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Defending champion Pato O’Ward faces significant challenges in his bid to secure another victory at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The Mexican driver struggled during the initial qualifying round, clocking a time of 1:00.367 seconds, which placed him well below the necessary threshold for the Fast 12 and almost seven tenths slower than his teammate, Nolan Siegel.
O’Ward expressed his disappointment, stating, “I just couldn’t get the green tires switched on. We had two opportunities, but it was a tough lap to put together.” Initially anticipated to clinch pole position at the season opener, O’Ward’s qualifying result left him starting from the 23rd position, a situation he acknowledged as less than ideal. “We’ll have our work cut out for us,” he added, indicating a focus on recovering points during the race.
Qualifying Overview
Scott McLaughlin had a promising start to what he hopes will be a championship-winning 2025 season by claiming pole position, marking his tenth career IndyCar pole in this event. With a last-minute lap of 59.4624 seconds during the Firestone Fast Six, McLaughlin turned around a challenging situation, as his car had needed repairs following an earlier crash in practice.
Commenting on his team’s support, McLaughlin said, “We have so much trust in each other. They trusted that I could do the job today in the Dex Imaging Chevy. I had to repay them.” The qualifying session showcased how competitive the field is, with five different teams sending drivers into the Fast 6. Colton Herta, last year’s winner, secured the second fastest time, trailing McLaughlin by 0.1769 seconds. Rounding out the Fast 6 were Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Armstrong, Christian Lundgaard, and Scott Dixon.
However, several notable drivers fell short in the Fast 12, including Marcus Ericsson, Alex Palou, Kyle Kirkwood, Josef Newgarden, Nolan Siegel, and Rinus Veekay. Newgarden, who had a stellar previous season, expressed disappointment with his qualifying result, admitting, “I’m bummed… Tenth’s not great, but it’s not terrible.” This weekend, none of the key drivers who were heavily promoted by IndyCar and FOX for this race were able to contend for the pole position.
Challenges for Series Favorites
Will Power, a seasoned competitor at St. Pete with an impressive nine poles at the circuit, faced difficulties on his 44th birthday. After his Chevrolet underwent a hybrid unit swap post-practice, Power encountered a minor issue during qualifying that hindered his performance. “The beginning of the lap, you don’t quite have enough temp in the front tire… I just carried a bit too much in the middle and (the car) pushed out into the wall,” he explained.
This resulted in a lap that was just 0.0178 seconds shy of making the Fast 12, leaving Power to start outside the top-10 for only the third time in his 17 St. Pete appearances. “Oof. You can’t leave anything on the table in this series,” he remarked. Among those moving into the Fast 12 were McLaughlin, Herta, Siegel, Newgarden, Lundgaard, and Veekay, while Palou and Dixon led in the second group of qualifiers.
Fans can catch all the action in Sunday’s race, which will be broadcast live on FOX at 12:00 p.m. ET.
Source
www.motorsport.com