IndyCar: Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg features massive amount of overtakes

The opening race of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, featured a massive amount of overtakes.

The 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season opener up on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida with the annual Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which has now been the season opener in each of the last eight seasons.

The race also marked the first race of the new universal aero kit era in IndyCar following three seasons during which Chevrolet and Honda were allowed to develop their own aero kits for the teams that used them as a manufacturer.

A total of 24 drivers took to the track for the 110-lap race around the 14-turn, 1.8-mile temporary street and runway circuit, and they ended up overtaking one another a massive number of times throughout the race, which lasted just over two and a quarter hours.

In that time, a total of 366 overtakes took place throughout the race, which is a total that breaks the previous record of 322. That record was set back in the 2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which was won by Graham Rahal.

More from IndyCar

For a street course, that number is insane, especially when compared side by side with the number of overtakes that take place in Formula One, which is the most popular international open-wheel series that only races on road and street courses.

In 20 races last Formula One season, only 435 overtakes took place, meaning an average of 21.75 overtakes took place. This total was down from 866 overtakes in 21 races in the 2016 season, and with speeds set to increase again this season, that 435 could drop even lower this upcoming season.

So essentially IndyCar just had as almost many overtakes in a two and a quarter-hour street course race with 366 as Formula One had all of last season, and IndyCar may have just had as many overtakes in that race as Formula One has throughout this upcoming season.

As far is which open-wheel series has a more competitive field from top to bottom, there is really no comparison, and this statistic proves it. In Formula One, typically only two or three drivers have a chance to win on any given race weekend. In IndyCar, that number is typically larger than a dozen.

Next: Top 10 most unbreakable records across Formula One, NASCAR and IndyCar

Will the new universal aero kit create more exciting IndyCar action throughout the remainder of the 2018 season? With just one race out of the 17 that are on the schedule being in the books, there should be plenty more opportunities to find out before the season concludes in September.