(Paris) Swede Marcus Ericsson, winner of the Indianapolis 500 Miles last year and ex-Formula 1 driver, won the first round of the 2023 Indycar championship in St. Petersburg (Florida) on Sunday.
Starting in the lead, Frenchman Romain Grosjean dominated the start of the race before giving up first place to New Zealander Scott McLaughlin as yellow flags neutralized the race on this narrow urban circuit.
The latter managed to widen a slight gap but Grosjean, who also converted to Indycar after a long career in F1, never released the pressure.
At 74e trick, twist! Grosjean and McLaughlin collided as they battled for top spot and the Frenchman had to retire. “I am very disappointed and I hope that the regulations will be applied”, to sanction McLaughlin, lamented the French driver, attributing responsibility for the accident to his opponent.
It was the Mexican Pato O’Ward who then inherited the lead ahead of Ericsson, before the Swede took advantage of mechanical problems forcing O’Ward to slow down to take the lead three laps from the end.
The race was initially delayed by an accident early on involving four cars, including that of Frenchman Simon Pagenaud.
After a long break to clear the damaged single-seaters and clean the track, a new start was given more than half an hour late.
A new accident at 43e lap on the 100 of the event again eliminated several competitors before the American Colin Herta, teammate of Grosjean at Andretti and left in 2e position on the grid, in turn leaves the track while he was battling with the Australian Will Power, defending champion.