Scott McLaughlin opened the new IndyCar Series season by setting the fastest time during the first practice session for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The Team Penske driver was quickest at the end of the session on the softer alternate tires. Felix Rosenqvist finished the day in second, ahead of Kyle Kirkwood in third.

McLaughlin also fastest in opening segment of practice

As introduced last year, the practice session was split into two parts. The full field took part in the opening 40 minutes, after which the field was divided into two groups for the second segment. Each group received 15 minutes of track time, ideal for qualifying simulations.

Despite the St. Petersburg street circuit not yet being fully rubbered in, traffic quickly built up on track. David Malukas moved to the top of the timesheets early in the session. A surprising Rinus VeeKay then took over the top spot, which he held for a considerable period. With 19 minutes remaining, Alex Palou joined the track and jumped to first place.

Palou held the fastest time for much of the session until McLaughlin went a tenth of a second quicker with just three seconds remaining in the opening segment. The New Zealander retained the top position through the end of the first segment, ahead of Palou and David Malukas, who had already fitted the softer tires during that run.

Practice interrupted five times by incidents

The first segment of practice was red-flagged three times. Shortly after the green flag, rookie Dennis Hauger’s Dale Coyne Racing car lost a suspension spring. Midway through the session, Alexander Rossi spun and came to a stop in a blind corner. The final interruption followed ten minutes later when Josef Newgarden lost control of his car in the penultimate corner and stopped just short of the tire barrier at the final turn.

The second segment featured heavier crashes. In Group 1, Scott Dixon hit the wall hard in Turn 9, heavily damaging the left-front side of his Ganassi Racing car. The following driver, Malukas, narrowly avoided the crashed machine. In Group 2, Louis Foster locked up in the final corner, ran onto the grass and crashed into the tire barrier.

McLaughlin quickest on alternate tires as well

In Group 1 of the second segment, Kyffin Simpson surprisingly set the fastest time, nearly a tenth of a second quicker than teammate Palou in second place. In Group 2, McLaughlin, Rosenqvist and Kirkwood all went slightly faster than Simpson, forming the overall top three of the day.

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