INDYCAR: Driver Ratings for the 2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg

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 th🥀e 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 runneℱr-up finish for O’Ward, who had the lead in the closing laps before an electrical gremlin caused him to slow.

Scott Dixon: 9

Di🌳xon collected his seventh podium at St Petersburg, but he has n༺ever 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 throu꧑ghout 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 g🌠reat finish.

Will Power: 8

This wasn’t the dominant performan𒁏ce 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

Pa🍷lou🔴 was strong early in the race but faded as the day played out.

Christian Lundgaard: 8

Much like his teammate Rahal, Lundgaard൲ 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 thඣe 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 futu🍬re.

Agustin Canapino: 8

Not many people saw this perfor🌳mance 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 i🎀n the race was a costly mistake.

Conor Daly: 6

It was a rough weekend for 🎀Ed C𓃲arpenter 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 t🌳he 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 qu🦩alifying performance was almost negated before a fire on the rear of his Chevrolet in the c🅠losing 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 M𓂃cLaughlin in the final stint of the race. He was beyond frustrated but his first win is coming very soon.

Felix Rosenqvist: 4

๊Fr💞iday 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 betwꦏeen he and his teammate. A costly move on the outside of Power brou🉐ght 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 wi🏅ll try to turn his frustration into motivation heading intಞo 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 t🦩o race today, as he was collected in the first-lap accident. He was a little banged up, but was c𒁏leared by the medical team.

Santino Ferrucci: 2

Fe🉐rrucci was another driver caught up in the first-lap inciden🉐t.

Devlin DeFrancesco: 1

The hit that DeFrancesco had was one of the worst in seri𓆏es 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 t☂he first-lap accident.

Benjamin Pedersen: 1

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

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