Friday debrief: McLaughlin leads St. Pete practice as heavy-hitters crash
- Archie O’Reilly
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin has finished quickest in an incident-marred opening practice session of the 2026 IndyCar season on the streets of St. Petersburg.
The New Zealander led both the all-skate and group segments as teammate Josef Newgarden, compatriot Scott Dixon and reigning Rookie of the Year Louis Foster all suffered incidents in a session which saw the red flag brandished on five occasions.
Behind McLaughlin in the order, Meyer Shank Racing (MSR)’s Felix Rosenqvist led Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood - all three with a time set in Group 2. Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR)’s Kyffin Simpson led Group 1 and was fourth overall, followed by Andretti’s Marcus Ericsson.
Three-time defending champion Álex Palou ended the session sixth, with the top 10 completed by MSR’s Marcus Armstrong, Ed Carpenter Racing (ECR)’s Christian Rasmussen, Penske newbie David Malukas and Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard.
DIVEBOMB debriefs the key stories from IndyCar’s opening day of running…
Mixed fortunes in all-car session
There were two brief red flag stoppages early on in the 40-minute all-car running: first for debris from rookie Dennis Hauger’s No.19 Dale Coyne Racing machine, then for a fortunately harmless spin for Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi in Turn 4.
There was a bigger moment for Josef Newgarden at the half-hour mark, kicking off his year with a high-speed slide into Turn 13. The dirt off-track scrubbed much of the speed, meaning the Penske driver escaped without any major damage or contact with the tyre barrier.
“I would say it’s more setup-related for us,” Newgarden said of his spin. “We tried something different on our car and I just got loose to the corner. It’s as simple as that. Nothing on the track. It wasn’t anything track-related.
“Our cars looked relatively quick. Obviously Scottie was quick up front and David looked good. There’s enough to draw from for us at Team Penske that would be positive.”
Contrasting Newgarden’s fortunes, teammate and two-time St. Pete pole-sitter and former winner McLaughlin headed the all-car time sheets by 0.1149s. Palou, an impressive Malukas, Ericsson and CGR’s Scott Dixon rounded out the initial session’s top five.
Dixon crashes in CGR-led group
The first group segment featured a heavy crash for another big-hitter as Dixon found the Turn 8 wall. The six-time champion had a moment entering the corner before striking the concrete almost nose-first, significantly damaging the front-left corner. Malukas then only narrowly avoided collecting the stricken car as he slotted through a precariously narrow gap.
“A frustrating one,” Dixon told FOX. “The typical MO for that corner is you clip the inside. For me, I got loose on entry and tried to save it and kind of got into a bit of an overcorrection. Luckily, it killed a lot of speed before it got to the wall. Sometimes you can tub the car and destroy it so hopefully it’s not too bad. Car was really fast in that first portion.”
The CGR camp otherwise dominated in the first group, headed by Kyffin Simpson on a 01:01.1782s lap, ahead of teammate Palou and CGR technical ally Marcus Armstrong. Rasmussen, Malukas and Lundgaard sat over three-tenths back inside the top six, with seventh-place finisher (in a 14-car group) Graham Rahal a hefty 0.9233s adrift.
McLaughlin dominates opening day
A fifth red flag of practice was caused early in Group 2 by Louis Foster, who misjudged his braking into Turn 13, wedging his No.45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car into the tyre barrier and damaging the front wing and left-front corner, curtailing his session.
McLaughlin ultimately delivered the headline practice time with a 01:01.1020s lap on the softer alternate tyres. Rosenqvist, Kirkwood and Ericsson were each within one-tenth of the Penske driver; Juncos Hollinger Racing (JHR) debutant Rinus VeeKay and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward were the only other drivers within half-a-second at over four-tenths behind.
“Decent first day,” McLaughlin said. “Obviously being P1 is a great start. The [car] was straight away fast and felt good and comfortable. It’s the start of a long season and it was nice to have a smooth session to start. We’ll keep pressing and see how we go.”
What other results stand out?
Dale Coyne Racing (DCR)’s Dennis Hauger was the lead rookie in 17th overall, with Mick Schumacher, who was 20th in the all-car session, 23rd overall for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing - ahead of AJ Foyt Racing’s Caio Collet.
The top 21 (ECR’s Alexander Rossi 21st) was split by less than one second on the 1.8-mile track, with crashed Foster joining Schumacher, Collet and slowest-overall Sting Ray Robb outside that threshold. JHR’s Robb was 1.1760s adrift of McLaughlin’s lead time.
Will Power was 18th as his new Andretti teammates populated the top five, though he suffered a lock-up that confined him to only 11th in his group. Returning with DCR after being announced late in the off-season, Romain Grosjean impressed in 13th after his year of absence, splitting O’Ward and Newgarden in the final order.
“Felt good to be back in the car,” said Grosjean, 2023 St. Pete pole-sitter. “We had a bit of a radio issue, which didn’t help us out there. IndyCar is very competitive and it’s very tough to be fast and those tracks don’t let you make a mistake, which is the beauty of it but also very stressful. It took a little bit of getting back into it but I’m happy to be here.”
Tyre talk & other lessons
New for 2026, drivers are mandated to run two stints on the red-sidewalled alternate tyres on street courses, which has led to arguments of whether it restricts or enhances strategy.
“I think I am in favour of double red tyres on the street course,” Grosjean said. “I think that’s going to open strategy [and] open a bit more scratching your head on how you drive the car. That’s something that we have done a lot in Europe: tyre management. Also in endurance. I’m hoping I can use that to my advantage, being an old man with a bit of experience.”
The early signs are that the softer tyres may be the preferable race tyre in St. Pete anyway.
“Today, definitely I think the grip level was pretty solid,” Newgarden said. “If it gets sunny on Sunday, that will be different. It’s always so hard to predict. I think the red looks like it’s going to be a better tyre throughout. But we might get to Sunday and not feel that way.”
Heading into qualifying on Saturday, there is also a looming threat of rain, which adds an extra dimension to a street track challenging at the best of times.
“If it rains, you’ve got to look out for the paint a bit here,” Newgarden said. “The paint takes a lot of rubber throughout the weekend, especially the front straightaway. It’s probably the most difficult part, to navigate the grip level in Turn 1 braking.”
Practice 2 commences at 9:30 ET (14:30 GMT) on Saturday, before qualifying at 16:30 ET (21:30 GMT), following a 200-lap NASCAR Truck Series race earlier in the afternoon.
