IndyCar Gradebook: Grand Prix of Indianapolis
- Dan Jones
- 2 hours ago
- 9 min read
Written by Dan Jones
Álex Palou continued his near-perfect start to 2025, winning for the fourth time in five races at Indianapolis to open up a 97 point lead in the championship standings. DIVEBOMB IndyCar Correspondent Dan Jones graded all 27 drivers' weekends from the action at 'the Racing Capital of the World.'
Chip Ganassi Racing
No.8 - Kyffin Simpson - A-
This was really a weekend of what could have been for Simpson. This weekend showed further proof of his development as a sophomore and finished second in opening practice, and was quick in second practice too. He made successive Fast 12s for the first time in his career with a best-ever 10th in qualifying before a gearbox failure meant he never saw the green flag. A harsh blow for what could have been another career best result. It's hard for me to rank Simpson truly fairly based on the fact he didn't run, but the Cayman Islander can continue to be pleased his improvement thus far in 2025.
No.9 - Scott Dixon - B+
It's been a slightly bizarre start to the season for Dixon, as he once again seemed a bit of a non-factor but brought home a top five finish after a good recovery drive. His qualifying form is a slight cause for concern, as he hasn't transferred to the Fast 12 since Thermal, and was generally behind Simpson on pace throughout the weekend. However, he displayed his veteran race craft like he usually does for his best result since St. Petersburg.
No.10 - Álex Palou - A+
As I stated in my post-race Gradebook last week, Palou continues to set a benchmark that leaves his competitors in complete awe of what he's achieving. Palou's execution continues to be second-to-none, it never felt like he wouldn't win at Indianapolis, despite falling behind Graham Rahal. And once he got to the front his pace was in a different league to his competition. His ability to extract performance out of the primary compound week-on-week is simply spellbinding, and his one-lap pace, which was once regarded as his weakness, is arguably the best in the field. Palou is re-writing the history books and we should be privileged to see such greatness on a weekly basis.
Team Penske
No.2 - Josef Newgarden - B+
When it rains, it seems to pour for Newgarden. It's been another difficult start to a season, but things started to look upward when he reached the Fast Six for the first time since Road America last year. But, an MGU fault forced him to roll off 26th, and it was always going to be difficult from then onward. He finished 12th in the end, which isn't bad all things considered, but this felt like an opportunity to turn his season around. However, he can put this behind him as he looks to create history in two weeks' time.
No.3 - Scott McLaughlin - A-
Indianapolis marked McLaughlin's fourth top six in five races in 2025 as he achieved his best ever result on the IMS road course. After qualifying fourth, McLaughlin would run in-and-around the podium positions all day, and was on course for a podium before making an error as he went off-track on pit entry which ultimately relegated him to fourth. However, as McLaughlin noted last week, these quietly decent results matter in a long-term championship run - if anybody can stop Palou that is.
No.12 - Will Power - A
All the pre-season talk of Power's No.12 Penske seat being under major threat from David Malukas seems to quickly have been quashed with Power's strong run of form. This marked his first podium of the season and his fourth consecutive top six. He qualified seventh, but as he noted, didn't pass a car all day, just maximising what he could on the strategy that he was on. It wasn't a headline weekend by any means, but once again an impressive result which feels like has completely eliminated the pre-season pressure surrounding him.
Andretti Global
No.26 - Colton Herta - C
Like Barber, this was a track that we did not expect Andretti to run well at, and it was proved this weekend. I think Colton Herta has proved to have excellent pace in 2025, but as has been the case on several other occasions, this weekend was filled with misfortune. He didn't run in warm-up and contact with Christian Lundgaard on the opening lap damaged his front wing, which ultimately led to a very lengthy pitstop. This put him a lap down, and although he would temporarily get himself on the lead lap, the caution would not come at the right time for Herta as Andretti retired the car early. Another weekend of huge misfortune and another missed opportunity.
No.27 - Kyle Kirkwood - B+
In a weekend where Andretti were always going to struggle, Kirkwood can leave Indianapolis satisfied with the result achieved. Qualifying was a problem for the team all-round, compounded by Kirkwood lining up 21st. However, he recovered to eighth quietly to claim his best IMS road course result. There's clearly still work to do for Andretti, but Kirkwood drove well on Saturday.
No.28 - Marcus Ericsson - C-
Ericsson's disastrous 2025 seems to get worse week-on-week. And you feel for the Swede, because on this occasion he did no wrong. Admittedly, qualifying 20th is not what you'd expect from a driver of his experience which is something that does need improvement on longer-term. However, a mechanical failure led to him being hit by David Malukas and saw him retire from proceedings early on. Another weekend for Ericsson to put behind him.
Arrow McLaren
No.5 - Pato O'Ward - A
This felt like a weekend where O'Ward needed a strong result. With Lundgaard seeming to have the upper edge on the Mexican in the team, at a track Lundgaard has gone well at historically, O'Ward reminded his doubters that he is still top dog. After qualifying eighth, the work of the No.5 crew in pit lane was significant, with O'Ward progressively cycling up the order during each stop to claim a second runner-up finish of the year. He heads onto the Indianapolis oval with the momentum to try and put wrong the heartbreak of last year.
No.6 - Nolan Siegel - C
It wasn't a great weekend for Siegel, who qualified 18th and finished 13th at the chequered flag. It had seemed up to this point in 2025 that his development was showing, but that wasn't prevalent at Indianapolis. It was by no means a horror show, but there's still work to be done in comparison to his teammates.
