IndyCar St. Petersburg 2026: Full Race Weekend Schedule
The 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season officially kicks off this weekend with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida. As tradition dictates, the American open-wheel championship begins its campaign on the 1.8-mile street circuit along Tampa Bay.
The event also marks the return of Romain Grosjean with Dale Coyne Racing and the highly anticipated IndyCar debut of Mick Schumacher with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Here is the complete US schedule and TV broadcast information for race weekend.
🗓 IndyCar St. Petersburg 2026 Weekend Schedule (Eastern Time)
Friday, February 27
- Practice 1 – 1:30 PM ET (FS2)
Saturday, February 28
- Practice 2 – 9:30 AM ET (FS1)
- Qualifying – 4:00 PM ET (FS2)
Sunday, March 1
- Warm-up – 9:00 AM ET (FS1)
- Race – 12:00 PM ET (FOX)
(Green flag scheduled around 12:22 PM ET)
📺 How to Watch the 2026 St. Petersburg race ?
- All IndyCar races in 2026 are broadcast live on FOX.
- Practice and qualifying sessions air on FS1 and FS2.
- Streaming is available through the FOX Sports app and affiliated cable providers.
A Challenging Street Circuit to Open the Season
The 1.8-mile temporary street course runs around Albert Whitted Airport and the St. Petersburg waterfront. Featuring long straights, heavy braking zones and tight technical sections, the layout consistently delivers aggressive racing and dramatic opening-lap action, especially into Turn 1.
Qualifying remains critical on this narrow street circuit, but tire strategy and race pace management often shake up the running order.
A Highly Anticipated 2026 Season
Defending champion Alex Palou enters the new season as the man to beat after a dominant 2025 campaign. Drivers such as Pato O’Ward, Scott Dixon and Kyle Kirkwood will be looking to challenge him.
The 2026 grid also features several former Formula 1 drivers, including Romain Grosjean, Marcus Ericsson, Alexander Rossi and Mick Schumacher.
The battle for the championship begins in Florida this Sunday.