Álex Palou’s quest for the top spot in the Indycar 2025 season got off to a promising start, but he ultimately found himself in eighth position after a thrilling qualifying session for the St. Petersburg GP. Despite his less-than-ideal starting position, Palou is still very much in contention for victory, thanks to his IEOSI car’s impressive performance. However, it was external factors, rather than any issues with the car or his own driving, that hindered his progress.
Palou began strongly, dominating his group with two impressive laps on both hard and soft tires. He even managed to outpace Dixon, which was a significant confidence booster. It seemed like he was on track to fight for pole position, but the Fast 12 screen proved to be an insurmountable barrier. Palou’s first attempt with soft rubber wasn’t bad, and he was in a good position in the classification, but his second attempt was marred by traffic, which prevented him from unlocking his car’s full potential.
As Palou himself put it, "I’m a little disappointed because the car was good, as we saw in practice and Q1. But we couldn’t put everything together in Fast 12. We had traffic, and we couldn’t advance. It’s frustrating, but we have a fast car, and we’ll demonstrate it tomorrow." Despite his visible frustration, Palou is still optimistic about his chances, and his car’s performance suggests that he could make a strong push for the top spot.
The good news for Palou is that he’ll be starting ahead of several of his key rivals, including Josef Newgarden, who qualified 10th, and Will Power, who suffered a breakdown and will start 13th. Pato O’Ward, the McLaren leader, also had a disappointing qualifying session and will start 23rd.
Meanwhile, the first classification of the year in the Indycar didn’t throw up too many surprises, at least in terms of the top row. Scott McLaughlin, a specialist on urban tracks, took the pole position, with Colton Herta finishing second. Rosenqvist and Armstrong, driving for Meyer Shank, took third and fourth, respectively, while Lundgaard had an impressive debut with McLaren, finishing fifth. Dixon will start sixth.
The St. Petersburg GP will get underway tomorrow at 18:30, with 100 laps to be completed. Fans can catch all the action live on television. Here’s the starting grid:
- Scott McLaughlin (Penske) – 59.4624 s
- Colton Herta (Andretti) – 0.1769 s
- Félix Rosenqvist (Meyer Shank) – 0.2365 s
- Marcus Armstrong (Meyer Shank) – 0.3654 s
- Christian Lundgaard (McLaren) – 0.4039 s
- Scott Dixon (Gesting) – 0.4592 s
- Marcus Ericsson (Andretti)
- Álex Palou (GRAINSI)
- Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti)
- Josef Newgarden (Penske)
- Nolan Siegel (McLaren)
- Rinus Veekay (Give Coyne)
With the stage set for an exciting race, Palou will be looking to make a strong start and work his way up the field to challenge for the top spot. Can he overcome the disappointment of qualifying and make a statement in the St. Petersburg GP? Only time will tell.
