After an exciting first qualifying session of the season, it will be Scott McLaughlin who will lead the field to green at the season opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg, as he has done two times before.
Early times
Qualifying was a scorcher, weather-wise, compared to the two practice sessions, and with drivers still trying to figure out the new tires led to some interesting strategies and surprising results.
With six minutes to go in the group 1 session, it was rookie Mick Schumacher setting the pace. Unfortunately, his time was not enough to make it into the Fast 12. Romain Grosjean, in his return to IndyCar, found some pace, which would put him ahead of the timing sheets for the time being. He would end up third with Marcus Ericsson atop with a time of 1:00.825 and Pato O’Ward in second.
Ericsson and McLauglin would be the only drivers on their respective teams to make it to the Fast 12. Andretti Global’s newest driver, Will Power, has had a tough weekend up until this point. After an early crash in practice two, Andretti managed to fix Power’s No. 26 car in time for qualifying. Unfortunately, the lack of track time on the new setup ended up biting him in the back, narrowly missing out on advancing, starting in row seven.
Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden also struggled, making a mistake and losing grip in his final lap. He will be starting row 12.
Group two was just as competitive with both Álex Palou and newest Team Penske driver, David Malukas showing speed. With less than a minute to go, Palou posted his best time of the session, putting him first until Malukas. In the dying seconds of the session, Malukas knew he needed his best lap to move on after riding in the drop zone. He managed to post a 1:00.579 to end up first at the chequered flag.
Disappointingly, after showing speed in preseason testing and practice, both Ed Carpenter Racing drivers didn’t finish in the top 12.
Fast 12
The tire strategies continued in the Fast 12 with O’Ward and Louis Foster using the soft tire early in the session, putting them ahead 1-2 on the time sheet with 5 minutes to go. Unfortunately, neither time would be good enough to move on. McLaughlin would put up the fastest time of the session with a 1.00.543, and teammate Malulas would finish 5th fastest.
The biggest surprise of qualifying was definitely Dale Coyne Racing. Both cars in rookie Denis Hauger and Romain Grosjean made it into the Fast Six. Hauger was running near the cutoff point until he put up a heater of a lap, moving up into fourth with a 1:00.640. Grosjean would hang on to the last spot ahead of the Firestone Fast Six. Their spots would eliminate both remaining Arrow McLaren cars.
The Firestone Fast Six
The Fast Six was truly anyone’s game, and it did not disappoint. With less than one minute to go, Palou sat at the top of the timing sheets with a time of 1:00.684. In the end, that time would be good enough to start fourth as drivers put down faster laps.
In the first qualifying session of his IndyCar career, Hauger put a final lap down with a time of 1:00.574, good enough for third on the grid. Ahead of him is Ericsson, the only Andretti driver in the top 12.
The fastest man of the day and the driver who will start on pole after putting a time of 1:00.562 is no surprise. Looking at his history in St. Petersburg, the New Zealand native, McLaughlin, has earned his first IndyCar victory, and after his performance in this qualifying session, he will be starting on pole for the third time in five years. Teammate David Malukas rounds out the top five.
The green flag waves tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. EST to see who will take home the first win of the season on the streets of St. Petersburg.