IndyCar Gradebook: Indy Toronto
- Dan Jones
- Jul 23
- 10 min read
Pato O'Ward took the honours in IndyCar's annual trip north of the border, as he claimed his second victory of the season in addition to surprise podiums for Rinus VeeKay and Kyffin Simpson. DIVEBOMB IndyCar Correspondent, Dan Jones, graded all 27 drivers' performances during the Toronto weekend.
Chip Ganassi Racing
No.8 - Kyffin Simpson - A
It's quietly been a really impressive sophomore year for Simpson, who finally has the result and the silverware to show for it leaving Toronto. What has been most noticeable in Simpson's development is his ability to execute unorthodox strategies and covert them into strong finishes which was the key feature of his Toronto drive. Starting 13th, Simpson was one of two to stay out under the opening caution on the alternate tyres, which allowed the flexibility for a two stop. Cautions fell Simpson's way, and a superb drive meant his podium position looked comfortable despite late pressure from Colton Herta. I would not be surprised if podiums became a regular occurence, not just a one-off for Simpson.
No.9 - Scott Dixon - B
It was a bit of a strange weekend for Dixon who only finished 10th after his usual bold strategy call did not pay dividends. It was a messy qualifying for one of the pre-weekend favourites, as Dixon hit the wall in the Fast 12, before losing another six places due to an engine penalty. As he always does, Dixon tried the audacious strategy by starting on the primaries. The timing of cautions meant Dixon was successful in stretching to two stops but did not have the margin to make it work. He made better progress in the closing stages to climb up slightly to 10th, but there was not much more Dixon could have done.
No.10 - Álex Palou - B+
Palou's Sunday was a very similar tale to that of Dixon. The Spaniard qualified significantly better in second as he continued his imperious qualifying form, but made the bold call to start on the primaries. Palou did a superb job in consistently building a lead at each opportunity he had, but was caught out by a caution every time that he had successfully extended that gap. He was unable to make any significant progress during his final stint though unlike Dixon, finishing 12th at the flag - his worst finishing result this season.
Team Penske
No.2 - Josef Newgarden - C+
The saying 'when it rains, it pours' may now be an understatement into how Newgarden's 2025 season has gone. Newgarden qualified poorly in 18th after a promising practice session, and wasn't looking particularly fast on Sunday. He was caught out in Jacob Abel's accident, having nowhere to go as Abel hit the wall, with Newgarden helpless to avoid his fifth retirement of the season. He still needs to qualify better, but the amount of luck that Newgarden is having throughout the year is simply laughable.
No.3 - Scott McLaughlin - B-
Newgarden's luck is laughable and McLaughlin's is not much better either. The New Zealander qualified marginally better than Newgarden in 14th, but saw his rear-right tyre come off moments after making his first pit stop on Lap 2. McLaughlin could do nothing about it and also failed to see the chequered flag for the fifth time this season.
No.12 - Will Power - C+
It was another all-round Penske disaster at Toronto, as no cars finished in the top 10 once again, with Power the only one running at the finish. The Australian qualified well in fourth, but was amongst the squabbling pack like many others in the opening exchanges, and collided with Christian Rasmussen sending the Danish driver out of the race. Power recovered until he collided with O'Ward later on which sent him into the barrier with any chance of a good result over. It was a racing incident, but another case of misfortune for Penske and Power may have been a bit too brave on that occasion.
Andretti Global
No.26 - Colton Herta - A
It's been a difficult year for Herta, but this was his best performance of the season thus far. He took his third pole in four years at Toronto and led from the front. However, he fell down behind the early stoppers of O'Ward and Ericsson once the caution came out and found it difficult to make his way back up the order amidst the chaos in the mid-pack. Herta still drove valiantly though and recovered to fourth, with the final caution preventing any chances of the American stepping on the podium. It was a shame that Herta didn't get a better result with caution timing being his downfall.
