IndyCar: Winners and losers from 2018 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

The 2018 IndyCar season is underway. Which drivers were winners at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and which drivers were losers?

The 2018 IndyCar season began on Sunday with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Sebastien Bourdais won the race after some contact between…well, we’ll cover all of that below. Let’s see which drivers and teams left Florida feeling good and which ones left shaking their heads.

Winners from St. Petersburg

Sebastien Bourdais

Bourdais led 30 laps on Sunday, but it looked like he would have to settle for third until the final restart, when contact between Alexander Rossi and leader Robert Wickens allowed Bourdais to get by. It was his second straight year winning at St. Petersburg and his fifth consecutive season with an IndyCar win. Bourdais, after missing a big chunk of 2017 due to a qualifying wreck at Indianapolis, is off to a strong start in 2018.

Graham Rahal

Rahal started last after a rain-marred qualifying session and worked his way to the front. He finished second. That he worked his way up through the field is impressive. That he did it in St. Petersburg, where he hasn’t finished in the top 10 since 2010 and hasn’t had a podium finish since he won the race back in 2008, is ever more impressive.

Alexander Rossi

It’s tough to call Rossi a winner after he ended up wrecking Robert Wickens while racing for the lead, but Rossi did run up front for much of the day and finished third. Rossi had just one win and three podium finishes last year, so this is an encouraging start to his third IndyCar season.

Losers from St. Petersburg

Team Penske

It was…not the best day for Team Penske. They placed two drivers in the top 10, but their three drivers — Josef Newgarden, Will Power, and Simon Pagenaud — didn’t manage to lead a single lap over the course of the race. Qualifying issues played a role, but the cars just didn’t have the speed to contend on Sunday. It was the first time since 2005 that a Penske driver didn’t end up on the podium at St. Petersburg.

Matheus Leist

The 19-year-old rookie qualified third, but he crashed on lap 28 and finished the day in last place. Leist was one of three rookies to start Sunday’s race in the top four, but all of them ended up 18th or worse. This year’s rookie class looks promising, but St. Petersburg wasn’t kind to any of them.

Robert Wickens

I…I don’t even know what to say. Wickens had the race in hand after Alexander Rossi over drove into a corner trying to catch up to him, a move that cost Rossi two seconds. Then the first late caution came. No problem — Wickens pulled ahead again after the restart. Then the second late caution came and, well, it was a problem, as Rossi made contact with Wickens, leaving the rookie’s car wrecked and unable to continue. He finished 18th. It’s taken the 28-year-old a long time to get to this level and he looked like he belonged at St. Petersburg, but the result hurts. Hopefully he can bounce back as the season continues.

Next: Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time

The 2018 IndyCar season will continue on April 7th at ISM Raceway for the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix. That race is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network at 9:00 pm EST.