Event Recap: 2018 IndyCar Series Statistics from St. Petersburg (March 11, 2018)

Event statistics following the first race of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season, the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in the Streets of St. Petersburg in Florida.

Sebastien Bourdais won for the second consecutive time in the event, inheriting the lead when leader Robert Wickens and second-place Alexander Rossi tangled on a late-race restart in Turn 1 of the 1.8-mile, 12-turn course. Bourdais led Graham Rahal and Alexander Rossi checkered flag, waved jointly with the yellow flag.

Race Statistics

Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Streets of St. Petersburg – St. Petersburg, Florida

- Winner (starting position): Sebastien Bourdais (14th)

- Podium: Sebastien Bourdais, Graham Rahal, Alexander Rossi

- Full Results: Sebastien Bourdais, Graham Rahal, Alexander Rossi, James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Ed Jones, Marco Andretti, Will Power, Tony Kanaan, Takuma Sato, Simon Pagenaud, Gabby Chaves, Spencer Pigot, Zach Veach, Zachary Claman De Melo, Robert Wickens, Max Chilton, Charlie Kimball, Jordan King, Rene Binder, Jack Harvey, Matheus Leist

- Laps Completed: 110

- Race Leaders: 5

- Laps Led: Robert Wickens (69), Sebastien Bourdais (30), Alexander Rossi (5), Jordan King (5), Ryan Hunter-Reay (1)

- Pole Position: Robert Wickens (105.085 mph; 61.6643 seconds)

- Fastest Race Lap: Alexander Rossi (104.983 mph; 61.7244 seconds)

- Hard Charger: Graham Rahal (+22; 24th to 2nd)

- Margin of Victory: 0.1269 seconds (under caution)

- Car Count: 24

- Cars Entered: 24

- Cars Running at Finish: 20 (of 24; or 83 percent of the field)

- Drivers to Finish on Lead Lap: 14

- Cautions: 8

- Average Speed: 86.207 mph

- Lead Changes: 11

- Weather at Start of Race: 76 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny, winds SW 9 mph

- Weather at End of Race: 76 degrees Fahrenheit, sunny, winds SW 9 mph

- Manufacturer Breakdown: Honda (13), Chevrolet (11)

- Time of Race: 2:17:48.4954

- Green Flag/Yellow Flag Laps: 85/25

- Total Passes: 366 (283 for position)

Notes of Interest – Race Recap (Grand Prix of St. Petersburg)

- This is Sebastien Bourdais’s first victory of the season in the IndyCar Series, his sixth in the IndyCar Series and 37th in IndyCar competition. Bourdais is sixth all-time in IndyCar victories, two behind Bobby Unser for fifth all-time.

- The victory came in Bourdais’s 99th career Verizon IndyCar Series race and 172nd IndyCar race.

- Bourdais, a St. Petersburg resident who made his first career IndyCar (CART) start at St. Petersburg in 2003, is now a two-time race winner at St. Petersburg. He is the third driver to win the race in consecutive seasons, joining Helio Castroneves (2006-2007) and Juan Pablo Montoya (2015-2016).

- Bourdais has now won an IndyCar Series race in five consecutive seasons, and 10 seasons overall (five each in CART/Champ Car World Series and IndyCar Series). His 10 seasons with at least one victory ties him with Bobby Rahal.

- This is Bourdais’s second career victory for Dale Coyne Racing.

- This is Bourdais’s first victory since he was injured in an accident last season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in preparation for the Indianapolis 500.

- This is Bourdais’s second IndyCar Series victory in a car powered by a Honda.
- This is Bourdais's fourth victory in a season-opening IndyCar race (2005 and 2006 Champ Car World Series at Long Beach Grand Prix; 2017 and 2018 IndyCar Series at Grand Prix of St. Petersburg).

- This is Bourdais’s fourth consecutive victory after starting outside the top 10. He won last year’s Grand Prix of St. Petersburg after starting last (21st), the only driver to start outside the top 10 at St. Petersburg and win.

- Bourdais won the race from the 14th position. The last time a driver won an IndyCar Series race from the 14th position was Arie Luyendyk, who won the Las Vegas 500 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Nevada in the 1998 season finale.

- Graham Rahal nearly became the second driver to win the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg after starting last; instead, he finished second. He made up 22 positions, while Bourdais was second in positions improved from start to finish with 13.

- For Rahal, the 2008 race winner, it was only his second career podium in 11 races at St. Petersburg, and his first top-10 finish since the 2010 race (had finished no better than 11 in previous seven races).

- This is Rahal’s first podium finish in the IndyCar Series since last season’s race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.

- Alexander Rossi finished third, after leading five laps. It marked Rossi’s first podium finish at St. Petersburg, with his previous best an 11th-place effort in the 2017 race.

- James Hinchcliffe, the 2013 race winner, finished fourth, his third top-five finish in the race and first since the 2013 victory. Hinchcliffe finished fourth in his 2012 race debut.

- Ryan Hunter-Reay completed the top-five, despite diving into pit lane at the start of the race. It marked his third consecutive top-five in the race and sixth overall. Hunter-Reay was the third American-born driver in the top-five. The last time there were three Americans in the top five of an IndyCar Series race was the 2017 race at Watkins Glen International, with Rossi, Hunter-Reay and Rahal all in the top five.

- Despite an early race spin, Scott Dixon finished sixth. Dixon now has 14 starts at St. Petersburg without a victory. It was Dixon’s ninth top-10 finish at St. Petersburg.

- Reigning IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden finished seventh, the highest running Chevrolet driver and the top Team Penske driver. Team Penske has a record eight victories in the race.

- Newgarden did not lead a lap, ending his 10-race streak of consecutive races led (dating back to the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, Race #2).

- Ed Jones finished eighth in his debut with Chip Ganassi Racing.

- Marco Andretti finished ninth, his fourth top-10 in the last six races at St. Petersburg.

- Will Power finished 10th, his eighth top-10 finish in 10 races at St. Petersburg.

- Tony Kanaan finished 11th in his debut with A.J. Foyt Racing.

- Takuma Sato finished 12th in his first race with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing since the 2012 season finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

- Simon Pagenaud finished 13th. Pagenaud was the only driver coming into the race who had led laps in each of the last two races at St. Petersburg.

- Gabby Chaves finished 14th, the last driver on the lead lap.

- Robert Wickens finished 18th in his series debut, after leading a race-high 69 laps. Wickens was seeking to become the fourth driver to win a race in his series debut since Buzz Calkins won the 1996 season-opener at Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Florida. Wickens earned the pole position.

- A total of four drivers made their series debuts. In addition to Wickens, Jordan King (21st), Rene Binder (22nd) and Matheus Leist (24th). Wickens and King are the first drivers to lead laps in their series debut since Fernando Alonso in the 2017 Indianapolis 500.

- Binder was the first driver from Austria to compete in an IndyCar Series race, and first in an Indy car race since Hubert Stromberger in CART at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, in 1995. Jochen Rindt, the 1970 Formula 1 champion, made two USAC Championship Car Series starts – the 1967 and 1968 Indianapolis 500s.

- Three other drivers made their St. Petersburg debuts: Zach Veach (16th); Zachary Claman De Melo (17th); and Jack Harvey (23rd).
- A total of five drivers led, the most since 2015.

- Rounding out the field were Spencer Pigot (15th); Max Chilton (19th); and Charlie Kimball (20th).

- A total of 14 drivers improved on their starting position in the race.

- The next race will be Saturday, April 7, with the Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.