Palou continues his mastery of Laguna Seca
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Alex Palou – Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
Alex Palou remains almost untouchable at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the picturesque Northern California road-course where the Spaniard scored his second victory in three years in Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey.
Monterey, CA – during the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey in Monterey, California. (Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo)
Palou also assumed the championship point lead in his bid for a third NTT IndyCar Series title with his second victory of the season in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. The two-time/reigning series champ beat native Californian Colton Herta and his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian to the finish by 1.9780-seconds.
“It was a chaotic race, man,” said Palou, 27, who qualified on-pole Saturday. “We didn’t do a very good job on the starts and those restarts at the beginning. The strategy was a bit risky for the position we were in, but we knew we had the pace and we just had to execute.”
Palou’s victory added to an impressive string of results at the challenging 2.238-mile/11-turn permanent, natural-terrain layout famous for its “Corkscrew” complex of turns. Palou scored his first win at Laguna Seca in 2022, finished second in 2021 and third in 2023.
Alex Palou – Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by James Black
Alexander Rossi, another native Californian, finished a season-best third in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Frenchman Romain Grosjean placed fourth in the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, the best-ever series finish for the team. Kyle Kirkwood completed the top-five in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda of Andretti Global.
Palou has jumped out to a 23-point lead in the series standings over native Australian Will Power, a two-time series champion who finished seventh in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet. Power led Palou by five points entering this race, the eighth of 17 on the 2024 schedule.
Grosjean was particularly upbeat after his race day result with a Juncos Hollinger organization that largely flies under the series radar.
Romain Grosjean – Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Chris Jones | IMS Photo
“A great result for all of us…very close to the podium,” said Grosjean, a former Formula One regular who competed at Laguna Seca last year with Andretti Global. “I think (Saturday) in qualifying we had a lot more than we could show and I think today, we also had a bit more we wanted. One set of tires was a bit strange in the middle stint that cost us quite a bit of time. On the last stint, sadly there were too many safety cars. I knew the deg was on our side, and we didn’t have much problem with that. I knew I could catch at least Rossi, maybe Herta. We spent most of the stint under yellow, but it is what it is.
“Very happy for the whole team, for Chevy and for myself. It was a tough one. I’ll tell you, the car was hard to drive but I think for everyone it’s hard to drive. Saw a lot of guys going off, and it was a tough race. A fantastic job by everyone and we keep working and we keep getting better.”
Pato O’Ward logged a top-10 finish after starting ninth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. “It was another P8 for us _ a hard-fought P8,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio. “We just couldn’t really make the strategy work there. It was just a really tough race, to be honest. There are nine races to go, so there are plenty of points left on the table.”
#14 Santino Ferrucci – Photo courtesy of A.J. Foyt Racing
Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci rallied from his 17th-place starting position to post a solid, ninth-place result. “Another top-10. Honestly, we’re kind of on a streak right now,” said Ferrucci, driver of the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet fielded by A.J. Foyt Racing of Waller, Texas.
Ferrucci was 12th when he pitted on Lap 52, having been passed by the leaders before making it to his pit box. He emerged in 17th due to a problem during the stop, but in six laps was back to 13th. However, he then was penalized by INDYCAR officials for blocking rookie Christian Rasmussen of Denmark and Ed Carpenter Racing. Ferrucci was instructed to surrender six positions, placing him behind rookie Kyffin Simpson of the Cayman Islands and Chip Ganassi Racing. Ferrucci contended that Rasmussen had blocked him through the previous corner before complying.
Santino Ferrucci – Photo courtesy of A.J. Foyt Racing
“Pretty bummed in myself,” Ferrucci said. “I feel like I let the guys down with the blocking penalty. I think we missed out on a chance to get a little closer to the top-five. The good thing is, we’re on a roll right now. We’ve got solid momentum. We’ll work on getting qualifying up, and it’ll be there.”
Two distinct tire strategies emerged early in the 95-lap/212.61-mile race, with no clear consensus about whether primary or alternate Firestone Firehawk tires were the fastest and preferred rubber over the length of a fuel stint. Fuel and tire strategies first diverged in stark fashion on Lap 36. The first of five caution periods was triggered when rookie Luca Ghiotto went off-track into the tire barrier in Turn 4 in the No. 51 GAV Air Technology Honda of Dale Coyne Racing.
Rossi was operating in P1 during that incident and pulled a train of leading cars down pit lane under yellow on Lap 37 _ a pack including Herta, early leader Kirkwood, six-time series champion Scott Dixon of New Zealand and CGR and Power. However, 13 drivers _ including Palou _ opted to stay out.
Alex Palou – Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Paul Hurley
Palou discussed that call over his radio with strategist Barry Wanser, questioning if it was the right move. “At that time, I doubted (the strategy) a little bit,” Palou admitted. “I didn’t know if my radio was working or not. But everything was fine. I’m sorry I didn’t have that trust, that belief in his call during those 10 or 20 seconds, but overall an amazing job for the Ganassi team.”
