Kyle Kirkwood set the fastest time during the opening practice session on the streets of Toronto. The American driver laid down a blistering lap during a qualifying simulation at the end of the session, going a tenth of a second quicker than Scott McLaughlin. Alex Palou finished the day in third, just ahead of Marcus Armstrong in fourth.

As usual, the session got off to a slow start, with the rookies taking to the still green circuit first. Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen and Alexander Rossi were among the first to post competitive lap times. With about twenty minutes remaining, Will Power went to the top of the charts with a time that would stand through the remainder of the combined session.

As is typical on both permanent and street circuits, the combined opening session was followed by two split groups, each featuring half of the field. This segment also marked the first appearance of the softer, alternate compound tires.

It quickly became apparent in Group 1 that the alternate tires degrade very rapidly. Just like in St. Petersburg earlier this season, tire wear is expected to be so high that the softer compound will last no more than six to eight laps during the race. As a result, teams are anticipating a three-stop strategy instead of the usual two, with drivers likely completing three stints on the primary, harder compound.

That could pose problems, as teams are only allotted five sets of primary tires for the weekend. For instance, Alex Palou had already used two sets during the opening practice session. That means we might see limited running in Practice 2 and qualifying, with some drivers possibly running their banker laps on the same set repeatedly — or skipping them altogether.

After topping the combined session, Will Power also led the way in Group 1, ahead of Christian Lundgaard and Felix Rosenqvist. The street course continued to improve lap after lap, as demonstrated by the quicker times in Group 2. In that session, Kyle Kirkwood went more than six-tenths faster than Power’s benchmark from Group 1. With McLaughlin, Palou and Armstrong also going quicker, Power ultimately dropped to fifth overall.

Remarkably, the session ran caution-free. Several drivers did run off into the escape roads and both Christian Lundgaard and Jacob Abel made reasonably hard contact with the wall. Lundgaard was able to continue without issues, while Abel had to return to the pits for repairs.

One particularly odd moment occurred during the combined session: a pool noodle somehow ended up on the track! While several drivers managed to avoid it, local favorite Devlin DeFrancesco ran straight over the foam object, which then got stuck in his car. Fortunately, his crew was able to remove it in the pits without any damage.

Full results of the 1st free practice session on Toronto