2021 Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey

2021 Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey

Race details
15th round of the 2021 IndyCar season
Layout of the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
Date	September 19, 2021
Official name	Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey
Location	WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, California
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.238 mi / 3.602 km
Distance	95 laps 212.61 mi / 342.163 km
Weather	Sunny
Pole position
Driver	Colton Herta  (Andretti Autosport with Curb Agajanian)
Time	01:10.7994
Fastest lap
Driver	Josef Newgarden  (Team Penske)
Time	01:13.0826 (on lap 10 of 95)
Podium
First	Colton Herta  (Andretti Autosport with Curb Agajanian)
Second	Álex Palou  (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Third	Romain Grosjean  (Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing)

The 2021 Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey was an IndyCar motor race held on September 19, 2021 at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. ^[1] It was the 15th round of the 2021 IndyCar Series.

Andretti Autosport's Colton Herta won the race after leading 91 of 95 laps of the race, scoring his second win of the season and his second IndyCar win at Laguna Seca after he won the previous edition in 2019. Championship leader Álex Palou finished in second, ahead of rookie Romain Grosjean, who came third after gaining ten positions from his starting position, scoring his third IndyCar career podium. ^{[2] [3]}

Background

The event, which was held on the weekend of September 17-19, 2021 at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, returned to the series after its absence in the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the penultimate race of the 2021 season, following the Grand Prix of Portland at the Portland International Raceway, which was held one week before this race, and preceding the season finale in the following week at the Streets of Long Beach.

Colton Herta was the previous race winner, having won the race in 2019 with Harding Steinbrenner Racing.

Championship standings before the race

After his win at the Grand Prix of Portland, Álex Palou retook the championship lead with a 25-point advantage from Pato O'Ward, who only finished 14th and subsequently dropped to second place in the standings. Third-placed Josef Newgarden closed the difference to O'Ward into a nine-point gap with a fifth placed finish at Portland, while Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson improved their points tally in fourth and fifth respectively after strong finishes at Portland, with Dixon scoring a podium.

Honda remained in the lead of the manufacturer's standings over Chevrolet.

Entrants

Further information: 2021 IndyCar Series § Contracted teams and drivers

Key	Meaning
R	Rookie
W	Past winner

No.	Driver	Team	Engine
2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet
3	Scott McLaughlin  R	Team Penske	Chevrolet
4	Dalton Kellett	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet
5	Patricio O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet
06	Hélio Castroneves	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda
7	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet
8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
12	Will Power	Team Penske	Chevrolet
14	Sébastien Bourdais	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet
15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
18	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda
20	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Chevrolet
26	Colton Herta  W	Andretti Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda
27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda
28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Honda
29	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda
30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
45	Oliver Askew	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
48	Jimmie Johnson  R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
51	Romain Grosjean  R	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing	Honda
59	Max Chilton	Carlin	Chevrolet
60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda
77	Callum Ilott  R	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Chevrolet

Practice

Practice 1

Practice 1 took place at 5:30 PM ET on September 17. ^[1] The session saw numerous incidents happen, such as Colton Herta going off-track past the Corkscrew and Hélio Castroneves making contact with the tire barriers in Turn 2, though no major damage was caused. Josef Newgarden topped the first practice charts with a time of 01:11.7125, besting Herta in second and Álex Palou in third. ^[4]

Top Practice Speeds

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Lap Time
1	2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	01:11.7125
2	26	Colton Herta  W	Andretti Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda	01:11.7927
3	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	01:11.9750
Source: [5]

Practice 2

Practice 2 took place at 1:45 PM ET on September 18. ^[1] The session was marred with two red flags, which cut up to 20 minutes of session time. Dalton Kellett lost control of and crashed his No. 4 car in Turn 4, triggering the first red flag. After the session restarted, Rinus VeeKay crashed at nearly the same spot as Kellett did, bringing out the second red flag of the session. Both drivers were unharmed. Rookie Scott McLaughlin topped the session with the best time of 01:10.8755, with Colton Herta and Álex Palou finishing second and third fastest. ^[6]

Top Practice Speeds

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Lap Time
1	3	Scott McLaughlin  R	Team Penske	Chevrolet	01:10.8755
2	26	Colton Herta  W	Andretti Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda	01:11.0224
3	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	01:11.0312
Source: [7]

Qualifying

Qualifying took place at 5:05 PM ET on September 18. ^[1] Colton Herta took pole position with a time of 01:10.7994, ahead of Andretti teammate Alexander Rossi and Penske driver Will Power, who finished second and third respectively. ^[8]

