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 claim 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…
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