In a commanding performance that sent a clear message to his competitors, Alex Palou kicked off his quest for a third consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship with a decisive victory in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding on Sunday.

The Chip Ganassi Racing star guided his No. 10 DHL Honda to a 2.8669-second victory over teammate Scott Dixon, showcasing a perfect blend of strategy, speed, and patience on the sunny Florida street circuit.

The race resulted in a Ganassi 1-2 finish, the team’s first since July 2023 at Mid-Ohio, with six-time series champion Dixon overcoming significant challenges to secure the runner-up position. Dixon impressively navigated the final 90 laps without radio communication, making his second-place finish all the more remarkable.

“What an amazing job by everybody,” Palou said in Victory Lane. “They gave me everything we needed this weekend to win. I told you yesterday we had a really, really fast car.”

The Spanish driver, who started eighth on the grid, earned his 12th career IndyCar victory and firmly established himself as the man to beat once again in 2025.

The race hinged on a critical strategic decision made during the only caution period of the day. Palou, Dixon, and eventual third-place finisher Josef Newgarden all pitted on Lap 3 to switch from the grippier but less durable Firestone Firehawk alternate tires to the more consistent Firestone primary tires.

This early pit stop proved decisive, but Palou still needed to execute perfectly. His blazing pace during in and out laps around his final pit stop on Lap 72 allowed him to undercut Dixon, who was slowed by traffic before his own stop one lap later.

“I think he got trapped in traffic a little bit,” Palou explained. “That’s why the 10 stand decided to pit a little bit early. We had a really clean out lap, could run fast and just opened a gap from there.”

The race featured a tense closing sequence as Newgarden slashed Palou’s lead from 4.5 seconds to less than a second by Lap 95. With Dixon also gaining ground in third, a three-way battle for the win seemed imminent.

However, when Palou finally cleared lapped traffic on Lap 96, he was able to pull away in clean air, expanding his advantage to nearly 1.7 seconds by the white flag. Meanwhile, Dixon capitalized on the opportunity to pass Newgarden in Turn 10 on the final lap to complete the Ganassi 1-2 finish.

“We were just kind of flying blind out there,” Dixon said of his radio problems. “Ultimately, I think they were trying to call me in because on that last lap we had before we pitted, there was just so much traffic, and we lost two or three seconds. That’s where the 10 car got us.”

Newgarden, who finished third in his No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, acknowledged his team’s potential: “I felt like our car today certainly was capable of winning. Just didn’t quite get there for a couple of reasons.”

NTT P1 Award winner Scott McLaughlin finished fourth in the No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet, and Florida native Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the top five in the No. 27 Chili’s Honda for Andretti Global.

The race featured seven different leaders, with McLaughlin setting the pace for a race-high 40 laps. Meanwhile, 2024 St. Petersburg winner Pato O’Ward delivered an impressive performance, climbing from 23rd on the grid to finish 11th in his Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

With his victory, Palou has already answered one of the biggest questions entering the 2025 season: Can anyone halt his championship momentum? After 138 days since his Nashville victory to close out the 2024 season, Palou made it clear he has no intention of relinquishing his crown.

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES continues with The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix on Sunday, March 23, in Thermal, California.