Castroneves tried to hide his icepack during interviews outside the medical center. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
At the start of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, drivers found themselves in a pileup after only completing three turns.
What started with Felix Rosenqvist bouncing off the concrete barriers ended with six wrecked racecars, some of which flew through the air due to contact.
All drivers were able to climb out of their machines, and remarkably, most walked out of the infield care center with no injuries whatsoever.
Helio Castroneves emerged with an icepack on his right hand, but was quick to explain that the injury was not a major one.
He compared his injury to as if he hit is funny bone, and was confident that he would be able to return for the second race of the season at Texas Motor Speedway in early April.
Other drivers come out of the care center one by one, each describing how quickly the crash unfolded and how there was no time to react because everyone was still bunched up.
Rookie Benjamin Pedersen had a band-aid on his hand from where the spinning steering wheel caught his thumb, but was otherwise uninjured.
“Right after Turn 3, obviously there was a huge pile-up,” Pedersen said to MotorsportWeek.com. “Cars were literally horizontal on the race track, I did everything I could, I slammed on the brakes and [tried] to find some sort of gap to get through. But there just was no gap.
“Hit head on at very high speed, got my hand off the wheel. I’m totally fine, I hope everyone else is doing good. For the most part it seems like they are. Devastated for the team for sure.
“It’s impossible to tell [what started it]. In the position I was in, the carnage I was in started well ahead of me. I couldn’t even see it happen. I haven’t even really seen the replays, so impossible to tell right now.
“But like I said, I got my hand off the wheel. You’re just flying around in there, but I’m all healthy.”
Keyword: Castroneves has minor hand injury from pileup at start of IndyCar opener