2021 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

2021 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Race details
1st round of the 2021 IndyCar season
Date	April 18, 2021
Official name	Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by AmFirst
Location	Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Alabama
Course	Permanent racing facility; 2.380 mi / 3.830 km
Distance	90 laps; 214.200 mi / 344.700 km
Pole position
Driver	Patricio O'Ward (Arrow McLaren SP)
Time	01:05.8479
Fastest lap
Driver	Patricio O'Ward (Arrow McLaren SP)
Time	01:06.8182 (on lap 65 of 90)
Podium
First	Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Second	Will Power (Team Penske)
Third	Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing)

Last updated April 08, 2022

The 2021 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (officially known as the 2021 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by AmFirst) was an IndyCar motor race held on April 18, 2021 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.^[1] It served as the season opener of the 2021 IndyCar Series and was the eleventh running of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.

Background

The event was initially scheduled to be held on April 11, 2021, after the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which was slated to be held on March 7 to become the season opener. However, the St. Petersburg race was rescheduled to April 25, making the Barber race the first round of the 2021 season.^[3] The event was then rescheduled from April 11 to be held on the weekend of April 17-18, a week prior to the St. Petersburg race.^[4] It marked the return of the event to the calendar, after being canceled in the previous season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Takuma Sato was the previous race winner, having won the race in 2019 for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.^[5]

Entrants

24 drivers have entered the race, including IndyCar Series debutants Jimmie Johnson (Chip Ganassi Racing) and Romain Grosjean (Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing), with Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske) making his second career start after racing the season finale in 2020.^[6]

Key	Meaning
R	Rookie
W	Past winner

No.	Driver	Team	Engine
2	Josef Newgarden W	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
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 W	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 W	Team Penske	Chevrolet
26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport	Honda
27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda
28	Ryan Hunter-Reay W	Andretti Autosport	Honda
29	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda
30	Takuma Sato W	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

Practice

Practice 1

Practice 1 took place at 11:00 AM ET on April 17, 2021.^[1] A single red flag was called in the session, when Felix Rosenqvist made contact with the barrier while entering pit road. Álex Palou went fastest in the first practice session of the season with a time of 01:06.4721, ahead of Colton Herta and Josef Newgarden in second and third respectively.^[7]

Top Practice Speeds
Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Lap Time
1	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	01:06.4721
2	26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport	Honda	01:06.4897
3	2	Josef Newgarden W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	01:06.4957
Source:^[8]

Practice 2

Practice 2 took place at 2:40 PM ET on April 17, 2021.^[1] The session saw multiple red flags for incidents involving a stall for Dalton Kellett, contact with the Turn 14 wall for Herta, and Newgarden losing power after correcting a slide. Andretti Autosport driver Alexander Rossi finished first in the second practice session with a time of 01:06.0797, ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing duo Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon.^[9]

Top Practice Speeds
Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Lap Time
1	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	01:06.0797
2	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	01:06.2190
3	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	01:06.3018
Source:^[10]

Qualifying

Qualifying took place at 5:50 PM ET on April 17, 2021.^[1]

Qualifying classification

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Time				Final grid
					Round 1		Round 2	Round 3
					Group 1	Group 2	Round 2	Round 3
1	5	Pato O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	N/A	01:06.0696	01:05.5019	01:05.8479	1
2	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	N/A	01:06.2344	01:05.6953	01:05.9177	2
3	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	01:05.9032	N/A	01:05.6328	01:06.0538	3
4	2	Will Power W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	01:05.9191	N/A	01:05.5226	01:06.1186	4
5	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	N/A	01:06.3775	01:05.6863	01:06.3976	5
6	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	01:06.4992	N/A	01:05.6614	01:06.4102	6
7	51	Romain Grosjean R	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing	Honda	N/A	01:06.0709	01:05.7643	N/A	7
8	2	Josef Newgarden W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	01:06.3881	N/A	01:05.7902	N/A	8
9	26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport	Honda	N/A	01:06.4282	01:05.7957	N/A	9
10	20	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	N/A	01:06.1033	01:05.9118	N/A	10
11	60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	01:06.5234	N/A	01:05.9634	N/A	11
12	3	Scott McLaughlin R	Team Penske	Chevrolet	01:06.4552	N/A	01:06.7226	N/A	12
13	18	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda	01:06.5578	N/A	N/A	N/A	13
14	21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	N/A	01:06.4770	N/A	N/A	14
15	22	Simon Pagenaud W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	01:06.6480	N/A	N/A	N/A	15
16	14	Sébastien Bourdais	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	N/A	01:06.5035	N/A	N/A	16
17	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay W	Andretti Autosport	Honda	01:06.8512	N/A	N/A	N/A	17
18	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	N/A	01:06.8489	N/A	N/A	18
19	30	Takuma Sato W	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	01:07.1026	N/A	N/A	N/A	19
20	59	Max Chilton	Carlin	Chevrolet	N/A	01:07.0021	N/A	N/A	20
21	48	Jimmie Johnson R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	01:07.7092	N/A	N/A	N/A	21
22	7	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	N/A	01:07.0254	N/A	N/A	22
23	4	Dalton Kellett	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	01:07.8100	N/A	N/A	N/A	22
24	29	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda	N/A	No Time	N/A	N/A	24
Source:^[11]

Notes

Bold text indicates fastest time set in session.

