Stepping up from FIA F3, Sophia Flörsch delivered a solid Indy NXT debut, avoiding incidents, steadily improving her pace, and gaining five positions to finish P12 at the St Petersburg street circuit.
Sophia Flörsch made her Indy NXT debut at St. Petersburg, stepping up from the FIA Formula 3 Championship, where she competed in 2020, 2023, and 2024.
After testing in October, the German racer joined HMD Motorsports for her first season Stateside in IndyCar's main feeder series, facing a challenging but overall positive weekend in Florida.
Flörsch has gained experience in a wide variety of race cars, both in single-seaters and sports cars, and now shifts her focus to Indy NXT, aiming to continue her journey at the top levels of motorsport. She first drove the Dallara IL-15 car at Barber Motorsports Park in 2024, completing 92 laps and steadily improving throughout the day on the demanding circuit - before tackling pre season collective testing, where she impressed with some promising lap times.
Her debut weekend on the St Petersburg street circuit started with a promising first practice session, where she showed good pace despite being in a new car and on a new track. Flörsch briefly led the opening minutes, then was steadily in the top ten for the first half of the session. However, she later brought out a red flag after spinning in Turn 4 and making contact with the wall, damaging her rear wing following a technical issue on the #24 machine.
While Flörsch was forced to sit out the remainder of the session, fellow European driver Dennis Hauger (Andretti Global) set the fastest time, ahead of Caio Collet (HMD Motorsports) and Myles Rowe (Abel Motorsports). Despite the setback, Flörsch was still 15th fastest.
In Practice 2, the field saw some shake-ups, with Rowe topping the timesheets in a clean session without interruptions, followed by Hauger and Lochie Hughes (Andretti Global). Flörsch showed improvement, closing the gap to 1.1 seconds behind the leader and finishing the session in 18th place.
Qualifying highlighted Hauger’s dominant pace throughout the weekend, as he shattered the track record with a 1m03.8801s lap, securing the fastest time in Group 1 ahead of Collet and Liam Sceats (HMD Motorsports).
Flörsch started the session strongly, maintaining competitive pace for the first half. However, as the track evolved and lap times dropped, she ultimately finished ninth in her group, placing her 17th on the starting grid,
In Group 2, Collet attempted to capitalize on improving track conditions but couldn’t surpass Hauger’s record-setting lap and will start the race from second place.
The race started with drama as Hauger led from pole, while further back, Tommy Smith (HMD Motorsports) ran into the back of Niels Koolen (Chip Ganassi Racing), with James Roe also getting caught in the incident. The race immediately went under caution to clear the track and recover the cars.
Roe rejoined the race but later caused another caution when he crashed in Turn 10 on lap 9. Hauger remained in the lead, with Hughes staying close behind him throughout the race. After the third restart, Hauger finally broke free and opened a gap at the front.
Starting from 17th, Flörsch navigated cleanly through the first-lap incident that unfolded just in front of her. Once the race resumed, she settled into P15, running close to Noel Allaer. On lap 15, she made a move past him to advance to P14, showing stronger pace as the race progressed.
Once in clear air, Flörsch began closing the gap to Nikita Johnson, gaining two seconds while running consistent 1:06.5 lap times. On lap 20, she moved up to P13 passing Sebastian Murrey, who had been holding a group of cars up. However, Allaer retook the position a lap later—only to crash into the barriers shortly after, triggering another full-course yellow.
At the restart, Johnson and Escotto made contact, with Escotto managing to save it. Flörsch, running just behind them, closed in but took no unnecessary risks, displaying a solid and smart drive in her Indy NXT debut.
She settled into a steady rhythm, improving her lap times while defending against Murrey, who was pressuring from behind. Running a 1:06.3, she remained close to Escotto. As Murrey eventually pitted, Flörsch was relieved of the pressure and had a safe gap both ahead and behind with 12 laps to go.
She continued to gain on Johnson, dropping under the 1:06 mark for the first time and setting a personal best of 1:05.9 on lap 37. Although she closed the gap slightly, she remained around four seconds behind Johnson.
On lap 41, Jack William Miller crashed from fifth place, allowing Flörsch to move up into P12. A late caution with four laps to go meant the race ultimately ended under yellow.
In her Indy NXT debut, Sophia Flörsch did exactly what she needed to do—staying out of trouble in the opening laps, avoiding incidents, and making no mistakes. She showed improved pace throughout the race, battled for positions, and gained five places from her starting position to finish P12.
The next race of the season will take place on April 4th at Barber Motorsports Park for the Grand Prix of Alabama, where Flörsch will have the opportunity to build on this experience and push further up the field.
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