#higpa

Going into this season, as many as a dozen drivers were considered to be very much in the running for the title this year, yet a lot of people may have overlooked the driver who didn’t just win today, he dominated the race!

Palou shone in his rookie year at Dale Coyne Racing, with many incredible performances, enough to convince Chip to hire him! Whilst we knew he was a true talent, it was expected it would take time for him to bed into the team, instead though he drove his first race with maturity, pace, as well as saving the tyres and fuel he needed. He now must be considered a real threat for the title, given what we saw at the weekend. His weakness will probably be the ovals, but with a relative lack of them this year, it may not hurt him too much!

It wasn’t just Palou who did well in CGR, Dixon got another podium today, still yet to win here, and could have matched Alex’s pace if he wasn’t stuck behind Power. Ericsson also ran well, it looked at one point that the team could sweep the podium, however when Ericsson pitted early to get the undercut, it meant he had to save too much fuel, and dropped back to eighth. With those 3 drivers looking fast, it could be another great year for the team! I probably should mention Jimmie Johnson, as NBC couldn’t stop talking about him! He clearly is taking time to get up to speed, however improvements are there, he said he learnt a lot from the race, so next weekend could be much better for him!

Team Penske had a mixed day, Newgarden did not cover himself in glory today, neither did he help his championship. The error on Lap 1 looked rookie-ish, as he got caught in the wash of other cars, although it is easy for me to say on the outside, and it hurt many other drivers today. Pagenaud was able to improve on his starting spot, yet he still isn’t matching his teammates, and only just beat McLaughlin, who should be very pleased with how the race went despite falling back late on! Power on the other hand had a very good day, using the 2 stop to gain places, and sit in behind Palou, but was unable to match him most of the race.

You have to feel for O’Ward, I do believe he had the fastest car today, although Palou was very close, it was just the choice of strategy that cost him today. You can’t blame the team too much for it, as that strategy looked to be the way to go, it was just one of those things the team has to learn from, which more experienced teams already know. Rosenqvist’s terrible weekend went on, as he got caught up in the Lap 1 crash, at least he has good pace when he can show it.

Bourdais, Veekay and Rahal, all used strategy to their advantage today, as pitting on Lap 11 during the caution, meant they could be on the winning strategy, but didn’t have to save as much fuel, so they were able to climb up into very good positions. AJ Foyt Racing must be especially happy, given the pain of recent years, because even without the good strategy, Bourdais had the pace.

We thought this could be a revival year for Andretti Autosport, and it may still be, but it didn’t start off very well. Effectively losing two cars in the first lap crash was very damaging for their title hopes, however that is what happens when you qualify in the mid pack, as Herta and Hunter-Reay did. After that, Rossi was the teams hope for the race, but the car just didn’t have the pace, as he couldn’t stay with O’Ward on the same strategy, and barely stayed in the top 10, so the DNF for his teammates didn’t hurt them too much then, given they wouldn’t have finished that well anyway. The decision to follow O’Ward in on the same lap to do a 3 stop was weird, as they were hoping to jump him, so why should you copy him?

A close second to Palou for driver of the day is Grosjean, who battled hard and was able to stay in the top 10 at the end of the race, and it wasn’t like he was holding cars up at all. His prowess in open wheel cars is clear to see, and I cannot wait to see what he can do as he gets more comfortable in the car, and with the team!

Having waited so long for the season to start, the season will now be coming thick and fast, in the run up to the Indy 500. St Petersburg should bring us our fair share of chaos, on a tight street circuit, with no margin for error. Andretti and Penske were good there to end last year, so can they stop the momentum of CGR?