No.27 - Kyle Kirkwood - A-
It was a very similar story to that of Herta for Kirkwood, but his weekend lacked that clinical side to the American we've seen so many times this season. He self-admitted that he "threw away a pole" after making a mistake at Turn 8 on his final lap and had to concede three positions on the opening lap after being out of line at the start. He recovered well, but lost even more time when spun by Marcus Armstrong in his pit box. Kirkwood still drove well to recover to sixth, but he potentially had the pace to usurp his teammate.
No.28 - Marcus Ericsson - B+
In what has been a disastrous second year for Ericsson and Andretti, this was a very timely result. Although qualifying remains a struggle compared to his teammates, Ericsson qualified respectably in eighth. He was one of several to ditch the alternates early on Lap 2 and cycled up to a net-second position. He was unable to make the same key moves that O'Ward did, but still brought home his best finish of the season in fifth. It's clear he's still not at the standards of his teammates, but some encouragement to finally take from a weekend.
Arrow McLaren
No.5 - Pato O'Ward - A
After a Chevrolet drought to start 2025, O'Ward has found himself in Victory Lane in two of the previous three races and this may have been one of his career best victories to date. After qualifying a frustrating 10th, O'Ward had optimism that he could do much better, and completed his talking on-track. After excellent work on pit road, O'Ward led the early stoppers and made decisive overtakes at key moments to get past traffic. He critically overcut VeeKay during the final pit stop exchange which would ultimately seal him the victory. Toronto had always been an Achilles Heel for O'Ward and McLaren, but this weekend feels like a new hope that they are capable of victory on any given day.
No.6 - Nolan Siegel - B-
It was a welcome sight to see Siegel back on track after his incident at Iowa forced him to skip the second race. As was the case for many, Siegel's Toronto was a tale of misfortune. He qualified 14th and ran on the alternate strategy like his teammate. However, he picked up front wing damage in the Newgarden/Abel collision and was unfortunate to be collected in Felix Rosenqvist's accident late on. There was nothing Siegel could have done in either circumstance and was unfortunate to finish 18th.
No.7 - Christian Lundgaard - C
Considering Lundgaard's form on road and street courses this year as well as his previous record in Toronto, this weekend was disappointing. He qualified poorly in 19th and was unable to make any significant progress. The final 10 laps also saw Lundgaard driving slightly out of control, hitting the wall at Turn 4 with eight laps to go. Despite that, he still finished 13th but this was quite possibly his worst road/street performance in 2025.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
No.15 - Graham Rahal - B+
In what has been a very difficult year for Rahal, this was a very polished weekend with a good result to show for it. Rahal's qualifying form on road/street courses has been improved this year, as shown once again as he qualified in fifth. He ran in and around the top 10 for the majority of the race and see the flag in seventh - his second best result of the season. It's been a difficult year for Rahal, but he finally leaves a weekend with plenty of positives to take.
No.30 - Devlin DeFrancesco - D
This was certainly not the hope race that DeFrancesco was hoping for. He qualified dreadfully in 26th and was out of the race after being in the kerfuffle involving Newgarden, Abel and many others.
No.45 - Louis Foster - B-
Foster's qualifying form continued in Toronto as he qualified seventh - his best on a street course to date. Foster was one of few frontrunners to start on the primary so ran in the podium places for the majority of his opening stint. However, when overtaking Abel (in the move that caused the Turn1 incident) he damaged a wishbone which ended any chances of a good result.
Meyer Shank Racing
No.60 - Felix Rosenqvist - D+
Considering how strong of a year Rosenqvist has had, this may have been his worst performance of the season so far in a particularly messy affair. The Swede did not qualify to his usual standards in a lowly 17th and race day did not see any significant progress. He collided with Power giving him front wing damage before going off-track at Turn 3 in the closing 15 laps. He was clearly struggling with grip from than onwards with his day ending in the Turn 10 barrier as he collected Nolan Siegel with him. Not up to his usual standards.
