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The 2025 IndyCar season is on the horizon with the season opening St. Petersburg Grand Prix taking place on March 2nd. The race weekend begins on February 28th with the practice session, qualifying, and race day on subsequent days. Pato O'Ward, Colton Herta, and other IndyCar came out and expressed their feelings about the season opener.
The official X account of Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg @GPSTPETE shared a video on the social media platform on February 21, 2025, which featured the IndyCar drivers talking about the race in Florida. Andretti Global's Colton Herta was the first one to detail how the St. Petersburg Grand Prix sets the tone for the remainder of the season as he said:
“I mean St. Petersburg is a very important race, it kind of sets the tone for the rest of your season. It's always great to kinda get off with a running start. It all starts here.”
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Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward, who drives the No.5 Chevrolet powered entry then explained how he tries to approach the first race of the season with a calm-headed approach. He said:
“Heading into the first race of the season, everybody is antsy. Everybody is like, 'Woahh, I'm ready to go'. I usually try to approach it with calmness, a cool head, at least I try and it's worked out well, most of the time.”
Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Ericsson, and Graham Rahal were the other drivers featured in the video. The Team Penske driver highlighted how winning the St. Petersburg GP in 2022 boosted his season as he said:
“There's always a lot of buzz, there's a lot of talking going on in the off-season. Winning the race on Sunday is something that, for it to happen that early in the season and it was just such a big springboard into my career for IndyCar.”
Andretti’s Marcus Ericsson suggested that winning the first race of the season gives the drivers momentum and then talked about his win at St. Petersburg in 2023. The Swedish driver also highlighted the amazing atmosphere at the racetrack in Florida. Graham Rahal detailed the technical aspects of the St. Petersburg race and how it's one of the longest street courses of the season.
Track map of the first race of 2025 IndyCar season: Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg takes place on the streets of St. Petersburg, on a 1.8-mile long temporary setup course, which consists of 14 turns and utilizes the runway at Albert Whitted Airport. The title sponsor of the race is IndyCar’s tire supplier Firestone.
The race starts down the runway at the airport with turns 1, 2, and 3 being the connecting roads to 1st Street SW. Following a long run down 1st Street, the cars go down the right and technical section around the Beach St. and Bay Shore area which consists of Turn 5 to Turn 9 in quick succession.
The cars then run along the Bay Shore Dr. SE straight before the sharp and fast Turn 10, followed by the Turn 11 and 12 chicane, which then flows into a hairpin that takes the cars onto the airport runway to complete a lap.
Team Penske is the most successful team around St. Pete with 11 wins and Helio Castroneves is the most successful driver with three wins around the 1.8 mile circuit.