Palou stayed out-front from that point until his second pit stop on Lap 56, handing the lead to Herta and taking Firestone’s alternate, red-sidewall tires for the first time, deeper into the race than any other driver.
“I feel like before the yellow, we were quite good up-front,” Rossi said. “But then you get into a fuel-save race and it’s a little bit difficult. Nonetheless, it was an amazing job by the team and obviously our best result of the year. So, we’ll take the positives from that.
Alex Palou – Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo
“I think it’s just understanding why we were good. It’s always easy to Monday morning quarterback when you’re bad, but believe it or not, it’s a little bit harder to understand when you’re good. So, we’ll just keep working at it. Overall the McLaren group is doing a good job, Team Chevy is doing a good job, so we’ll keep hammering.”
Gavin Ward, McLaren Team Principal, added, “It’s hard to be upset with a podium, but we’re kind of upset with this podium. Alexander and the No. 7 crew deserved to win until that caution mixed things up. It’s a tough call at that point; it splits the field in half. You could go either way and never know where the cautions fall from there. They did the best they could from there to bring home a podium.”
Herta made his final stop on Lap 67, along with Rossi. Once again, Wanser instructed Palou to stay on- track on the faster Firestone alternates, in a bid to build on his lead of nearly three seconds. Palou made his last stop on Lap 70, along with Grosjean, and took on used Firestone primary tires. Josef Newgarden, another two-time series champ, cycled into the lead at that point in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet.
Josef Newgarden – Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo
Newgarden’s drive at the point was short-lived, as Palou took the lead for good when the Penske ace made his final stop on Lap 75. Still, the final 20 laps were not without drama, as Palou was forced endure restarts after three caution periods during that span. “Too intense there at the end with those restarts,” Palou said, “but an amazing win for the No. 10 DHL car.”
Indeed, Palou pulled away cleanly on each restart, building a lead as large as four seconds over Herta when Great Britain’s Jack Harvey pulled his No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda off-track near the start/finish line with a mechanical problem, triggering the penultimate caution.
On the ensuing restart on Lap 85, Palou built a gap of 1.6-seconds by Lap 87 when Argentinian Agustin Canapino’s contact with Simpson’s No. 4 Journie Rewards CGR Honda cut Simpson’s rear tire exiting Turn 5, forcing him into a spin. The trailing No. 15 Mobil 1 Honda driven by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal had nowhere to go in traffic and made contact with Simpson. Both cars ended up in the gravel, with Rahal making contact with the wall. Both drivers were uninjured, but Canapino was penalized for avoidable contact.
Colton Herta – Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo
Herta had one final shot at Palou on the restart on Lap 91, but once again Palou pulled away, building a gap of 1.1-seconds after one lap.
“It’s a good result,” Herta said. “We chose the strategy that we did, and we did a really good job with what we chose. It hurts not to win here, but we have to be happy with second place here.”
Next series race is The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid on Sunday, July 7, at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. That event will mark the start of a new era for the series, as the hybrid power units developed by Honda and Chevrolet will make their competitive debuts after months of extensive and successful testing.
Rossi, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 champion, addressed the impending introduction of electric hybrid power to the traditional internal combustion engine.
“I mean, I have two emotions,” Rossi said. “I mean, I’m sad because it’s the end of an era. We grew up falling in love with this sport with kind of the framework of what it is now. At the same time if you look at where the world is going, where manufacturers are going, you got to evolve. It’s an exciting time for the series to take that step towards the future. It’s something that’s important to all of us and the partners involved.
“It’s happy and sad. It’s cool to be able to introduce new technology into the cars, but also it’s sad that this phase of motorsports is coming to an end.”
Louis Foster has morphed into the runaway freight train of INDY NXT by Firestone. The British driver earned his fourth victory in the last five races and took the championship lead with a victory in Race 2 of the Grand Prix of Monterey double-header Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Louis Foster – INDY NXT By Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Paul Hurley
Foster completed the “twin-bill” sweep at the picturesque Northern California circuit by driving his No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car of Andretti Global to a 4.3962-second victory over the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car of rookie Caio Collet. Foster beat Collet to the checkered flag by 8.2445-seconds in Race 1 on Saturday.
“Like I said yesterday, Andretti has given us an amazing car,” said Foster, a 20-year-old native of Hampshire, United Kingdom. “I’m just out there doing my thing. It’s been a great weekend. Sunny skies in California. You can’t ask for anything more. So, super, super-happy with that.”
Foster earned his fourth victory of the season and sixth career win in the INDYCAR developmental series. He leads Jacob Abel in the standings by 35 points, 345-310, after the two drivers began the day tied at 291 points.
This weekend could prove to be pivotal for the championship with six races to go. Abel finished 11th in the No. 51 Abel Construction car fielded by Abel Motorsports, his worst result of the season. Abel was assessed with a drive-through penalty late in the 35-lapper for avoidable contact after an incident in the famous “Corkscrew” turn complex while battling for third with Reece Gold in No. 10 HMD Motorsports car.
