ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — It was a rough fresh start for two-time IndyCar champion Will Power in his first race with a new team, and same for Mick Schumacher in his series debut.
Schumacher didn’t even complete a lap Sunday in the season-opening IndyCar race on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg, where he could not escape a crash in the opening minutes when Sting Ray Robb and Santino Ferruci collided.
The son of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher had nowhere to go as he drove his Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing into turn 4 and had two crashed cars directly in front of him. Robb received a 30-second penalty for avoidable contact and continued the race, while Ferruci and Schumacher got a car ride to the medical center.
“That’s racing,” Schumacher said after exiting the check-up.
Power, on his 45th birthday, had a short debut race for Andretti Global when he brushed the wall on the 21st lap.
“I feel really bad for the guys, the car was really good,” Power said after a difficult weekend with his new team. The Australian has not driven in the series for anyone besides Roger Penske since 2009.
Power was replaced in the Penske lineup by David Malukas, who at 24 years old made his team debut for the most storied organization in the series.
Power spent a long time on his timing stand speaking with Ron Ruzewski, the team principal at Andretti, before putting on his helmet and safety gear and walking down pit road back to his garage. Andretti crew members repaired the car and he was able to return to the race 31 laps behind the leaders.
Schumacher — and Ferruci — were not as fortunate as their days ended with Robb’s aggressive, early contact.
“I saw Santino lock up and I wasn’t aware that there was another guy on the inside locking up a littler deeper than what’s supposed to be, and that kind of chain-reactioned the whole scenario,” Schumacher said. “Unfortunately our real target was to finish the race and get all the laps that we wanted.”
The German said his debut weekend wasn’t a wash because he was still able to learn over three days on the track. Schumacher indicated he won’t dwell on the results and is already mentally preparing for next Saturday’s oval debut at Phoenix Raceway.
“Looking ahead. Not looking back, trying to understand what we could have done better on our end, qualifying maybe being one of them,” said Schumacher, who started 21st in the 25-car field. “Like always, when you starting in the back, things end up being quite difficult but I think I made it extra difficult.
“I think as a team, we really needed that race to not have doubts going into the next event. But, hey, we’ve got 16 or 17 more races to go.”
Schumacher made the move away from F1 after three seasons without a ride. He drove for Haas in F1 and became a Mercedes reserve driver after losing that seat at the end of 2022.
He hasn’t made an F1 start since 2022 and instead competed in the World Endurance Championship. It led the 26-year-old German to give North American open wheel racing a try this season.
Palou domination continues
Alex Palou, winner of the past three IndyCar championships and three of the past four, opened the season back on top of the podium and in a race-record fashion.
The Spaniard won St. Petersburg for the second consecutive year by a record 12.4948 seconds, the largest winning margin in race history.
“We’re so back, baby!” he radioed his Chip Ganassi Racing team as he crossed the finish line.
Palou won this race a year ago to open the most dominant season in decades, the first of eight victories that included the Indianapolis 500 and a third consecutive IndyCar title.
“All the other teams aren’t flat-footed going into the season, they work hard to beat us,” team owner Chip Ganassi said. “We work hard to keep a gap between us and them, and it’s a challenge. You never know how hard they worked or how hard you worked. I’m pleased with what we’ve been able to accomplish in the offseason to maintain some gap here with the competition.”
The win comes two days after Ganassi and Palou said they have settled the breach of contract lawsuit Palou fought with McLaren Racing the past two-plus years.
“It’s been an amazing offseason, everybody has done a tremendous job,” Palou said. “I don’t know what to say, it unbelievable today. This team keeps on improving, keeps on making new changes and they just keep raising the bar. It’s pretty impressive.”
Ganassi felt it was the perfect way to open the year after last year’s five-week trial in London.
“Obviously it’s been an interesting offseason, on the track and off the track. It’s all behind us now, we’re back right where we want to be,” Ganassi said.
Scott McLaughlin started on the pole but finished second for Team Penske, while Christian Lundgaard was third for McLaren.
“Look, he’s just doing a great job, he put himself in a great position,” runner-up McLaughlin said.
Lundgaard was frustrated with the result.
“Every time I am on the podium, he’s always first. It’s pretty annoying,” Lundgaard said.
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