Scott McLaughlin claimed his third pole at St. Pete in his career besting Marcus Ericsson and rookie Dennis Hauger.
Four-time series champion Alex Palou was fourth fasted with new Penske Racing arrival David Malukas fifth and a returning Romain Grosjean rounding out the fast six.
In his first race with Andretti, Will Power starts 13th while the most disappointing qualifying session has to belong to Josef Newgarden who qualified 23rd.
Before people start to question Palou, it’s worth nothing that this is his best starting position at the track.
FOX has coverage of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg beginning at 12:00 pm ET.
St. Pete IndyCar Series Starting Grid
Qualifying: February 28, 2026; Race: March 1, 2026
|
POSITION
|
BEST SPEED
|
BEST TIME
|
BEHIND
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
S. McLaughlin
|
107.032
|
1:00.543
|
Leader
|
|
|
2 |
M. Ericsson
|
106.998
|
1:00.562
|
0.020
|
|
|
3 |
D. Hauger
|
106.976
|
1:00.574
|
0.032
|
|
|
4 |
A. Palou
|
106.782
|
1:00.684
|
0.142
|
|
|
5 |
D. Malukas
|
106.642
|
1:00.764
|
0.221
|
|
|
6 |
R. Grosjean
|
105.630
|
1:01.346
|
0.804
|
|
|
7 |
M. Armstrong
|
106.611
|
1:00.782
|
0.239
|
|
|
8 |
P. O’Ward
|
106.428
|
1:00.886
|
0.344
|
|
|
9 |
L. Foster
|
106.322
|
1:00.947
|
0.405
|
|
|
10 |
K. Simpson
|
106.262
|
1:00.981
|
0.438
|
|
|
11 |
F. Rosenqvist
|
106.257
|
1:00.984
|
0.441
|
|
|
12 |
C. Lundgaard
|
106.257
|
1:00.984
|
0.442
|
|
|
13 |
W. Power
|
105.893
|
1:01.194
|
0.651
|
|
|
14 |
C. Rasmussen
|
105.911
|
1:01.184
|
0.641
|
|
|
15 |
K. Kirkwood
|
105.829
|
1:01.231
|
0.688
|
|
|
16 |
S. Dixon
|
105.863
|
1:01.211
|
0.668
|
|
|
17 |
S. Ferrucci
|
105.773
|
1:01.263
|
0.720
|
|
|
18 |
G. Rahal
|
105.838
|
1:01.226
|
0.683
|
|
|
19 |
R. Veekay
|
105.586
|
1:01.372
|
0.829
|
|
|
20 |
S. Robb
|
105.595
|
1:01.367
|
0.824
|
|
|
21 |
M. Schumacher
|
105.540
|
1:01.398
|
0.856
|
|
|
22 |
N. Siegel
|
105.452
|
1:01.450
|
0.907
|
|
|
23 |
J. Newgarden
|
105.508
|
1:01.417
|
0.875
|
|
|
24 |
C. Collet
|
105.243
|
1:01.572
|
1.029
|
|
|
25 |
A. Rossi
|
105.190
|
1:01.603
|
1.061
|
|
