Qualifying for the opening round of the 2026 IndyCar season has been completed at St. Pete, view the full report here.
Scott McLaughlin and Christian Lundgaard were quickest in the two practice sessions, with the usual teams up the front.
2026 St. Pete IndyCar qualifying | Round 1, Group 1
Will Power, Mick Schumacher and Louis Foster all went out all reds immediately. The Australian was massively on the back foot following his practice crash, while RLL struggled for pace.
It was a promising start for Schumacher as a 1:01.398 put him P1 following run 1 for all drivers. O’Ward was 0.09s slower on the harder tyre. VeeKay, Kirkwood, Grosjean and Power completed the top 6 before everyone went to reds. A mere 0.206s covered them.
Newgarden, Foster, McLaughlin, Ericsson, Ferrucci and Rosenqvist needed to improve to get through.
With 3 minutes left, Grosjean smashed in a 1:01.082 to put 0.3s into the field at that stage.
Marcus Ericsson was the first below 61s as he did a 1:00.825 in his Andretti. It stayed as the fastest time of the session.
O’Ward, Grosjean, Foster, McLaughlin and Rosenqvist also booked their places in the Fast 12.
On his qualifying debut in IndyCar Schumacher ended up 0.3s slower than teammate Louis Foster.
It was game over for Josef Newgraden as he had massive snaps at the final corner on the start of his last attempt, forcing him to abort his lap. He was slowest in Group 1.
Power, Kirkwood, Ferrucci, VeeKay, Schumacher and Newgarden got knocked out.
2026 St. Pete IndyCar qualifying | Round 1, Group 2
Rasmussen, Rahal, Siegel and Robb went straight out on reds in the second group.
Just like teammate Josef Newgraden, Malukas was having a big moment in the last corner with identical sliding. His #12 car would not turn in despite multiple attempts from the driver. That lap was gone.
Rahal led the way on run 1. A 1:01.225 put him a fraction ahead of Rasmussen. Malukas, Armstrong, Palou and Lundgaard were the lead black tyre runners. 0.118s covered them as they filled the top 6 before everyone went to reds.
Siegel, Dixon, Rossi, Simpson, Robb, Collet and Hauger needed to improve.
On the softer tyres, the times tumbled. A 1:00.579 from David Malukas put him in P1 as he showed immense pace on debut for Team Penske. Reigning champion Alex Palou was a close P2. Armstrong and rookie Dennis Hauger also made it into the 1:00s, a mighty effort for the Norwegian debutant. Lundgaard and Simpson also advanced.
A tenth up heading into turn 10, Scott Dixon made a mess of the corner and ruined his lap when he was set to advance. He could only wind up in P8. He also had a near spin at turn 13 for good measure earlier in that run.
Rasmussen, Dixon, Rahal, Robb, Siegel, Collet and Rossi got bumped.
2026 St. Pete IndyCar qualifying | Fast 12
Foster, Palou, O’Ward and Hauger went straight out on reds as used tyres came into play at the start of the Fast 12 for all drivers.
O’Ward led the way on run 1, logging a 1:01.229. Foster, Palou, McLaughlin, Hauger and Ericsson completed the top 6 before the final runs. Half a second covered them on their various tyres.
Lundgaard, Malukas, Simpson, Grosjean, Rosenqvist and Armstrong were looking to make big gains on their last run.
At the end of the Fast 12, the times dropped massively. A 1:00.543 from Scott McLaughlin put him P1, less than four hundredths ahead of Alex Palou. Marcus Ericsson was only 0.08s away.
The story of the session, however, was the Dale Coyne Racing entries. Dennis Hauger was a sensational P4, with Romain Grosjean 6th. David Malukas split them to make it through on debut for Team Penske as well.
On the other hand, Arrow McLaren had a poor day. Pato O’Ward was P8, with Lundgaard only 12th and slowest in the session.
Armstrong, O’Ward, Foster, Simpson, Rosenqvist and Lundgaard will fill positions 7-12 for tomorrow.
2026 St. Pete IndyCar qualifying | Fast 6
Early doors Scott McLaughlin did a 1:01.595 on used reds to lead Grosjean by 0.11s. The French driver then overturned that and did a 1:01.346 to go fastest.
At the end, though, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin prevailed. A stonking 1:00.542 gave him pole by 0.02s. Marcus Ericsson produced a fine lap to push him hard, with the brilliant rookie Dennis Hauger and extraordinary P3. He was only 0.03s away from pole on his IndyCar debut.
Palou, Malukas and Grosjean rounded out the top 6 in a thrilling end to qualifying.