Warmup

Warmup took place at 11:30 AM ET on April 18, 2021.^[1]

Top Warmup Speeds
Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Lap Time
1	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	01:06.7319
2	51	Romain Grosjean R	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing	Honda	01:06.8616
3	14	Sébastien Bourdais	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	01:06.8642
Source:^[12]

Race

The race started at 3:00 PM ET on April 18, 2021.^[1]

Race classification

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Laps	Time/Retired	Pit Stops	Grid	Laps Led	Pts.
1	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	90	1:52:53.0361	2	3	56	53
2	12	Will Power W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	90	+0.4016	2	4	4	41
3	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	90	+2.9881	2	5		35
4	5	Pato O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	90	+3.9741	3	1	25	34
5	14	Sébastien Bourdais	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	90	+10.6967	3	16	4	31
6	21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	90	+13.8750	4	14	1	29
7	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	90	+18.7387	3	18		26
8	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	90	+20.0700	2	6		24
9	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	90	+20.5601	3	2		22
10	51	Romain Grosjean R	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing	Honda	90	+45.0805	2	7		20
11	60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	90	+50.0788	3	11		19
12	22	Simon Pagenaud W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	90	+59.0522	3	15		18
13	30	Takuma Sato W	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	90	+1:05.5887	3	19		17
14	3	Scott McLaughlin R	Team Penske	Chevrolet	90	+1:06.0562	3	12		16
15	18	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda	90	+1:08.4093	3	13		15
16	20	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	90	+1:09.1076	3	10		14
17	29	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda	89	+1 Lap	3	24		13
18	4	Dalton Kellett	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	89	+1 Lap	4	23		12
19	48	Jimmie Johnson R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	87	+3 Laps	3	21		11
20	59	Max Chilton	Carlin	Chevrolet	86	+4 Laps	4	20		10
21	7	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	62	Contact	3	22		9
22	26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport	Honda	25	Contact	2	9		8
23	2	Josef Newgarden W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	0	Contact	0	8		7
24	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay W	Andretti Autosport	Honda	0	Contact	0	17		6
Fastest lap: Pato O'Ward (Arrow McLaren SP) – 01:06.8182 (lap 65)
Source:^[13]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos.	Driver	Points
1	Álex Palou	53
2	Will Power	41
3	Scott Dixon	35
4	Pato O'Ward	34
5	Sébastien Bourdais	31
Source:^[14]

Engine manufacturer standings

Pos.	Manufacturer	Points
1	Honda	90
2	Chevrolet	73
Source:^[14]

Note: Only the top five positions are included.

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 "Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama". IndyCar.com. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ "Palou Holds Off Heavyweights for First Win in Barber Thriller". IndyCar.com. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ "IndyCar season opener will be Barber after St. Pete moved - NBC Sports". MotorSportsTalk | NBC Sports. January 6, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ "INDYCAR Announces Update for 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Opener". IndyCar.com. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ "Barber IndyCar: Sato scores dominant win, beats Dixon, Bourdais". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ "NTT INDYCAR SERIES: BARBER SPOTTER GUIDE". view.ceros.com.
↑ "Palou leads opening Barber IndyCar practice". April 17, 2021.
↑ "Practice - Results" (PDF). racer.com. April 17, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ "Rossi tops second Barber IndyCar practice". RACER. April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
↑ "Practice - Results" (PDF). racer.com. April 17, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ "Qualifications - Results (Road Course Elimination)" (PDF). indycar.com. April 17, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ "Practice - Results" (PDF). indycar.com. April 18, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
↑ "Race - Results (11inch) - Final" (PDF). indycar.com. April 18, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
1 2 "Points Calculator - Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama - Race" (PDF). NBC Sports . April 18, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

External links

Previous race: None, season premiere	IndyCar Series 2021 season	Next race: 2021 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Previous race: 2019 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama	Indy Grand Prix of Alabama	Next race: 2022 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

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[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama". IndyCar.com. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[2] "Palou Holds Off Heavyweights for First Win in Barber Thriller". IndyCar.com. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[3] "IndyCar season opener will be Barber after St. Pete moved - NBC Sports". MotorSportsTalk | NBC Sports. January 6, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[4] "INDYCAR Announces Update for 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Opener". IndyCar.com. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[5] "Barber IndyCar: Sato scores dominant win, beats Dixon, Bourdais". us.motorsport.com. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[6] "NTT INDYCAR SERIES: BARBER SPOTTER GUIDE". view.ceros.com.

[7] "Palou leads opening Barber IndyCar practice". April 17, 2021.

[8] "Practice - Results" (PDF). racer.com. April 17, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[9] "Rossi tops second Barber IndyCar practice". RACER. April 17, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.

[10] "Practice - Results" (PDF). racer.com. April 17, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 17, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[11] "Qualifications - Results (Road Course Elimination)" (PDF). indycar.com. April 17, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[12] "Practice - Results" (PDF). indycar.com. April 18, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[13] "Race - Results (11inch) - Final" (PDF). indycar.com. April 18, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

[:2-14] 1 2 "Points Calculator - Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama - Race" (PDF). NBC Sports . April 18, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.

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