Qualifying classification

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Time				Final grid
					Round 1		Round 2	Round 3
					Group 1	Group 2
1	26	Colton Herta  W	Andretti Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda	01:10.9020	N/A	01:10.5847	01:10.7994	1
2	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	N/A	01:11.0691	01:10.9169	01:10.9951	2
3	12	Will Power	Team Penske	Chevrolet	N/A	01:11.2836	01:10.8333	01:11.1317 1	3
4	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	N/A	01:11.4397	01:10.8351	01:11.3317	4
5	45	Oliver Askew	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	N/A	01:11.0155	01:10.9117	01:11.8937	5
6	5	Pato O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	01:11.2992	N/A	01:11.0220	01:24.2715 2	6
7	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	01:11.3179	N/A	01:11.2581	N/A	7
8	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	01:11.5276	N/A	01:11.2768	N/A	8
9	22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Chevrolet	01:11.3775	N/A	01:11.3067	N/A	9
10	59	Max Chilton	Carlin	Chevrolet	N/A	01:11.1852	01:11.3088	N/A	10
11	29	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda	N/A	01:11.3542	01:11.4567	N/A	11
12	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	01:10.9915	N/A	01:12.5932	N/A	12
13	51	Romain Grosjean  R	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing	Honda	01:11.5303	N/A	N/A	N/A	13
14	18	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda	N/A	01:11.4692	N/A	N/A	14
15	7	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	01:11.5446	N/A	N/A	N/A	15
16	3	Scott McLaughlin  R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	N/A	01:11.5767	N/A	N/A	16
17	2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	01:11.5503	N/A	N/A	N/A	17
18	20	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	N/A	01:11.5921	N/A	N/A	18
19	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Honda	01:11.6721	N/A	N/A	N/A	19
20	60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	N/A	01:11.6689	N/A	N/A	20
21	14	Sébastien Bourdais	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	01:11.9776	N/A	N/A	N/A	21
22	06	Hélio Castroneves	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	N/A	01:11.8071	N/A	N/A	22
23	30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	01:12.1443	N/A	N/A	N/A	22
24	21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	N/A	01:12.2843	N/A	N/A	24
25	48	Jimmie Johnson  R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	01:12.2865	N/A	N/A	N/A	25
26	77	Callum Ilott  R	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Chevrolet	N/A	01:12.3558	N/A	N/A	26
27	4	Dalton Kellett	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	N/A	01:12.6055	N/A	N/A	27
Source: [9]

Notes

• Bold text indicates fastest time set in session.
• ^1 - Will Power was initially second fastest, but had his lap invalidated, as officials judged him to have failed to slow down during a local yellow caused by Pato O'Ward's spin at the Corkscrew. ^[8]
• ^2 - Pato O'Ward had his best time invalidated due to a penalty for his spin at the Corkscrew. ^[8]

Final Practice

Warmup took place at 12:00 PM ET on September 19. ^[1] Rookie Callum Ilott spun off into the tire barriers in Turn 6 during the session, causing a red flag. Ilott was uninjured. Alexander Rossi went fastest with a time of 01:12.8632, with Colton Herta finishing second and Takuma Sato finishing third. ^[10]

Top Warmup Speeds

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Lap Time
1	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	01:12.8632
2	26	Colton Herta  W	Andretti Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda	01:12.9651
3	30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	01:13.3539
Source: [11]

Race

The race started at 3:00 PM ET on September 19. ^[1] On lap 2, race leader Colton Herta and Alexander Rossi made contact in Turn 2, as Rossi attempted to capitalize on a Herta mistake. However, while Herta managed to continue without problems, Rossi spun into the gravel and stalled, causing a caution as his car was restarted – he would later finish 25th, two laps behind. On lap 10, Will Power, who started third, suddenly had engine problems that prompted him to pit to resolve the issue – he finished the race two laps behind in 26th. Takuma Sato spun at the Corkscrew mid-race. As Sato's car stalled, it rolled backwards towards Scott Dixon, who attempted an evasive maneuver by driving off-track, but to no avail, as he suffered damage to his right sidepod and undertray. Dixon was forced to drive on with the damage and would later finish 13th.

Herta led most of the race, being in the lead for 91 of 95 laps. Romain Grosjean led the four remaining lead laps, as he made a surge to the front from thirteenth. Grosjean made several passes at the iconic Corkscrew corner, most notably his pass against fellow rookie Jimmie Johnson towards the end of the race, as Grosjean was quickly gaining to the lead pack after fitting on a fresh set of tires and as Johnson was defending to protect his teammate, Álex Palou, who was running in second place. The two were able to continue racing, but Grosjean's pace would dwindle after the incident.

