Kyle Kirkwood kicked off the first day of practice for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg by setting the fastest time. During a qualifying simulation at the end of the session, the Andretti Global driver was nearly two-tenths of a second quicker than Alex Palou, who secured the second spot. Scott McLaughlin clocked the third-fastest time, but this came after the only crash of the session.

The first practice session of the season took place under perfect weather conditions. Under clear skies, temperatures in St. Petersburg reached 75°F.

As is the case this year on nearly all permanent and street circuits, the first practice session was divided into two parts. The first 45 minutes were open to all 27 drivers, followed by two 10-minute sessions in which the field was split into two groups. This format is once again being used to allow drivers to complete qualifying simulations on softer tires without being significantly hindered by traffic.

Since very little running had taken place on the St. Petersburg street circuit earlier in the day, the session started slowly. During the first 15 minutes, only a handful of rookies and lower-tier drivers took to the track. After 20 minutes, Will Power became the first top driver to post a competitive lap time, jumping to the top of the timesheets.

Seven minutes later, Alex Palou went nearly a tenth of a second faster. His time would remain unbeaten for the rest of the combined session, while Josef Newgarden moved up to second place, just ahead of his teammates Power and McLaughlin.

The first part of the session ran surprisingly incident-free—unlike a year ago when several drivers ran into the escape zones. That changed with the start of the qualifying simulations. First, Callum Ilott made heavy contact with the wall at Turn 5 but was able to continue. Shortly afterward, Marcus Armstrong brought out the first red flag by spinning while exiting the fast Turn 3. The Meyer Shank Racing driver avoided hitting anything and was eventually able to return to the pits.

The hardest hit of the session, however, came from Scott McLaughlin—ironically on the same day he announced his contract extension with Team Penske. The Kiwi ran too wide in Turn 3, clipped the wall, and broke his right front suspension.

Fortunately, no incidents in the second group resulted in a red flag. However, both Will Power and Christian Lundgaard brushed the wall with their rear wheels but appeared able to continue without major issues.

Kyle Kirkwood set the fastest time in the first 10 minutes, ahead of Palou and McLaughlin. The second group, however, was significantly slower than the first, with Colton Herta setting the best time—though he was six-tenths of a second off the fastest time from the first group. Scott Dixon and a surprising rookie, Louis Foster, posted the second and third-best times in the second group.

On Saturday, preparations for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg continue with the second practice session at 10:15 AM, followed by qualifying at 2:35 PM.

Full results of the 1st free practice session on St. Petersburg