Palou drives to pole at inaugural Freedom 250

Alex Palou sets the fastest lap and secures pole for the inaugural Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington, D.C.  Kyle Kirkwood completes the front row, with Scott McLaughlin and Christian Rasmussen starting behind. 

A session built on tire temperature and precision, here is how qualifying unfolded in each round.

Credit: Bella Rosen

Round 1 Group 1 

Qualifying kicks off with Group 1 warming up their tires, while Rinus VeeKay hits the wall trying to set a fast lap. Palou then goes to the top of the group on hard tires, quickly followed by Kirkwood on soft tires. 

With less than two minutes left, Markham winner Marcus Ericsson moves to P2 with a time of 57.279s. Felix Rosenqvist, Pato O’Ward and Palou shuffle positions for the top, with Palou controlling his car around the streets of Washington D.C.

Towards the end of the session, Ericsson hits the wall, forcing him to come into the pit lane, while Will Power suffers the same fate as his rear left tire hits the wall, pushing both drivers out of the top six.

Kirkwood finishes the session at the top with a time of 56.772s, followed by Marcus Armstrong, Palou, Christian Lungaard, O’Ward and Rosenqvist. 

Out of Session: Power, Ericsson, Alexander Rossi, VeeKay, Romain Grosjean, Graham Rahal 

Round 1 Group 2

Group 2 started with Scott Dixon and Mick Schumacher setting lap times of around 58s, and as the tires got warmer, Malukas slotted into the top at 57.941s with six and a half minutes left to go. Followed by Caio Collet and Kyffin Simpson on soft tires, the two swapped the top position. 

Ed Carpenter Racing and Rasmussen moved to second with 57.274s with less than two minutes to go of the session. By the checkered flag, a red flag was out for Simpson, and Dixon was not able to complete his fast lap. Before the contact, Simpson sat in sixth, but having caused a red flag, he got bumped out, which pushed Dennis Hauger up to sixth. 

Dixon sat seventh, unable to transfer to round two. Malukas, along with Collet, Rasmussen, McLaughlin and Nolan Siegel, all put down lap times around 57 seconds, advancing to the next round. Siegel, with a time of 57.310s, ensured all three McLarens took their cars a step forward to fight for pole, while Markham pole sitter, Louis Foster, was only best for 10th in the group this weekend.

Out of Session: Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Louis Foster, Mick Schumacher, Santino Ferruci, Sting Ray Robb, Simpson 

Credit: Bella Rosen

Round 2

Malukas, McLaughlin, Siegel and Kirkwood start the session on the hard tires, while the rest of the drivers start on softs. Lundgaard is the first of the 12 to set a lap time less than a minute with 59.326s. McLaughlin, Malukas and Hauger all followed, warming up their tires in the process. 

With five minutes to go, Palou left the pit lane with a new set of soft tires, as he set a time of 57.423s. McLaughlin and Kirkwood were close behind with times of 57.626s and 57.805s, respectively. Rookies, Collet and Hauger also sat in the top six.

In the final two minutes of the session, Kirkwood moved to the top with a lap time of 56.959s and finished the session there with a 56.829s. Kirkwood, Palou, McLaughlin, Armstrong, Malukas and Rasmussen advanced to the Fast 6.

Out of session: O’Ward, Hauger, Lundgaard, Rosenqvist, Collet, Siegel

Fast 6

With each driver having one lap around the street course to set their final qualifying positions, Kirkwood started first. A lockup hindered his lap, but he kept the car going and set a lap of 57.777s. Palou set his time next, quickly maneuvering the car around with enough speed to put himself in first (56.899s).

McLaughlin started third and put in a time of third best. Armstrong followed the trio and, after a warm-up lap, locked up on colder tires but still managed to make the corner. This, however, cost him the lap time, and he starts fifth for the race.

As the final drivers put in their laps and their tires lose temperature, Malukas also locked up, and the rear tire hits the wall on the corner. Slowing down to save his tires, his lap was best for a starting position of sixth. Rasmussen wraps up the Fast 6 and puts in a lap, pushing his car and the soft tires to their limits to secure fourth, his career-best start to date.

Palou - 56.899s, Kirkwood - 57.466s, McLaughlin - 57.620s, Rasmussen - 57.889s, Armstrong - 58.814s, Malukas - 1:10.670s