2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg Driver Ratings

Crash INDYCAR journalist Chad Smith goes through the field to hand out driver ratings for the Firestone Grand Prix at St Petersburg.
Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Marcus Ericsson: 9

Ericsson may not have had the best car this weekend, but he was able to capitalize on the misfortunes of so many other drivers.

Pato O'Ward: 9

This was a brutal runner-up finish for O’Ward, who had the lead in the closing laps before an electrical gremlin caused him to slow.

Scott Dixon: 9

Dixon collected his seventh podium at St Petersburg, but he has never won here.

Alexander Rossi: 9

A terrific debut for Rossi with his new Arrow McLaren team. There were no mistakes and he made solid gains throughout the weekend.

2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg Driver Ratings

Callum Ilott: 10

After starting in 22nd place, the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver carved his way through the field to score his first career top-five finish.

Graham Rahal: 10

Friday and Saturday were a real struggle for RLL Racing, across the board. Rahal was another driver that started at the back but stayed out of trouble and managed a great finish.

Will Power: 8

This wasn’t the dominant performance that Power has shown here in the past, but after a penalty and off-the-track issues on his mind, he rebounded for a decent result.

Alex Palou: 7

Palou was strong early in the race but faded as the day played out.

Christian Lundgaard: 8

Much like his teammate Rahal, Lundgaard was able to pounce at the right moments and avoided all of the carnage on Sunday.

David Malukas: 7

Aside from his penalty for running into the back of Marcus Armstrong early in the race, it was a quiet afternoon for the second-year driver.

Marcus Armstrong: 8

It was a solid series debut for the rookie, and a glimpse into his promising future.

Agustin Canapino: 8

Not many people saw this performance coming from Canapino, who capped a solid weekend for Juncos Hollinger Racing.

Scott McLaughlin: 6

The defending race winner looked as though he might repeat but his crash with Romain Grosjean late in the race was a costly mistake.

Conor Daly: 6

It was a rough weekend for Ed Carpenter Racing, and Daly, who was spun by Kyle Kirkwood halfway through the race.

Kyle Kirkwood: 5

A promising qualifying effort went down the drain when he crashed in the final round. Despite a solid 5th place starting spot, Kirkwood took out Daly and crashed again, going airborne over two other cars in the race.

Sting Ray Robb: 4

The only positive for the rookie today was that he was able to get back on track after the first-lap incident to gain some experience.

Josef Newgarden: 4

This was a disastrous day for Team Penske, and Newgarden was part of it. A poor qualifying performance was almost negated before a fire on the rear of his Chevrolet in the closing laps ruined his race.

2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg Driver Ratings

Romain Grosjean: 8

Things looked great for the pole sitter for most of the race before he was taken out by McLaughlin in the final stint of the race. He was beyond frustrated but his first win is coming very soon.

Felix Rosenqvist: 4

Friday and Saturday were good, as Rosenqvist was arguably the fastest of the Arrow McLaren trio. His race ended as soon as it began, when the contact with Dixon put him in the wall.

Colton Herta: 8

Early on, this race was a two-man duel between he and his teammate. A costly move on the outside of Power brought an end to his race, and was another brutal blow to the Andretti team.

2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg Driver Ratings

Rinus VeeKay: 5

VeeKay was a victim multiple times this weekend, but he will try to turn his frustration into motivation heading into Texas.

Jack Harvey: 3

Things haven’t improved for Harvey, after a brutal 2022 campaign. Harvey was involved in one of the big incidents today, and was taken to the hospital for further evaluation.

Helio Castroneves: 2

Castroneves really didn’t get to race today, as he was collected in the first-lap accident. He was a little banged up, but was cleared by the medical team.

Santino Ferrucci: 2

Ferrucci was another driver caught up in the first-lap incident.

Devlin DeFrancesco: 1

The hit that DeFrancesco had was one of the worst in series history. Thankfully, all of the safety enhancements allowed him to escape without injury.

Simon Pagenaud: 2

This was a race to forget for Meyer Shank Racing, who lost both cars in the first-lap accident.

Benjamin Pedersen: 1

Pedersen’s debut went about as bad as it could go.

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