Marcus Ericsson steered clear of a raft of incidents and pile-ups in the streets of St. Petersburg on Sunday to win IndyCar's opening round of the 2023 season.
It was the former F1 driver and 2022 Indy 500 winner's fourth career win in IndyCar, but the Swede cemented his win just three laps from the checkered flag.
IndyCar's field of 27 drivers were certainly excited to go back to school, but the agitation veered to drama as soon as the first lap, triggering the first of six caution periods.
On lap 72 of 100, a showdown was in order between Penske's Scott McLaughlin and Andretti's Romain Grosjean, but the Kiwi, coming out of the pits on cold tyres, tried to force the issue as he ran wheel to wheel with Grosjean.
The pair made contact and both cars careened off into the barriers.
With 22 laps to go, Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward assumed an authoritative lead, with Ericsson settling in second.
But just four laps from the checkered flag, the Mexican suddenly slowed on St. Pete's main straight, his Chevy engine responding to a temporary overboost.
That allowed Ericsson to take the lead, the Chip Ganassi racer holding his own in the final laps to win by a margin of 2.4s from O'Ward, with Scott Dixon completing the top-3.
"I feel bad for Pato for having the issue, but that’s racing," commented Ericsson."You need to get there to the finish line.
"We were having such a good weekend. The car was fantastic all the way through. We were hunting him down, putting the pressure on, and that’s when things happen.
"It was a hell of a start to the season."
The #FirestoneGP is red flagged after this lap 1 incident.#INDYCAR // @GPSTPETE pic.twitter.com/7s50XtKiTi
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) March 5, 2023
