WATCH: Alex Palou's daughter Lucia celebrates CGR racer's season-opening victory at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

The 2025 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was held on March 2 in Florida. Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou stood atop the season-opener's podium. He qualified eighth but finished first in the race.

The defending champion put in an impressive lap to take the victory by 2.8669 seconds. He had to fight with Josef Newgarden to keep his top spot. It marked his 12th career race win.

Palou's victory was even more special because of his daughter Lucia's presence at the race. She celebrated with her father, mother Esther Valle, and the team in a yellow CGR hat. The official IndyCar Instagram account posted a video of him and his daughter's celebration after he won, captioned:

"An unforgettable moment ❤️"

The couple welcomed Lucia on December 4, 2023. Palou had taken to Instagram to announce her birth at the time:

"04/12/2023 Welcome to our world Lucia. Both baby and mom are doing great. Best day ever ! #Dad"

Palou and Valle have been together since 2014. She often cheers for him at races and award shows. While talking to Eric Smith, an IndyCar staff writer in 2024, Palou spoke about how having a baby makes a difference when it comes to the championship pressure:

“The baby is awesome and helps me with everything. Just being more prepared as a person. It helps to have a baby to just look at how she smiles.”

The young Spaniard and Team 10's risky choice of tires on Sunday led them to clinch the victory and open the season positively.

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Alex Palou took the gamble and won

Alex Palou at the Rolex 24 at Daytona - Source: Getty

Alex Palou won the season opener at the Firestone Grand Prix in St. Petersburg. The chaos at the beginning of the race changed the various tire strategies chosen by the teams, which worked for some but didn't quite for others.

For Palou the strategy worked perfectly even though it was a huge gamble. While speaking to FOX Sports' Will Buxton post-race, he said:

"I mean, we knew that the alternates and the primaries had a huge difference. We knew that the speed for alternates were like good for two laps, maybe three, but then they were tanking man. So, we wanted to get those out of the way as soon as possible."

The next race is set to take place at the Thermal Club Grand Prix on March 23.