4 Winners and losers from IndyCar's 'boring' Alabama Indy GP

The fourth round of the 2025 IndyCar season is done and dusted, and a host of storylines were produced from a seemingly 'boring' Alabama Grand Prix. Multiple drivers and teams excelled while others drowned under the pressure.

The 27-car grid took to the 2.38-mile circuit for 90 laps for an all-green race. This made making the moves up the grid even harder, so let's take a look at the four drivers and teams that rose above the rest, or sank under the pressure at the Alabama race:

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Winners from the Alabama IndyCar Grand Prix

#1 Alex Palou

Alex Palou dominated the Alabama race weekend. The Spaniard took home the pole position in an intense fight with Scott McLaughlin and Colton Herta for the top spot.

Alex Palou at the INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Source: Getty

He then continued his impressive performance into Sunday, where he led 81 of the 90 laps en route to winning the race with a massive 16-second lead with dozens of seconds worth of P2P still left at the chequered flag. The race was a classic showcase of dominance in the racing realm as Palou bagged his third victory of the season.

#2 Rinus VeeKay

Rinus VeeKay qualified an impressive fifth for the Grand Prix on Saturday, but had several titans lining up behind him, who could have leapfrogged him in the race. However, he controlled his pace in the Dale Coyne Racing IndyCar and even pressured Scott McLaughlin for a possible podium late race.

His impressive pace at the Barber Motorsports Park helped him bag his first top-five finish of the season, earning him a top spot in the ranking post-race.

#3 Christian Lundgaard

Christian Lundgaard had started the race in seventh after missing out on the Fast 6 on Saturday. Despite this, the Dane corrected his mistake during the race in the early phase by making several overtakes mid-way through the race.

With Colton Herta running into a problem during his pit stop, this helped him move past the Andretti driver with ease and eventually came home to claim his third podium of the season, helping him jump up to P2 in the championship.

#4 Arrow McLaren

The impressive performance by Lundgaard added positive points in the papaya garage. Moreover, with Pato O'Ward coming home in sixth after starting eighth, the team had a good day at the track.

On the other hand, Nolan Siegel also scored crucial points at the Alabama IndyCar Grand Prix, marking his first top-10 finish since the race in Illinois last year.

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Losers from the Alabama IndyCar Grand Prix

#1 Colton Herta

Colton Herta had started the race in P3 and was comfortably in the fight to bring home a podium finish. However, disaster struck for him again in the pits as he stalled his car this time around and lost valuable seconds during the mishap.

Colton Herta at the INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Source: Getty

Moreover, this put forth how the Andretti driver has managed to qualify inside the top-three in every race on average but has yet to finish on the podium after the first four rounds, as he recorded a seventh-place finish at the Alabama Grand Prix.

#2 Josef Newgarden

Fans were focused on the Team Penske drivers fighting for the top-five spots up ahead. While many would have thought that Josef Newgarden had been at the forefront, the Tennessee-born driver was the farthest Team Penske driver from the lead.

The severity of the situation can be understood by how the 34-year-old finished tenth on the road, one place behind his starting position, and was stuck behind Nolan Siegel towards the end of the race.

#3 Kyle Kirkwood

Long Beach Grand Prix announced the arrival of Kyle Kirkwood in the IndyCar realm as he rose to P2 in the championship standings after his race win. But the weekend now seems like a fever dream as the 26-year-old was knocked out in Group 1 qualifications.

He made several moves up the field to finish 11th on the road, but finishing outside the top-10 after winning the last race did not earn him good remarks in the racing sphere.

#4 Andretti

Lastly, Andretti made it into the loser list at another Grand Prix. The team had one of its drivers starting inside the top three but botched a possible podium.

Kirkwood finished the race outside the top-10, and Marcus Ericsson's dismal 20th-place finish, the team had a woeful weekend in Alabama.