It was a bitterly disappointing start to the 2025 IndyCar season at St. Pete for Will Power, Nolan Siegel and Louis Foster. All three drivers crashed out at turn 3 on the opening lap.
How cars checking up in front led to the incident
Turn 3 is a hotspot for incidents and crashes at St. Pete on the first lap. With CGR teammates Scott Dixon and Alex Palou awkwardly trying to avoid any contact into that section, the pack behind ended up having to react and slow quite a bit.
Power takes out Siegel; Foster also an innocent victim
After missing out on advancing to round 2, Will Power started P13 in his #12 Team Penske machine, one place behind the Arrow McLaren of Nolan Siegel. The pair safely navigated the first turn.
However, as the pack from P8 back bunched up due to the aforementioned moment above, two-time IndyCar champion Power got into the rear of Siegel as he failed to account for the reduced speeds. Both cars got eliminated on the spot.
In a separate incident in the same area, Louis Foster also ended up in the wall. Kyffin Simpson hit the British driver from behind and sent him around.
Power, Siegel and Foster react to tough start to 2025 IndyCar season at St. Pete
With all three drivers out on lap 1, they already trail championship leader Alex Palou by 46 points. The Aussie is expected to challenge for the title this year after going close in 2024. Last Sunday was the worst possible start.
Power takes the blame
Will Power took full responsibility for the collision with Nolan Siegel.
“Just really close racing there in the middle of the pack and we got checked up super quick.
“Got into the back of the 6 car which was my fault and obviously not intentional. Normally that corner opens up a bit there, so I need to go back and look at that. Not much I could do after that contact with the 45 car behind me.
“Just hate to start the season this way. We’ve been strong starters the last few years with the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet.
“Looking forward to Thermal and the points race there.”
Siegel left disappointed
2025 is Nolan Siegel’s first full year in the IndyCar series and with Arrow McLaren. To secure a long-term future with the team, it will be important for him to push Pato O’Ward and Christian Lundgaard hard.
Qualifying had been promising as he started P12. However, he could not show his race pace as Power clouted into him at turn 3.
“That was a very disappointing end to a strong weekend.
“We had pace in every session and on both tyres. For how hard this team has worked, coming away from today with that result is disappointing. We’ll continue working hard, though. We’ve shown what we have.
“The whole No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet team executed well all weekend. If we continue to execute like that all year, we’re going to have some good results when the luck is on our side.”
Crucial learning lost for Foster
2024 Indy NXT champion Louis Foster made the move up to the main game for this year, joining Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the process. However, he was robbed of valuable mileage and learning on debut after getting wiped out by CGR’s Simpson.
The British driver had qualified a creditable P16, just two spots behind returning teammate Devlin DeFrancesco. Both outqualified the very experienced Graham Rahal.
“I think this has happened quite a lot here previously. Turn 3 tends to be a bit of a hotspot.
“I was in a train of cars and got through Turn 1 cleanly. Without looking at a replay, to me it just seemed like everyone in front checked up and I got driven into from behind. I’m going to need to see a replay to know exactly what happened, but I was just a passenger.
“It’s a shame because everyone on the No. 45 crew has done an amazing job so far. We really wanted to finish this race, get a good result and get some experience for myself but these things happen.”
