Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin was fastest in an eventful practice session on Friday afternoon ahead of this weekend’s IndyCar season opener in St. Petersburg, Fla.

All-Car Segment

The course opened for practice at 1:35 p.m. Eastern, but quickly went under the red flag when Dennis Hauger’s #19 lost a spring on the track.

Alexander Rossi brought out the red flag after about 15 minutes of running, spinning out briefly but continuing back to the pits without assistance.

Chevy-powered machines led the way at the halfway point before Álex Palou took his Honda to the top of the timecharts by over two-tenths of a second.

Scott McLaughlin and Rinus VeeKay had a close run-in through the turn 11-12 chicane. As McLaughlin was slowing down to build a gap on the car ahead, VeeKay continued at full speed down the inside of the #3 car on his way to the final corner, avoiding contact by a matter of inches.

Josef Newgarden had the rear step out in the same complex of corners later in the session, spinning into the grass runoff at the final corner but avoiding the tire barriers and any significant damage to the car.

David Malukas was the first car to venture onto the soft tires, moving his #12 car into third position as the checkered flag flew.

McLaughlin’s 1:01.966 lap was the quickest in the full-field segment. The rest of the top 5 consisted of Palou, Malukas, Marcus Ericsson, and Scott Dixon.

Group 1

A significant crash by Scott Dixon highlighted the first of the split-field segments. Entering turn 9, Dixon’s car oversteered, a correction from which sent him barreling into the outside wall. The contact with the barrier damaged both the front and rear suspension on the left side of the car and caused major damage to the nose of the car. Dixon was checked and released at the care center without injury.

“Kind of a frustrating one,” said Dixon. “The typical thing, M.O., for that corner is that you clip the inside. For me I got loose on entry, tried to save it, and then kind of got into an overcorrection. Luckily, it kind of slid off a lot of the speed or it killed off a lot of the speed before it got to the wall.”

Chip Ganassi Racing machines led the way in the first group, with Kyffin Simpson posting a 1:01.178 on softs followed by Palou and Meyer-Shank’s Marcus Armstrong.

ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 27: #18: Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing Honda during the NTT INDYCAR Series Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on February 27, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Gavin Baker/Lumen via Getty Images)Group 2

The red flag was displayed early in the final segment of running when Louis Foster speared into the tire barriers at turn 13, damaging the left front suspension and the front wing.

Will Power had significant trouble with the brakes in his first practice session with Andretti. Multiple lockups throughout the afternoon hampered his ability to post a strong time. The worst of the incidents came in the final minutes of practice when the car failed to make the corner at turn 1 and went into the runoff area. Power said over the radio that “the car is just impossible.”

Romain Grosjean’s practice time ended about two minutes earlier than anticipated when Dale Coyne Racing engineers chose to call the Frenchman in to assess a potential engine issue.

Team Penske was fastest overall in practice thanks to McLaughlin’s 1:01.102 lap to end the day.

Another practice session will take place tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. Eastern ahead of qualifications at 4:30. Practice will be broadcast on FS1, while qualifying can be viewed on FS2.

Practice 1 Top 5Scott McLaughlin – 1:01.102Felix Rosenqvist – 1:01.166Kyle Kirkwood – 1:01.177Kyffin Simpson – 1:01.178Marcus Ericsson – 1:01.196

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