"Jealous" Marco Andretti feels left out as IndyCar rivals experience new change at St. Petersburg

With IndyCar drivers posting blazing fast laptimes with the alternate green-walled tires, Marco Andretti shared that he felt jealous of being left out from trying the new tires. The 37-year-old driver continues his exclusive Indy 500 role and will try the tires during the race on May 25.

IndyCar had requested tire maker Firestone to create a bigger distinction between the primary and alternate tires. On first impressions, the tire has stood strong on the expectations as drivers were seen lighting up the timing charts with the green-walled tires.

Witnessing this, third-generation racer Marco Andretti revealed how he was feeling about not being on the track and trying out the new tires. The two-time race winner wrote on X:

"Jealous of the 1 lap qual on the greens! Have to nail it. Was always my fav. Big grip usually comes with big deg. Should make for an interesting race. @IndyCar."

However, the 37-year-old looked at the consequences that a strong performance tire might bring and worried about the increased degradation that might hinder the drivers.

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Scott Dixon followed suit with Marco Andretti's claims

Marco Andretti (L) and Scott Dixon (R) at the INDYCAR - The 105th Indianapolis 500 Qualifying - Source: Getty

Marco Andretti's degradation worries were also shared by several other drivers. Moreover, this statement resounded in Scott Dixon's camp. The six-time champion admitted that the alternate tires were a faster compound but would also face the problems of a higher degradation, and said (via RACER):

"I think both tires come in super quick. The greens for sure, in immediately. It seems like most of the quick times were done on the first lap. They’ve done a good situation here."

"And I think the deg (tire degradation) is going to be super high on the greens. I think it will not be an easy two-stopper; it’s automatically going to go to a three-stopper just because you’re not going to be able to get the miles out of your greens. The primaries, for me, deg’d pretty hard as well. It looked like the same for most, so I think there’s going to be a clear divide between the cars that sorted it out. It’s going to be great racing."

Two practice sessions have concluded for the St. Petersburg Grand Prix as of now. Kyle Kirkwood posted the fastest time of the two sessions with 1:00:4409s.

The Andretti driver posted the time during the practice session on Friday, and Marcus Ericsson pipped him from the throne for the second session. Though the Swedish driver did a slower lap, he finished the session in P1.

Qualifying for the St. Petersburg Grand Prix will begin at 2:30 PM ET. The green flag will be waved at noon Eastern Time on Sunday, March 2.