Colton Herta won the race, clinching consecutive wins at the Monterey Grand Prix as he won the 2019 edition, repeating a feat achieved by his father, Bryan Herta, in 1998 and 1999. Championship leader Álex Palou finished second, extending his points lead over Pato O'Ward, who finished fifth, to 35 points. Rookie Romain Grosjean took his third IndyCar podium as he finished third, narrowing the gap in the battle for Rookie of the Year to fellow rookie Scott McLaughlin into 20 points. 2020 champion Scott Dixon saw his title hopes end, as the gap between him and Palou grew to 72 points, ruling out consecutive championship wins for Dixon. ^{[2] [12]}

Race classification

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Laps	Time/Retired	Pit Stops	Grid	Laps Led	Pts.
1	26	Colton Herta  W	Andretti Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda	95	2:02:31.5444	3	1	91	54
2	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	95	+1.9747	3	4		40
3	51	Romain Grosjean  R	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing	Honda	95	+3.7087	3	13	4	36
4	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	95	+13.8616	3	12		32
5	5	Pato O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	95	+24.6972	3	6		30
6	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	95	+28.5032	3	7		28
7	3	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	95	+29.7267	4	17		26
8	22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Chevrolet	95	+30.4215	3	9		24
9	45	Oliver Askew	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	95	+32.4675	3	5		22
10	18	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda	95	+47.9944	3	14		20
11	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Honda	95	+1:07.1843	3	19	0	19
12	3	Scott McLaughlin  R	Team Penske	Chevrolet	95	+1:13.4940	3	16		18
13	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	95	+1:16.3595	3	8		17
14	14	Sébastien Bourdais	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	94	+1 Lap	3	21		16
15	60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	94	+1 Lap	3	20		15
16	20	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	94	+1 Lap	3	18		14
17	48	Jimmie Johnson  R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	94	+1 Lap	4	25		13
18	21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	94	+1 Lap	4	24		12
19	7	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	94	+1 Lap	4	15		11
20	29	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda	94	+1 Lap	4	11		10
21	59	Max Chilton	Carlin	Chevrolet	94	+1 Lap	4	10		9
22	77	Callum Ilott  R	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Chevrolet	94	+1 Lap	5	26		8
23	4	Dalton Kellett	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	94	+1 Lap	3	27		7
24	06	Hélio Castroneves	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	94	+1 Lap	4	22		6
25	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	93	+2 Laps	3	2		5
26	12	Will Power	Team Penske	Chevrolet	93	+2 Laps	3	3		5
27	30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	83	Mechanical	4	23		5
Fastest lap: Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) – 01:13.0826 (lap 10)
Source: [13]

Championship standings after the race

Honda clinched their fourth consecutive Manufacturer's Cup at Laguna Seca, as the top five finishers featured four Honda-powered cars. ^[14] The drivers' championship was decided at the final race of the season, where Álex Palou needed to finish 12th or better to win the championship, with Pato O'Ward and Josef Newgarden mathematically still in contention. ^[2]

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Álex Palou 517 2 Pato O'Ward 482 3 Josef Newgarden 469 4 Scott Dixon 445 5 Marcus Ericsson 430 Source: [13]

Engine manufacturer standings Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 1306 2 Chevrolet 1175 Source: [15]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.
• Bold text indicates Championship Winners.

References

1. "Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
2. "Herta Dominates in Laguna Seca Win; Palou Closes on Title". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
3. "Herta scores dominant victory at Laguna Seca". RACER. September 19, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
4. "Newgarden Paces Opening Practice at Laguna Seca". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
5. "Practice - Results" (PDF). IndyCar Series. September 17, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 19, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
6. "McLaughlin Jumps to Top of Saturday Practice at Laguna Seca". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
7. "Practice - Results" (PDF). IndyCar Series. September 18, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
8. "Herta Continues Mastery of Laguna Seca with NTT P1 Award". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
9. "Qualifications - Results" (PDF). IndyCar Series. September 18, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
10. "Rossi Leads Misty, Chilly Laguna Seca Warmup". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
11. "Practice - Results" (PDF). IndyCar Series. September 19, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
12. "Paddock Buzz: Dixon's Title Reign Ends with Bang on Tough Day". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
13. "Race - Results - Final" (PDF). IndyCar Series. September 19, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
14. "Honda clinches IndyCar manufacturers' title in Monterey". RACER. September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
15. "Points - Indycar Engine" (PDF). motorsports.nbcsports.com. September 19, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.