Scott McLaughlin got his race weekend on the new Arlington street circuit off to a strong start by setting the fastest time in the opening practice session. The Team Penske driver was quickest during his qualifying simulation, ultimately six hundredths of a second faster than Alex Palou in second place. Will Power and Pato O’Ward finished third and fourth.

Pato O’Ward fastest in the combined session

With a brand-new street circuit, the opening practice session gave drivers their first opportunity to get familiar with the track. It was therefore important to complete plenty of laps on the circuit, which at nearly 4.4 kilometers is the longest street circuit on the calendar.

One driver who certainly failed to log many laps was Sting Ray Robb. After twelve minutes, the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver lost his car under braking for Turn 1, hitting the wall and damaging both his front wing and right-front suspension.

At that point, Alexander Rossi had set the fastest time, which was soon beaten by Alex Palou after the red flag. Palou’s lap remained at the top of the timing sheets for a long time, until Scott McLaughlin went nearly a second quicker with eight minutes remaining in the combined portion of the session. Pato O’Ward then improved the fastest time by another two tenths of a second, a mark that stood until the end of the combined session.

After Robb’s incident, the session became even more dramatic for Juncos Hollinger Racing. With three minutes remaining, the Dutchman was forced to park his No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing car in Turn 6 with smoking rear brakes. This resulted in the second and final red flag of the session. The session was briefly resumed afterward, but no further improvements were made.

Scott McLaughlin quick during qualifying simulations

Practice then continued with two groups, allowing drivers to complete their qualifying simulations with less traffic on track. In the first group, McLaughlin set the fastest time, with Power in second place. In the second group, Palou came very close to McLaughlin’s benchmark but narrowly missed out on the top spot.

After setting the fifth-fastest time, Felix Rosenqvist’s session ended on a sour note when he hit the wall in Turn 12 shortly afterward, damaging his left-rear suspension. The Swede was able to return to the pits, but it meant extra repair work for his crew.

Full results of the 1st free practice session on Arlington