McLaughlin and Power put Penske back on top with one-two

Scott McLaughlin led Will Power to a one-two finish which will have brought great satisfaction to Penske at the end of a tough week for the team.

The second consecutive victory for McLaughlin in the Grand Prix of Alabama was just the tonic the team needed after he and team mate Josef Newgarden were retroactively disqualified from the season-opening race.

McLaughlin and Power appeared to have a fight on their hands early in the race as Alex Palou gained ground on them using a two-stop strategy. But the cards fell the Penske’s pair’s way thanks to the timing of a caution period, allowing McLaughlin to leave the pits after his final refuelling stop still at the front of the field with 15 laps to go.

Power gave chase in the early laps but fell behind Christian Lundgaard when he went off by himself at turn five. Palou had already worked his way up to fourth by that time, passing Marcus Armstrong and Felix Rosenqvist on lap 12, shortly after the first caution period and restart.

Palou took over the lead after McLaughlin, Lundgaard and Power pitted together during the second caution period, triggered when Alexander Rossi’s McLaren shed its left-rear wheel shortly after leaving the pits. Power briefly passed McLaughlin at the lap 49 restart, but lost the advantage to his team mate the next time around.

The threat posed by Palou faded when Sting Ray Robb crashed heavily at turn one when his steering failed, causing the third caution period of the day. Palou had to take the opportunity to pit and run to the end, leaving him unable to fight over the final laps.

It took two attempts for new leader Santino Ferrucci to produce a clean restart, following which he and second-placed Linus Lundqvist soon pitted. McLaughlin was back in the lead by lap 75, successfully executed a late restart with three laps to go, and led his team mate home to victory.

Lundqvist couldn’t use his soft alternate tyres to pass Power, but nonetheless claimed his first IndyCar podium. Felix Rosenqvist passed Palou after the final restart to secure fourth ahead of the Ganassi driver.

Lundgaard passed Armstrong shortly before the final caution period and went on to claim sixth. Ferrucci finished seventh ahead of Herta, the pair having clashed twice in the opening laps. However Herta’s result moves him into the lead of the drivers’ championship by a single point from Power. Armstrong ended up ninth ahead of Kyle Kirkwood.

While Rossi’s retirement was a disappointment for McLaren, it paled in comparison to a shocking performance by Pato O’Ward. He threw fourth place away on lap two when he went off behind Lundgaard at turn five. Four laps later he dumped Pietro Fittipaldi into a barrier, causing the first caution period of the day. He reached the chequered flag 22nd, and no doubt to the chagrin of team mate Theo Pourchaire, whom O’Ward hit at turn five.

Scott Dixon’s spell in the championship lead, which came about due to the midweek Penske disqualifications, proved short-lived. He went off at turn 18 when he closed rapidly on Graham Rahal at turn five, and went on to finish 15th, dropping to fourth in the points. Newgarden finished one place behind him after tangling with several rivals in an often physical contest.

Christian Rasmussen caused the final caution period when he spun to a stop with five laps to go. But the race’s most bizarre incident occured when a mannequin fell from a bridge and landed by the side of the track. The errant doll failed to trigger an interruption in proceedings before it was retrieved.

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Race result

P.	No.	Driver	Team	Engine
1	3	Scott McLaughlin	Penske	Chevrolet
2	12	Will Power	Penske	Chevrolet
3	8	Linus Lundqvist	Ganassi	Honda
4	60	Felix Rosenqvist	Meyer Shank	Honda
5	10	Alex Palou	Ganassi	Honda
6	45	Christian Lundgaard	RLL	Honda
7	14	Santino Ferrucci	Foyt	Chevrolet
8	26	Colton Herta	Andretti/Curb-Agajanian	Honda
9	11	Marcus Armstrong	Ganassi	Honda
10	27	Kyle Kirkwood	Andretti	Honda
11	15	Graham Rahal	RLL	Honda
12	77	Romain Grosjean	Juncos Hollinger	Chevrolet
13	18	Jack Harvey	Coyne	Honda
14	4	Kyffin Simpson	Ganassi	Honda
15	9	Scott Dixon	Ganassi	Honda
16	2	Josef Newgarden	Penske	Chevrolet
17	21	Rinus VeeKay	Carpenter	Chevrolet
18	28	Marcus Ericsson	Andretti	Honda
19	66	Tom Blomqvist	Meyer Shank	Honda
20	78	Agustin Canapino	Juncos Hollinger	Chevrolet
21	51	Luca Ghiotto	Coyne	Honda
22	5	Pato O’Ward	McLaren	Chevrolet
23	6	Theo Pourchaire	McLaren	Chevrolet
24	20	Christian Rasmussen	Carpenter	Chevrolet
25	7	Alexander Rossi	McLaren	Chevrolet
26	41	Sting Ray Robb	Foyt	Chevrolet
27	30	Pietro Fittipaldi	RLL	Honda

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IndyCar

• IndyCar to finally debut much-delayed hybrids at Mid-Ohio round
• Palou sees off Power and Lundgaard for Indianapolis Grand Prix victory
• Palou pips Lundgaard for pole at Indianapolis, points leader Herta 24th
• Pourchaire leaves Super Formula to take Malukas’ McLaren IndyCar seat
• Penske suspends four staff after double IndyCar disqualification

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