Wild Crash Causes Red Flag to Start Season in St Petersburg

A massive crash on the first lap of the season-opening race at St Petersburg triggered a red flag after one car went airborne.

Chad Smith

05 Mar 2023

It was a long offseason for IndyCar, and the wait to start the season took a little longer today on the streets of St Petersburg. On the opening lap of the race, Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist made slight contact in treacherous Turn 3 that triggered a large stack up of cars behind them. The result was a red flag that lasted nearly 30 minutes.

"I feel really bad that we made contact there," Dixon said about the incident with his good friend. "Honestly, I thought I was clear, but there was a small rub. I feel really bad for Felix." The day was done early for Rosenqvist, but Dixon was able to continue on to a podium finish.

Andretti Autosport driver Devlin DeFrancesco got the worst of the crash, as his No. 29 Honda came to a stop in the middle of the track. Rookie Benjamin Pedersen was unable to slow his AJ Foyt Racing machine in time, and hit Devlin's car nearly head on. The impact sent DeFrancesco's car up in the air, spinning around before landing hard on the pavement. Fortunately, no drivers were seriously injured in the accident.

"I’m fine, but not the way you want to start the season," DeFrancesco said. "We had concerns about Turn 3 and made IndyCar very aware of it. There have been multiple incidents there all weekend because it’s slippery. And that was the scenario that happened to me. I saw Helio spinning in front of me and then I saw the No. 55 coming and I knew it was going to be a big one and braced up and got ready for it. It was a wild ride."

https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1632437023477833731

Both Meyer Shank Racing drivers did suffer minor injuries. Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves had x-rays on his leg and ice on his hand, while former series champion and Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud also had a minor injury to his finger. It was a disastrous start to the season for that team, after beginning the year on a high note after winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The MSR organization wasn't the only team totally taken out in this crash. Both AJ Foyt Racing drivers, Santino Ferrucci and Pedersen, were also out of contention. It was just the beginning of what would be a miserable day for Michael Andretti's team.

After locking down the front row in qualifying and having three cars starting inside the top-five, Andretti was strong early. The race looked like it would be a two-man battle between Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta. Things quickly changed as the race played out. Kyle Kirkwood was involved in two incidents, one which caused his No. 27 Honda to also go airborne. He was somehow able to continue and delivered a 15th place finish that led the way for the team.