Marcus Ericsson set the fastest time during the opening practice session for the Alabama Indy Grand Prix. The Andretti Global driver put in a very strong session, setting the benchmark relatively early. Alex Palou recorded the second-fastest time, with the top five separated by just 0.07 seconds.

Although there was a forecast for potentially severe weather, the practice session was completed under favorable conditions.

Championship leader Alex Palou made an early appearance on track, which was notable. Unsurprisingly, he quickly put his name at the top of the timesheets. After about twenty minutes of running, Colton Herta and Will Power also took to the track and set the first and second fastest times.

Toward the end of the combined session, several drivers bolted on the softer tires. Among them was Marcus Ericsson, who ultimately posted the fastest lap of the day. Devlin DeFrancesco jumped to second place on these tires, with Nolan Siegel taking third.

After the field was split into two twelve-minute sessions for qualifying simulations, Ericsson’s lap time notably remained unbeaten. Alex Palou came very close in the second session — just 0.013 seconds shy — but it wasn’t enough to displace Ericsson from the top spot.

The session ran without any full-course cautions. However, that didn’t mean it was trouble-free for everyone. Scott McLaughlin lost control of his car exiting Turn 12, sliding sideways across the track before regaining control — in an incident eerily similar to what happened to his teammate Josef Newgarden during the first practice session last year.

Felix Rosenqvist also had a scare during a qualifying simulation. Having already suffered a heavy crash earlier this year in testing at Barber Motorsports Park, he ran off track again, this time in Turn 2. Fortunately, he managed to guide his car through the gravel and onto the grass before rejoining the track. In the process, he brought a significant amount of gravel back onto the racing line — something his fellow drivers likely weren’t too happy about.

On Saturday, another practice session is scheduled for 11:30 AM ET, before qualifying kicks off at 2:35 PM. A serious chance of rain is forecast, which could make for a spectacular day of action!

Full results of the 1st free practice session on Barber Motorsports Park