No.66 - Marcus Armstrong - A-
It is a shame that Armstrong's weekend ended with a 14th place through one costly mistake, as this marked one of his best weekends in IndyCar so far. He qualified a superb third, equalling his best career result and then jumped Palou on the opening lap. He would be caught out in the opening pit phases by the early stoppers but had looked to make progress. However, he ran into Kirkwood in the pits earning the New Zealander a drive-through which put him out of a contention. A huge shame that such a small error had such a profound impact on an otherwise superb weekend.
Ed Carpenter Racing
No.20 - Alexander Rossi - C-
This was a poor weekend for Rossi, albeit it ended with a small amount of misfortune. Qualifying was a disaster for the American in 24th, but had made good progress early on starting on the primaries. However, he bumped the Turn 11 wall lightly and due to changes in the concrete barrier, it shredded his tyre and saw his day done there. Just the nature of street course racing in IndyCar.
No.21 - Christian Rasmussen - C-
Rasmussen's weekend was no better than his teammate. He qualified poorly too in 22nd and saw his race ended after 15 laps after colliding with Power. It was by no means Rasmussen's fault, but any chances of a strong finish were ended there. A huge shame after a much-improved run of form.
AJ Foyt Racing
No.4 - David Malukas - B
It wasn't Malukas' finest weekend, but he still brought home a top 10 finish which has been a struggle for the team at points this season. Qualifying 15th, Malukas made good progress through the field and had to cycled up to third before he had to make his final stop. However, an error caused him to lose more places than he should have done, with Malukas having to fight his way back to ninth.
No.14 - Santino Ferrucci - F
We haven't seen many mistakes from Ferrucci which makes this one even more costly. Ferrucci had qualified lowly in 23rd but did not see the green flag after a heavy crash in the final minutes of warm-up gave the team no chance to repair his car for the race just a few hours later. With conditions in that session unrepresentative of what they were going to be in the race, it was an unnecessary accident to have.
Juncos Hollinger Racing
No.76 - Conor Daly - C
Not a weekend of major note for Daly, who qualified 21st and finished 15th at the chequered. He still consistently outperforms his teammate but generally needs to take the next step up on road and street courses.
No.77 - Sting Ray Robb - D
Another weekend to forget for Robb, who qualified in 25th and finished 17th - the only car a lap down who saw the chequered flag. Still not at the standard you'd expect of a third year driver.
Dale Coyne Racing
No.18 - Rinus VeeKay - A
I've tried making an A* almost unattainable in these Gradebooks, and this is about as close as you're going to get to achieving one. VeeKay's form this season has been sensational for IndyCar's smallest team and his podium in Toronto was the least he deserved for the turnaround that he's given Dale Coyne Racing. He qualified once again well in ninth, and made the brave call to stay out on the alternates during the opening caution. This opened up the two-stop and VeeKay was even then slightly unfortunate to not claim victory after being overcut by O'Ward. It was another performance to put himself in the shop window even further and you'd hope bigger teams would be interested in his services.
No.51 - Jacob Abel - D-
It's been a very tough rookie year for Abel and Toronto showed no signs of it getting any easier. Abel qualified dead last in 27th and started on the primaries. He stayed out in the opening exchanges but was gobbled up by the back before being caught out by Foster's move into Turn 1. His accident was unfortunate but it was clear he did not have the pace of the field.
PREMA Racing
No.83 - Robert Shwartzman - C
It still feels utterly bizarre that Shwartzman has shined on ovals this year but has been a bit of a non-factor on road and street courses - the complete opposite to what everybody expected! Toronto was nothing to shout home about as Shwartzman qualified 20th and finished 16th.
No.90 - Callum Ilott - A-
It has felt like Ilott has not had his fair share of luck thus far in 2025 but Toronto finally marked a well-earned first top 10 finish of the season. Ilott qualified well in 12th - even though he felt like he was held up in the Fast 12. His drive in the race was composed too and brought home an excellent eighth place finish - PREMA's best since they joined the series at the start of the season.
All photos in this article were taken by DIVEBOMB Photographers, Dominic Loyer and Julia Bissessar. You can find Dominic's work on Instagram (@dominicloyer_photography) as well as Julia's (@jbissssr)
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