IndyCar returned to viewers’ screens for the first race weekend of the season. With two practice sessions under their belts, the 27 drivers were ready to get going with IndyCar’s St. Pete qualifying.
Marcus Ericsson topped the final practice session, leading from Rinus Veekey and Alex Palou. But there was a fraction between the drivers with just over one second covering the entire grid. One of the biggest talking points from the earlier practice session was traffic on track and how difficult it made qualifying and putting in a clean lap.
Group 1
Colton Herta was one of the drivers leading the first group in the qualifying session. Looking to build on his impressive season with Andretti last season, he wants to take the title this year. On his first lap Herta was looking for a first banker lap, securing a baseline before pushing himself further.
The first fast lap was from Herta with a 1:01.77, but he was quickly pushed out of the top spot by Scott McLaughlin who put in an impressive 1:01.13.
The times were rapidly falling, with Nolan Siegel in his second season with McLaren putting in a 1:00.32. The marginal differences were the difference between making the fast 12 and missing out.
Kyffin Simpson took the top spot from Christian Lungaard, putting in a 1:00.10. Lungaard held a 1:00.28 just a breath away from the top spot. Josef Newgarden, the back-to-back Indy 500 winner, put in the first below 1 minute lap, putting in a blinding 59.72.
With such a competitive group 1, both Pato O’ward and Colton Herta found themselves in the drop zone with just three minutes to go. Kyffin Simpson decided to use up two sets of tyres, potentially affecting his ability to get into the Fast Six but sitting him in second, and into the Fast 12.
With just 10 seconds remaining in group 1, Scott McLaughlin moved into first place with a 59.42 followed closely by Colton Herta, Nolan Siegel, Josef Newgarden, Christian Lungaard and Rinus Veekay.
The shock departures were Will Power’s Penske and Pato O’Ward’s McLaren narrowly missing out on the times to get into the Fast 12. Will Power’s day went from bad to worse after he had hybrid issues in the practice session, now missing out on the Fast 12.
Group 2
Group 2 had drivers such as defending champion Alex Palou and the FP2 leader of Marcus Ericsson. Scott Dixon, the six-time champion, was the first driver to head out on track for Group 2’s qualifying session.
Dixon sets a 1:01.48, making an effort to get himself further up the grid in one of four tracks he hasn’t won in the NTT IndyCar series. Louis Foster and his teammate Devlin DeFrancesco started with fast laps, not wasting time with banker laps, and it got them first and second. DeFrancesco with a 1:00.17 and Foster with a 1:00.46.
Alexander Rossi found himself third with a 1:00.49, leaving McLaren at the end of 2024. Rossi is determined to prove himself at Ed Carpenter Racing in 2025. He went on another fast lap with the green-lined alternate tyres on and had a slight moment on track into turn 1.
Dixon put himself below the one minute mark with a 59.84 while driving with his visor up. But with 30-second son the clock, Alex Palou sent himself to the top of the time with a 59.6, Armstrong also put himself in fifth but still with a time over one minute.
The chequered flag was out but a few drivers were still on their final fast laps. Rossi was on a final flying lap but on used tyres he was unable to improve.
In the end, Alex Palou made it through, followed by Scott Dixon, Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Ericsson, Marcus Armstrong and Kyle Kirkwood.
Fast 12
Colton Herta was determined to get himself into the Fast 6, setting a benchmark time of 1:00.56. Close behind him was Nolan Siegel and Marcus Ericsson. Scott McLaughlin moved himself into second place 1:00.81.
Scott Dixon found himself down in ninth with five minutes left, with a 1:01.37. Behind him was his former teammate, Marcus Armstrong in tenth behind him.
Christian Lungaard pushed himself into first place with a 1:00.07, with Nolan Siegel slotting in behind his teammate with a 1:00.23. Scott Dixon found himself in third place but rapidly falling as Colton Herta took the top spot with a 59.54.
The chequered flag was flown with Herta taking the top spot moving into the Fast 6 followed by, Christian Lungaard, Marcus Armstrong, Scott Dixon, Felix Rosenqvist, Scott McLaughlin. The big losers from the session were Josef Newgarden, and Alex Palou, missing out on the first Fast 6 session of the IndyCar season.
Fast 6
Christian Lungaard was the first driver to head out on track, putting in a first lap of 1:00.27. Scott McLaughlin with a 1:00.41 behind Lungaard. Scott Dixon was in third with 1:00.44.
With three minutes remaining, Lungaard was determined to get pole as the only McLaren driver in the Fast 6. But Felix Rosenqvist, with a minute remaining, put in the time to beat 59.70 and Marcus Armstrong, his teammate, followed with a 59.82.
But Colton Herta put in a fantastic time of 59.64, but it was not a match for Scott McLaughlin who put in a blinding time of 59.46. Scott McLaughlin took pole in the first race of the season in St. Petersburg.
Full Results:
- Scott McLaughlin
- Colton Herta
- Felix Rosenqvist
- Marcus Armstrong
- Christian Lungaard
- Scott Dixon
- Marcus Ericsson
- Alex Palou
- Kyle Kirkwood
- Josef Newgarden
- Nolan Siegel
- Rinus Veekay
- Will Power
- Devlin DeFrancesco
- Kyffin Simpson
- Louis Foster
- David Malukas
- Robert Shwartzman
- Santino Ferrucci
- Alexander Rossi
- Graham Rahal
- Conor Daly
- Pato O’Ward
- Christian Rasmussen
- Jacob Abel
- Sting Ray Robb
- Callum Illott
Feature Image Credit: Penske Entertainment
