Scott McLaughlin was the overall fastest in IndyCar’s Practice 1 in St. Pete. Rosenqvist and Kirkwood finish in the overall Top 3.
IndyCar is back with its first practice session of The Street of St. Petersburg (St. Pete). Practice 1 will consist of 3 parts: one 40-minute session open to all drivers and two 12-minute sessions, with drivers split by odd and even pit boxes. Rookie drivers are able to take part in both split sessions with their extra allocated tyre.
All cars session
With rain in the forecast, all drivers headed out on track before the rain hit hard . Before drivers could put a full lap time, Dennis Hauger caused a red flag for a spring coming out of his rear suspension. The Norwegian driver had to stay off pit road for 5 minutes for causing a red flag.
Álex Palou was the first to set a full lap with a 1:38.0865. Later, the Spaniard hit a faster lap with a 1:04.8694. Kyffin Simpson was second with a 1:06.1412. Soon later, David Malukas set the fastest time at the 8-minute mark with a 1:04.0027.
Mick Schumacher had a lock-up at Turn 8 and landed P15, ten minutes into the session and was able to get back on track to continue his first weekend practice session. David Malukas took back the top spot from Simpson with a 1027115. Immediately after Rinus VeeKay, Alexander Rossi hit the top, with a 1:02.1126. Malukas hit the 1:01 threshold 12 minutes into the session with a 1:01.9144. Earlier, Malukas had a brush with the wall at Turn 8.
VeeKay answered Malukas’s time with a 1:01. 9045. The Red Flag came out as Alexander Rossi spun out at Turn 4. Thankfully, Rossi avoided any barriers. The session restarted 15 minutes into the session with VeeKay, Malukas, and McLaughlin in the Top 3.
Palou slid into P2 with a 1:01.9050 lap time with 17 minutes of green flag running. After the reigning champion topped the charts with a 1:01.6942. Scott Dixon moved to P2 with a 1:01.7999. VeeKay went wide of Turns 11 and 12 as he tried to find room next to McLaughlin, who overtook him on the track. Marcus Armstrong slid into P3 with a 1:01.9045.
Newgarden crashed in practice in St. Pete
The Red Flag came out for the third time in St. Pete after 23 minutes of green-flag conditions. Newgarden crashed after getting air after hitting the apex, ending up in the grass between Turns 12 and 13. Newgarden has to serve a 5 minute-penalty for causing the red flag.
With cars back on track, David Malukas was the first out on the reformulated softer tyre as he was able to recover from a right front lock-up. With 28 minutes of green flag running, Palou, Dixon, and VeeKay are in the Top three. McLaughlin took Veekay’s P3 with 1:01.8077 then went to the top position with a 1:01.5793.
With two minutes left in the open practice sessions, Romain Grosjean spun out and got back on track. At the end of the first session, McLaughlin was fastest with a 1:015793, with Palou in second and Malukas in third with a Team Penske 1-3.
Split session 1
Schumacher slid into second for the group session, as drivers finish their first lap in the split session in St. Pete. Rasmussen, Simpson, and Lundgaard are in the Top 3. Soon after, Simpson was able to top the charts with a 1:01.178 with Rasmussen in second with a 1:01.482, and Lundgaard in third with a 1:01.523, all on the soft tyre.
Later, Armstrong was the second fastest in the session with a 1:01.339. Hauger had a lock-up and was able to go into the run-off to continue with the practice session.
Dixon caused a fourth red flag after oversteering and hitting the wall, with Malukas able to make it through the crash. Dixon was okay after the crash.
The green flag waved with 2 and a half minutes left of the session. If there is a second red flag during the split session, the clock will continue to run. With the chequered flag waving CGR takes the Top 2 with Simpson, Palou and Armstrong fastest overall.
Split session 2
The red flag flew ten minutes into the session with Louis Foster in the barrier. Last year’s Rookie of the Year misjudged his braking on cold tyres on the last turn of the track.
Before the red flag, the top 3 fastest were Kirkwood, Foster, and O’ward. Will Power had a lock-up and had to take to the run-off. Newgarden took to the top with a 1:04.660. With seven minutes left, Grosjean took the lead with a 1;02.847, then O’Ward took it over with a 102208. Kirkwood took the top with a 1:01.177.
With everyone on soft tyres, Kirkwood, McLaughlin, and Veekay were sitting in the top 3, 4 minutes left in the session. Rosenqvist slid into P3 with a 1:01.468, then Ericsson took that P3 with a 1:01.463. Grosjean hopped out of his car early with the team investigating an engine issue. With the chequered flag flying, McLaughlin, Rosenqvist, and Kirkwood were the fastest in the second split session and overall fastest in IndyCar’s Practice 1 in St. Pete.
