2016 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
# 2016 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

The 2016 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was the first round of the 2016 IndyCar Series. The race was held on March 13, 2016 in St. Petersburg, Florida on the city's temporary street circuit. Team Penske driver Will Power qualified on pole for the race, but was diagnosed with a concussion shortly after the conclusion of the session and was forced to miss the race. Oriol Servià filled in place of Power. Second place qualifier Simon Pagenaud inherited the pole position.

Simon Pagenaud led the opening 48 laps of the race before being passed by his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya would lead 44 laps en route to his second win in a row at St. Petersburg and most recent IndyCar victory to date. Rookie driver Conor Daly also led 15 laps during the race due to pit strategy, but was shuffled outside the top 10 by the end of the race. Alexander Rossi was the highest finishing rookie in the race, coming across the line in 12th position. The race tied the record for fewest caution flags in a race at St. Petersburg with only two coming out over the whole of the race. The first came on lap 46 when Luca Filippi and Marco Andretti made contact in the first turn. The second came on the restart from the prior caution when Carlos Muñoz made contact with Graham Rahal in turn four, creating a logjam that completely blocked the race course.

After the race, Will Power was reevaluated and deemed not to have a concussion, but instead to be suffering from a lingering ear infection. Power would be cleared to race for the following round at Phoenix International Raceway.

## Report

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

### Qualifying

| Pos | No. | Name | Grp. | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 12 | Will Power W | 2 | 1:00.5678 | 1:00.0658 | 1:00.2450 |
| 2 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | 2 | 1:00.6503 | 1:00.3805 | 1:00.4421 |
| 3 | 3 | Hélio Castroneves W | 2 | 1:00.7320 | 1:00.5168 | 1:00.4995 |
| 4 | 2 | Juan Pablo Montoya W | 2 | 1:00.7060 | 1:00.4431 | 1:00.5312 |
| 5 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 1 | 1:00.8921 | 1:00.2318 | 1:00.5395 |
| 6 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 2 | 1:00.9830 | 1:00.5530 | 1:00.8803 |
| 7 | 15 | Graham Rahal W | 1 | 1:00.9578 | 1:00.5893 | |
| 8 | 11 | Sébastien Bourdais | 1 | 1:01.1450 | 1:00.6711 | |
| 9 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe W | 1 | 1:00.9973 | 1:00.6724 | |
| 10 | 41 | Jack Hawksworth | 1 | 1:01.1322 | 1:00.7188 | |
| 11 | 14 | Takuma Sato | 2 | 1:00.7920 | 1:00.9745 | |
| 12 | 21 | Josef Newgarden | 1 | 1:01.0836 | 1:01.0571 | |
| 13 | 26 | Carlos Muñoz | 1 | 1:01.1856 | | |
| 14 | 83 | Charlie Kimball | 2 | 1:01.0433 | | |
| 15 | 27 | Marco Andretti | 1 | 1:01.2417 | | |
| 16 | 19 | Luca Filippi | 2 | 1:01.1699 | | |
| 17 | 8 | Max Chilton R | 1 | 1:01.5372 | | |
| 18 | 7 | Mikhail Aleshin | 2 | 1:01.2934 | | |
| 19 | 98 | Alexander Rossi R | 1 | 1:01.5794 | | |
| 20 | 10 | Tony Kanaan | 2 | 1:01.3414 | | |
| 21 | 18 | Conor Daly R | 1 | 1:01.9385 | | |
| 22 | 16 | Spencer Pigot R | 2 | 1:01.3881 | | |
| OFFICIAL BOX SCORE |||||||

Source for Individual Rounds:

### Race Results

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Laps | Time/Retired | Pit Stops | Grid | Laps Led | Pts. |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 2 | Juan Pablo Montoya W | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 110 | 2:13:28.4650 | 3 | 3 | 44 | 51 |
| 2 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 110 | +2.3306 | 3 | 1 | 48 | 43 |
| 3 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 110 | +8.8764 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 36 |
| 4 | 3 | Hélio Castroneves W | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 110 | +9.3237 | 3 | 2 | | 32 |
| 5 | 7 | Mikhail Aleshin | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | 110 | +9.7167 | 5 | 17 | | 30 |
| 6 | 14 | Takuma Sato | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Honda | 110 | +26.0373 | 5 | 10 | | 28 |
| 7 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 110 | +40.7056 | 4 | 4 | | 26 |
| 8 | 26 | Carlos Muñoz | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 110 | +55.9459 | 5 | 12 | | 24 |
| 9 | 10 | Tony Kanaan | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 110 | +59.1204 | 4 | 19 | | 22 |
| 10 | 83 | Charlie Kimball | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 109 | Contact | 4 | 13 | | 20 |
| 11 | 41 | Jack Hawksworth | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Honda | 109 | +1 Lap | 7 | 9 | | 19 |
| 12 | 98 | Alexander Rossi R | Andretti Herta Autosport | Honda | 109 | +1 Lap | 4 | 18 | | 18 |
| 13 | 18 | Conor Daly R | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 109 | +1 Lap | 4 | 20 | 15 | 18 |
| 14 | 16 | Spencer Pigot R | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 109 | +1 Lap | 5 | 21 | | 16 |
| 15 | 27 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 109 | +1 Lap | 5 | 14 | | 15 |
| 16 | 15 | Graham Rahal W | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 109 | +1 Lap | 5 | 6 | | 14 |
| 17 | 8 | Max Chilton R | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 109 | +1 Lap | 4 | 16 | | 13 |
| 18 | 12 | Oriol Servià | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 109 | +1 Lap | 4 | 22 | | 12 |
| 19 | 5 | James Hinchcliffe W | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | 109 | +1 Lap | 7 | 8 | | 11 |
| 20 | 19 | Luca Filippi | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 108 | +2 Laps | 6 | 15 | | 10 |
| 21 | 11 | Sébastien Bourdais | KVSH Racing | Chevrolet | 87 | Contact | 4 | 7 | | 9 |
| 22 | 21 | Josef Newgarden | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 47 | Electrical | 8 | 11 | | 8 |
| 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.

Source for time gaps:

## Championship standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Juan Pablo Montoya | 51 |
| 2 | Simon Pagenaud | 43 |
| 3 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 36 |
| 4 | Hélio Castroneves | 32 |
| 5 | Mikhail Aleshin | 30 |

* Note: Only the top five positions are included.