No.7 - Christian Lundgaard - C
After the form that Lundgaard had shown early doors in 2025 as well as his record on the IMS Road Course, expectation was high this weekend, and the Dane failed to live up to it for the first time this season. He missed the Fast 12 for the first time in 2025 in 14th, and was set for a top ten, before crossing over the pit exit line, earning him a drive-through. It's disappointing, but maybe that speaks volumes to the standard that Lundgaard has set himself at Arrow McLaren.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
You have to feel for Rahal. This winless streak is clearly slightly playing on him, and there's not going to be many opportunities as good as this. It wasn't a surprise that the team were quick here based on their track record, but nonetheless a front row qualifying from the Ohio native was impressive. His overtake on Palou at the start was gutsy, but it was clear that he wouldn't have the pace to hold off the Spaniard. Running the primary on the final stint was always going to be a killer for performance, only worsened by the caution. He would finish a frustrating sixth after a performance that certainly deserved better.
No.30 - Devlin DeFrancesco - B
What a strange result for DeFrancesco - I feel I could rate him anywhere between an A* and a D and justify it. His career highlight came at this circuit, and we knew of RLL's pace here, both of which coming to fruition when the Canadian qualified in fifth. His opening stint was really impressive, as he chased down Palou and ran in the podium positions. However, he stalled in the pits on his second stop and somehow finished down in 17th. There was certainly more on the table.
No.45 - Louis Foster - B+
This weekend would always signify a chance for Foster to prove himself and it's a fair statement that he proved himself well once again. Third in qualifying was impressive from the rookie and ran well in the top five early on. However, as continues to be a bit of an achilles heel with his inexperience, race execution and tyre management would be Foster's downfall. He would frustratingly just miss out on a maiden top ten in 11th but a weekend to still be proud of for the Brit.
Meyer Shank Racing
No.60 - Felix Rosenqvist - C+
Maybe a C+ is harsh considering Rosenqvist achieved another top ten finish but this weekend felt uncharacteristically messy for a driver of his calibre. He went off on his final lap in the Fast 12 and would have a particularly clumsy spin after a half-hearted move on Rinus VeeKay early on in proceedings. He would go off one more time in the closing stages, but still managed to achieve a top ten finish. A weekend marred by finding himself in the grass, but not a bad result all things considered.
No.66 - Marcus Armstrong - B+
Although Armstrong seems to still slightly fall behind on his teammate when it comes to raw pace, his race day performance was significantly cleaner than his veteran teammate. He qualified an average 15th but worked his way up the order to seventh, which equals his best result of 2025.
Ed Carpenter Racing
No.20 - Alexander Rossi - C+
Rossi's qualifying form for his new employers has been quietly really impressive, has he made the Fast 12 once again, qualifying in ninth. He would fall down the order though when it mattered, finishing an average 14th. We've seen better from Rossi this season, with his Indianapolis weekend being unspectacular.
No.21 - Christian Rasmussen - C
It feels like we haven't really seen anything from Rasmussen so far in 2025, and that was a similar case in Indianapolis. Started 19th and finished 19th after picking up a drive-through for a pit speed violation on his final stop. He grabbed some of the headlines at the '500' last year, and will be looking to do the same again.
A.J. Foyt Racing
No.4 - David Malukas - C-
This is not the Malukas that we expected when he made the blockbuster move to A.J. Foyt Racing in the off-season. He qualified a horrific 26th and would saw his end race early after yet another mechanical failure for the team. Malukas' best finish in 2025 remains at 13th. But he deserves a little bit of credit for finally bringing out the caution after our barren run - that alone might make him worthy of an A*.
No.14 - Santino Ferrucci - C
Ferrucci's weekend started off well by making the Fast 12 for the first time this season, but suffered a catastrophic engine failure in warm-up. Thankfully for Ferrucci, the team were able to replace his engine, but he was over a second off the pace during the opening stint and ended down in a measly 20th. His statement about Foyt being championship contenders in 2025 continues to be more-and-more embarrassing.
Juncos Hollinger Racing
No.76 - Conor Daly - C+
After qualifying 22nd, Daly's day started in peril, as he was spun round on the opening lap and picked up floor damage which would hamper his performance from that point onward. He recovered to a very respectable 15th though which marks his best result of the season.
No.77 - Sting Ray Robb - C-
Friday marked Robb's best qualifying on a road/street course in his career in 17th, and as he noted, he was only a hundredth of a second away from lining up 13th. Robb would finish an underwhelming 21st though, the last car running.
Dale Coyne Racing
No.18 - Rinus VeeKay - A-
It wasn't quite the heroics that Rinus VeeKay displayed last time out at Barber, but it was once again another result to be particularly proud of. He qualified a pretty poor 24th, however, drove through the field to finish ninth, his third top ten for his new team. VeeKay continues to prove himself at IndyCar's smallest team and has grabbed this last-chance opportunity with both hands.
No.51 - Jacob Abel - D+
It wasn't the easiest of weekends for Abel once again, as he was the slowest in his group by four tenths and would be at the peril of being lapped very early on in proceedings. Once he was lapped, he held his own behind Power, but had to retire due to a mechanical failure mid-way through. His learning process continues to be difficult, but there is encouragement weekend-to-weekend.
PREMA Racing
No.83 - Robert Shwartzman - C+
Not for first time this season, Shwartzman headed into qualifying blind after more mechanical issues caused him to not run in practice. He unsurprisingly qualified last, but recovered to 18th come race day which is actually PREMA's best result of their IndyCar tenure to date. Shwartzman needs to remain positive though as he's doing a respectable job in what is clearly difficult machinery.
No.90 - Callum Ilott - C-
This really hasn't been the return to IndyCar that Ilott was hoping for. He spun around at the start after being clobbered by Newgarden as he hit Daly who was checking up and seemed to have major damage that came with it which caused him to retire. He qualified 23rd, which once again seems to be a large problem for PREMA.
All photos in this article were taken by DIVEBOMB Photographer, Dominic Loyer. You can find Dominic's work on Instagram (@dominicloyer_photography)
Comments