 | 3 | 17 | | 24 |
| 9 | 98 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | 110 | +4.8363 | 3 | 18 | | 22 |
| 10 | 12 | Will Power W | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 110 | +6.1272 | 4 | 2 | | 20 |
| 11 | 14 | Tony Kanaan | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 110 | +6.5176 | 3 | 10 | | 19 |
| 12 | 30 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 110 | +7.4005 | 5 | 5 | | 18 |
| 13 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 110 | +7.9903 | 4 | 11 | | 17 |
| 14 | 88 | Gabby Chaves | Harding Racing | Chevrolet | 110 | +9.2272 | 4 | 8 | | 16 |
| 15 | 21 | Spencer Pigot | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 109 | +1 Lap | 6 | 16 | | 15 |
| 16 | 26 | Zach Veach R | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 109 | +1 Lap | 5 | 15 | | 14 |
| 17 | 19 | Zachary Claman DeMelo R | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 109 | +1 Lap | 5 | 22 | | 13 |
| 18 | 6 | Robert Wickens R | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | 108 | Contact | 3 | 1 | 69 | 16 |
| 19 | 59 | Max Chilton | Carlin | Chevrolet | 108 | +2 Laps | 5 | 20 | | 11 |
| 20 | 23 | Charlie Kimball | Carlin | Chevrolet | 107 | +3 Laps | 6 | 21 | | 10 |
| 21 | 20 | Jordan King R | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 107 | +3 Laps | 5 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| 22 | 32 | René Binder R | Juncos Racing | Chevrolet | 100 | Contact | 5 | 23 | | 8 |
| 23 | 60 | Jack Harvey R | Michael Shank Racing with Schmidt Peterson | Honda | 38 | Off Course | 1 | 19 | | 7 |
| 24 | 4 | Matheus Leist R | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 16 | Contact | 2 | 3 | | 6 |
| OFFICIAL BOX SCORE |||||||||||

Notes: 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

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Sebastien Bourdais | 51 |
| 2 | Graham Rahal | 40 |
| 3 | Alexander Rossi | 36 |
| 4 | James Hinchcliffe | 32 |
| 5 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 31 |
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Honda | 96 |
| 2 | Chevrolet | 46 |

* Note: Only the top five positions are included.