Louis Foster – INDY NXT By Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Chris Jones | IMS Photo
Andretti Global also extended its winning streak to five races this season in INDY NXT. Foster won the second race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course double-header on May 11, on the Streets of Detroit on June 2 and both races this weekend, while Jamie Chadwick won June 9 at Road America.
Foster’s dominance was complete on the 2.238-mile/11-turn road-course, recording a “grand-slam” sweep of every performance category. He led both practice sessions, won pole position for both races, led all 70 combined laps and turned the fastest lap in both events.
Rookie Bryce Aron earned his first career INDY NXT by Firestone podium result by finishing third in the No. 27 Jaguar Land Rover Chesterfield car fielded by Andretti Global. Aron’s previous best finish was eighth at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., and Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
First-year INDY NXT drivers took four of the top five finishing positions. Rookie Yuven Sundaramoorthy placed a career-best-tying fourth in the No. 22 S Team Motorsports/Abel Motorsports car, with rookie Salvador de Alba Jr. completing the top-five with a career-best fifth in the No. 2 Grupo Indi car of Andretti Cape INDY NXT.
Foster controlled the race from the outset. The only suspense occurred during a restart on Lap 17 after what proved to be the lone caution period, but Foster eased away from Collet at the green flag and never was threatened.
A potentially critical flashpoint in the championship chase occurred on Lap 28 when Gold and Abel went side-by-side through the “Corkscrew” in a fierce fight for third place. The two drivers made contact, forcing Gold’s car into the air and off-track. The suspension of Gold’s car broke when the chassis slammed onto the asphalt, ending his race.
During that joust, Aron squeezed past both cars to take third and kept that position for the rest of the race. Race officials then assessed Abel with a drive-through penalty on Lap 29, which dropped him from fourth to 13th place. Abel rallied to pass two cars over the closing six laps.
Next series race is the Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio on Sunday, July 7, at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
Results of the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey NTT IndyCar Series event on the 2.238-mile/11-turn WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Northern California, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (1) Alex Palou, Honda, 95, Running
2. (4) Colton Herta, Honda, 95, Running
3. (5) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 95, Running
4. (8) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 95, Running
5. (2) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 95, Running
6. (10) Scott Dixon, Honda, 95, Running
7. (15) Will Power, Chevrolet, 95, Running
8. (9) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 95, Running
9. (17) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 95, Running
10. (18) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 95, Running
11. (3) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 95, Running
12. (23) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 95, Running
13. (21) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 95, Running
14. (24) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 95, Running
15. (6) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 95, Running
16. (12) David Malukas, Honda, 95, Running
17. (16) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 95, Running
18. (13) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 95, Running
19. (14) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 95, Running
20. (25) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 94, Running
21. (7) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 93, Running
22. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 93, Running
23. (22) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 86, Contact
24. (19) Graham Rahal, Honda, 86, Contact
25. (26) Jack Harvey, Honda, 82, Mechanical
26. (20) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 71, Mechanical
27. (27) Luca Ghiotto, Honda, 34, Contact
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 102.740 mph
Time of Race: 02:04:09.8545
Margin of victory: 1.9780-seconds
Cautions: 14
Lead changes: 7 among 5 drivers
Lap Leaders
Kirkwood, Kyle 1 – 24
Palou, Alex 25 – 26
Rossi, Alexander 27 – 36
Palou, Alex 37 – 55
Herta, Colton 56 – 63
Palou, Alex 64 – 69
Newgarden, Josef 70 – 74
Palou, Alex 75 – 95
NTT IndyCar Series point standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 285; 2, Will Power, Team Penske, 262; 3, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 253; 4, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 217; 5, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 210; 6, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 208; 7, Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren, 198; 8, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 188; 9, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 181; 10, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 176;
11, Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 156; 12, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 154; 13, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 150; 14, Romain Grosjean, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 144; 15, Marcus Armstrong, Chip Ganassi Racing, 129; 16, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 127; 17, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing, 114; 18, Linus Lundqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing, 113; 19, Pietro Fittipaldi, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 97; 20, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 88;
21, Augustin Canapino, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 86; 22, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 82; 23, Sting Ray Robb, A.J. Foyt Racing, 78; 24, Theo Pourchaire, Arrow McLaren, 75; 25, Jack Harvey, Dale Coyne Racing, 70; 26, Tom Blomqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 46; 27, Callum Ilott, Arrow McLaren, 39; Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 35; 28, Luca Ghiotto, Dale Coyne Racing, 27; 29, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing, 26; 30, Conor Daly, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports, 21;
31, Kyle Larson, Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren, 21; 32, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 19; 33, David Malukas, Arrow McLaren, 14; 34, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 14; 35, Tristan Vautier, Dale Coyne Racing, 12; 36, Colin Braun, Dale Coyne Racing, 10; 37, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports, 6; 38, Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb Agajanian, 5; 39, Katherine Legge, Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, 5.
