When is the first race of the 2025 IndyCar season? Exploring the venue, track, and more

The 2025 IndyCar season is just around the corner. The first race of the much-anticipated campaign is slated to take place on March 2nd at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

The event has been taking place since 2009 and with this out of the way, let's look at everything that one needs to know ahead of it.

Venue: St. Petersburg, Florida

St. Petersburg is located on the Pinellas Peninsula and is connected to Florida to the north. It is popularly known as St. Pete, and as per the 2020 consensus, its population stood at 258,308.

St. Petersburg annually gets an average sunshine of 361 days and is also known as the "The Sunshine City. As per the recent trends, the city has been a favorite of the young generations alongside being a popular destination for people following their retirements.

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Track: Streets of St. Petersburg (100 laps)

When it comes to the track layout of IndyCar's Firestone Grand Prix, it is a street circuit (downtown St. Petersburg) that is 1.8 miles long and has a total of 14 turns. There are five left and nine right turns.

Moreover, at the start of the race, there is a long stretch that leads into a tight right-hander on Turn 1 which is followed by a swift left-hand turn. Other than this, the track also comprises two long straights that provide the drivers with opportunities to overtake in the race.

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2025 St. Petersburg race weekend schedule

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg has been acting as the first race of the IndyCar season for quite some time. Last year as well it was the season opener and for the 2025 edition of the race, the weekend schedule is as follows:

Friday, February 28	3:00 - 4:00 PM ET	Practice 1
Saturday, March 1	10:15 - 11:15 AM ET	Practice 2
Saturday, March 1	2:30 - 2:40 PM ET	Qualifications Round 1, Group 1
Saturday, March 1	2:55 - 3:05 PM ET	Qualifications Round 1, Group 2
Saturday, March 1	3:20 - 3:30 PM ET	Qualifications Round 2
Saturday, March 1	3:45 - 4:00 PM ET	Qualifications Firestone Fast 6
Sunday, March 2	9:00 - 9:30 AM ET	Warmup
Sunday, March 2	12:00 - 2:30 PM ET	2025 Firestone Grand Prix

The 2024 edition of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was won by Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward. In a highly exciting IndyCar race, while Will Power finished second. Josef Newgarden (original winner) was disqualified from the race for manipulation of the push-to-pass system on his Penske car. Moreover, to rub more salt into the wounds, all three entries of the team were fined $25,000.

The hype ahead of the marquee event is always huge and the 2025 season has officially begun with the recent pre-season test that took place at the Sebring International Raceway.

Interestingly, the Sebring test was topped by Team Penske racing driver Will Power. The 43-year-old was able to complete a lap around the 3.741-mile track with an impressive time of 52.2549s. Other than him, his teammate and two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden was also a close second with a time of 52.3191s.