St. Petersburg starting lineup: Romain Grosjean on pole, Colton Herta second

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Romain Grosjean earned his second career IndyCar pole position, besting Andretti Autosport teammate Colton Herta for the top spot in the starting lineup for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Pete.

The Frenchman turned a lap of 59.553 seconds in the No. 28 Dallara-Honda around the 14-turn, 1.8-mile street course through the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

“We worked really hard on the car,” Grosjean told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider. “Same as last year, we were really good at the end of the year. We got here, and I said to the boys, ‘Yeah, we’ve got something.’ We pulled it out.”

The Formula One veteran, whose last pole came nearly two years ago as a rookie on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, is entering his second full season in IndyCar after finishing a disappointing 13th in the points standings last year with Andretti Autosport.

“I knew last year something was just not coming my way,” said Grosjean, who celebrated with his three children and wife (the family relocated from Europe to Miami more than a year ago). “We worked hard, and we found something.

QUALIFYING RESULTS: Click here for St. Petersburg qualifying speeds | Round 1, Group 1 | Round 1, Group 2 | Round 2 l Round 3

“It’s kind of a home race. We’ve got 100 laps tomorrow to make it happen.”

Family. ❤️ @RGrosjean celebrated winning the pole with his wife and kids. #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/IuZKZbs7cV

— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) March 4, 2023

Herta qualified second (59.687 seconds) and was nearly a half-second off the pace in an uncharacteristically poor final lap.

“On that last lap, I was useless as gum on a boot heel,” Herta, who won from the pole position at St. Pete in 2021, told NBC Sports’ Kevin Lee. “We’re still in