Written by Sean McKean
On Sunday afternoon, Colton Herta closed out a dominant weekend – in which he led every session – by taking victory in the streets of Toronto. It was Herta’s eighth career victory and his first since the first Indianapolis road course race in 2022.
As it unfolded
Colton Herta got away well and fended off teammate Kyle Kirkwood into Turn 1.
Behind them, however, Christian Rasmussen was pushed into the outside wall by Marcus Ericsson, putting the Dane out of the race. Also in this melee was Santino Ferrucci, who was turned into the inside wall by Christian Lundgaard. Ferrucci continued on but required a front wing change.
Under the caution for the incident, Linus Lundqvist took the opportunity to change off the alternate tyres. Aside from Ferrucci – who also had to change his front wing – the Swede was the only one to follow with this strategy.
The race restarted on Lap 5, and only four corners later, the caution came back out. While battling with Scott Dixon in Turn 4, the rear of Agustin Canapino’s car kicked out. Subsequently, he hit Dixon – losing his wing and getting sent into the outside concrete barrier. He walked away without injury but was out of the race.
During this caution, more drivers opted to take off the alternate tyres – including Theo Pourchaire and Sting Ray Robb.
The green flag came back out on Lap 9. A green flag run was finally achieved, but this was a detriment to the alternate runners – specifically Scott McLaughlin. The Kiwi driver fell from third to fifth in only two laps, proving that the softer compound would degrade quickly.
On Lap 16, the first mechanical issue of the day occurred to Sting Ray Robb’s #41 crew. He was forced to retire from the event.
McLaughlin finally committed to the pit lane on Lap 18 to switch off the green alternates. He was also followed by Pato O’Ward.
Christian Lundgaard was the last car to come off the alternates on Lap 25. But Alex Palou followed behind him to be the first onto the alternate tyres from the primaries. Penske and Will Power also reacted to this and came into the pits.
The frontrunners eventually followed to change tyres on Lap 32, starting with David Malukas, Josef Newgarden, and Romain Grosjean. Graham Rahal pitted during this time and even changed his steering wheel, but it was not secured all the way, resulting in a poor-handling car.
After Felix Rosenqvist pitted for new tyres, Newgarden took advantage of it and dived to the inside on Lap 35, moving into a provisional third.
Herta and Kirkwood eventually had to pit, and they suffered no issues in their pit stops and retained their spots.
By Lap 38, the first pit cycle had been fulfilled. The top five were Herta, Kirkwood, Newgarden, Rosenqvist, and McLaughlin.
A long run persisted until Lap 51, when Palou was the first to change onto the primary tyres. Following one lap later on the same strategy was Romain Grosjean. O’Ward and McLaughlin changed back onto the alternates as well.
On Lap 54, Newgarden was the first of the frontrunners to bite onto the primaries, but he had an issue. Right as he was about to leave, the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner was forced to stay to tighten the right-rear. He was demoted to a net-fifth.
Herta and Kirkwood followed one lap later and again had no issues.
The first incident since the opening lap occurred on the 56th running. In Turn 3, Lundqvist and Pourchaire were battling hard and both missed the corner. The Swede continued without damage but Pourchaire had to pit for new tyres with a puncture.
One lap later, more drivers ran off in Turn 3 – this time, Marcus Ericsson and Felix Rosenqvist. Ericsson had been on a comeback drive through the field, but Rosenqvist went for send and locked up – putting them both into the runoff.
With 20 laps remaining, Rosenqvist came into the pits with an electrical issue.
A race-changing caution came out with 18 laps to go. Coming into Turn 8, Kyffin Simpson hit the tyre barrier on the outside – very similar to Alexander Rossi’s crash on Friday. Fortunately, he walked away uninjured.
With only 14 laps to go, Herta led the way into Turn 1. But one lap later, calamity struck.
In Turn 1, O’Ward lost the rear and spun into the wall. Completely unsighted, a number of cars hit the Mexican – including Pietro Fittipaldi, Ericsson, and Nolan Siegel – but getting the worst of it was Santino Ferrucci, who ramped off the front of O’Ward’s car, hit the fence, and dramatically flipped. Thankfully, everyone walked away without major injury. However, the red flag was thrown for this incident.
O’Ward, Siegel, Ericsson, Ferrucci, and Fittipaldi retired following the crash. Ericsson and Toby Sowery continued but were damaged.
When the red flag was lifted, Graham Rahal took the opportunity to change onto fresh tyres. Everyone else stayed out.
Only nine laps remained as Herta led the way on the restart. He retained the lead, but in only five corners, the caution came back out for Scott McLauglin. Battling hard with teammate Will Power, the Kiwi was forced into the outside wall and out of the race.
Under the caution, Newgarden and VeeKay chose to pit onto new alternate tyres.
Herta led the way with five laps remaining. Immediately after the green, Power was penalised for the contact with McLaughlin with a drive-through penalty. He dropped to 12th.
As the race came to an end, Kirkwood began to pressure his Andretti teammate ahead, but it wouldn’t be enough to stop Colton Herta, who became the first driver to top every session in an IndyCar weekend. Kirkwood finished second followed by Scott Dixon in third on the podium.
Provisional Results:
Herta
Kirkwood
Dixon
Palou
Armstrong
Malukas
Lundgaard
VeeKay
Grosjean
Rahal
Newgarden
Power
Lundqvist +1 lap
Pourchaire +1 lap
Sowery +1 lap
McLaughlin [DNF]
Fittipaldi [DNF]
Siegel [DNF]
O’Ward [DNF]
Ferrucci [DNF]
Ericsson [DNF]
Simpson [DNF]
Rosenqvist [DNF]
McElrea [DNF]
Robb [DNF]
Canapino [DNF]
Rasmussen [DNF]
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