Scott McLaughlin posted the fastest time during Friday practice for the Grand Prix of Portland. The Team Penske driver was just slightly quicker than Alex Palou in the special qualifying simulation session, with Palou finishing second. Marcus Armstrong surprised with the third-fastest time of the day, in front of Scott Dixon in fourth position.

After rain earlier in the day, the track had fully dried out for the first practice session in Portland. Despite dark clouds surrounding the circuit, rain played no role during the session.

Kyle Kirkwood was the first big name to hit the track after ten minutes, but it was Rinus VeeKay who set the fastest time shortly after Kirkwood. The Dutchman held the top spot for about ten minutes before Alexander Rossi went a tenth of a second quicker. Power and McLaughlin then slotted in between the two drivers, before Power, with ten minutes remaining, went eight-tenths of a second faster than Rossi to take the top spot on the timing sheets.

At the end of the regular practice session, two drivers switched to the softer red tires: Rossi and Kirkwood. Rossi then set the fastest time by 0.25 seconds, while Kirkwood ended up in tenth place. Behind Rossi were Power, Herta, McLaughlin, and VeeKay.

Similar to street circuits, after 45 minutes of regular practice, two additional ten-minute sessions were held with each half of the IndyCar field. This allowed drivers to perform qualifying simulations without being hindered by too much traffic.

On the softer tires, drivers went significantly faster. In the first group, Alex Palou held the top spot for a long time until McLaughlin went six-hundredths of a second quicker in his final lap. Behind McLaughlin and Palou were Will Power, David Malukas, and a surprising Pietro Fittipaldi.

The second practice group proved to be considerably slower, with Marcus Armstrong setting the fastest time, but still four-tenths of a second off McLaughlin's best time. Scott Dixon posted the second-fastest time in this group, followed by Herta and O’Ward.

The session ran without any full-course cautions, though there were a few incidents. Several drivers explored the runoff area in Turn 1, while Santino Ferrucci and Will Power both spun but were able to continue. Graham Rahal and Romain Grosjean even made contact in Turn 1 after Grosjean exited the pits and collided with Rahal.

Full results of the 1st free practice session on Portland