Lundgaard overtakes Malukas on the outside of Turn 4 and wins the Indianapolis Grand Prix

Palou holds on to fifth place and extends his lead in the IndyCar championship to 27 points

Lundgaard overtakes Malukas on the outside of Turn 4 and wins the Indianapolis Grand Prix

Lundgaard overtakes Malukas on the outside of Turn 4 and wins the Indianapolis Grand Prix

Palou holds on to fifth place and extends his lead in the IndyCar championship to 27 points

Photos: Penske Entertainment
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Christian Lundgaard broke a 47-race winless streak with an overtake around the outside of Turn 4 on David Malukas that handed him control of the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis road course. The Dane from Arrow McLaren built a margin of 4.6713 seconds over the final 17 laps and earned his second IndyCar victory, his first since Toronto in July 2023.

The decisive move came on lap 68, with 18 laps to go. Lundgaard had made his final pit stop one lap earlier than Malukas and exited with temperature in his alternate tyres. He closed the gap on the main straight, placed his car to the outside in Turn 2 and completed the overtake exiting Turn 4, just before the Turn 5‑6 complex. Malukas, who had led 27 of the 85 laps, defended his position as long as he could, but his tyre degradation and a wing adjustment he later called a mistake left him with no answer.

Malukas scored his best result since joining Team Penske, a second place he himself called improbable. On Saturday he had said he didn't expect to be among the top six qualifiers. He started fifth and in the first‑corner scramble was already second, benefiting from the chain‑reaction crash that took Pato O'Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Scott Dixon and Caio Collet out of contention before a single lap was completed. That opening yellow flag split the race in two and forced several teams to improvise with their pit strategies.

The second interruption came on lap 22, when Alexander Rossi stopped his car on the main straight with a mechanical issue. Alex Palou and Kyle Kirkwood, who were running first and second, had not yet pitted and were caught out by the pit cycle. Palou took his service on lap 25 and returned to the track in 19th place. Kirkwood pitted on the same lap, but a poorly tightened right wheel cost him 15.2 seconds on his stop and left him with no real chance to recover. The defending champion climbed to fifth; Kirkwood finished ninth.

The gap between the two in the championship grew from 17 to 27 points. Palou arrived at Indianapolis after winning at Long Beach and Barber, controlling every qualifying session: he led both Friday practices, all three qualifying rounds and started from pole for the third consecutive time on this circuit. His 0.5475‑second advantage over O'Ward in qualifying was the largest of the season so far. None of that was reflected in Saturday's result, but his cushion in the standings gives him breathing room to tackle the rest of the month without urgency.

Graham Rahal finished third in the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda, his best result since St. Petersburg. Josef Newgarden advanced from tenth to fourth in the second half of the race, putting two Penske cars in the top four. Louis Foster delivered his strongest IndyCar performance with a seventh place, Dennis Hauger was eighth and Nolan Siegel rounded out the top ten.

The race featured several retirements. Alexander Rossi withdrew with a mechanical failure on lap 22, Marcus Ericsson was out on lap 68 with a similar problem, and Felix Rosenqvist hit the wall on lap 28 after a multi‑car incident involving Sting Ray Robb and Kyffin Simpson. Rosenqvist had been penalised earlier for the first‑lap crash, a sanction that sent him to the back of the field and which his team, Meyer Shank, still finds hard to swallow.

Lundgaard takes this victory at the very circuit where he made his IndyCar debut in 2021. With him, Arrow McLaren scores its 28th win in series history and its tenth since returning as a full‑time team in 2020. The Dane starts the month of May with momentum and his sights set on repeating the Sonsio Grand Prix/Indianapolis 500 double that Palou achieved in 2025.

Sonsio Grand Prix - Indianapolis Grand Prix

Pos#driverteamlaps
17Christian LundgaardArrow McLaren85
212David MalukasTeam Penske85
315Graham RahalRahal Letterman Lanigan Racing85
42Josef NewgardenTeam Penske85
510Alex PalouChip Ganassi Racing85
69Scott DixonChip Ganassi Racing85
745Louis FosterRahal Letterman Lanigan Racing85
819Dennis HaugerDale Coyne Racing85
927Kyle KirkwoodAndretti Global85
106Nolan SiegelArrow McLaren85
1166Marcus ArmstrongMeyer Shank Racing85
128Kyffin SimpsonChip Ganassi Racing85
1326Will PowerAndretti Global85
1414Santino FerrucciA.J. Foyt Enterprises85
1576Rinus VeeKayJuncos Racing85
163Scott McLaughlinTeam Penske85
1777Sting Ray RobbJuncos Racing85
185Pato O'WardArrow McLaren85
194Caio ColletA.J. Foyt Enterprises85
2047Mick SchumacherRahal Letterman Lanigan Racing85
2118Romain GrosjeanDale Coyne Racing84
2228Marcus EricssonAndretti Global61
2360Felix RosenqvistMeyer Shank Racing28
2421Christian RasmussenEd Carpenter Racing28
2520Alexander RossiEd Carpenter Racing20
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