IndyCar

Everything that happened on Toronto IndyCar day one

by Jack Benyon
4 min read

Alexander Rossi topped the first practice session of the weekend as IndyCar began its first race event outside of the United States since 2019 in Toronto.

Graham Rahal topped most of the session on the hard tyre and four red flags then reduced the running on the soft tyres that will be used in qualifying for the final 14 minutes.

Those soft tyres are now handed back until qualifying, so cannot be used in tomorrow’s second practice.

Under the penultimate red flag, the Andretti Autosport crew changed all four springs on Rossi’s car and made adjustments under the bodywork, which clearly worked as he leapt to the top of the order with just over seven minutes to go in the session.

Simon Pagenaud told The Race earlier this week that this track – where he won the last race in 2019 – and its slow corners were one of his “specialities” and his Andretti-affiliated Meyer Shank car popped into second as he was the last runner to switch to the soft tyres.

He reckons Toronto and Nashville, the remaining street circuits, are his best chances of a maiden win with the team.

Rahal rounded out the top three despite going into the run off at Turn 1 on his last flying lap, but this result will encourage a Rahal Letterman Lanigan team that has struggled for most of this year and is yet to score a top five across three cars.

Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson was the the top Ganassi car in fourth – after being crowned number one in The Race IndyCar Podcast’s top 10 drivers of the year so far – with his title rival Josef Newgarden taking fifth in practice.

McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist is looking to bounce back from an engine-related retirement at Mid-Ohio last time out and took sixth, ahead of Colton Herta.

Herta tested a McLaren Formula 1 car at Portimao earlier this week in a hectic spell between Toronto and Mid-Ohio, where all four Andretti drivers were hit by one of their team-mates, Herta being on the end of a Romain Grosjean misjudgement.

Scott Dixon took eighth ahead of Will Power, while the most newsworthy driver on the grid took 10th.

Alex Palou made it three Ganassi cars in the top 10, going fastest on the soft tyre earlier in the session on the reigning champion’s first visit to Toronto as he made his debut in 2020, a year after Toronto’s last appearance. He was the quickest of the Toronto newcomers, just ahead of Christian Lundgaard.

Palou spoke to the media earlier on Friday about his future, as Ganassi and McLaren both claim to have him under contract next year.

The first red flag came about for a track inspection for a patch at Turn 1. The track is extremely bumpy and worn-in.

Callum Ilott faces an uphill challenge this weekend after spinning at Turn 1 with 30 minutes to go in the session.

While Juncos Hollinger doesn’t have its street course package as dialled in as its road course set-up, it’s also Ilott’s first time in Toronto and the light crash ruled him out of the rest of the session and any chance to use the soft tyre before qualifying.

For the ninth time in practice this year, Jimmie Johnson brought out a red after a spin following minimal contact with the wall at the last corner with 19 minutes to go.

Meyer Shank Racing’s Helio Castroneves also lost the rear of the car at the same corner with three minutes left.

Practice 1 Results

Pos Name Team Car Gap Next Gap Leader Best Time
1 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Dallara DW12-Honda 1m0.609s
2 Simon Pagenaud Meyer Shank Racing Dallara DW12-Honda +0.09s +0.09s 1m0.699s
3 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara DW12-Honda +0.004s +0.094s 1m0.703s
4 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara DW12-Honda +0.023s +0.117s 1m0.726s
5 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Dallara DW12-Chevrolet +0.039s +0.156s 1m0.765s
6 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Dallara DW12-Chevrolet +0.028s +0.184s 1m0.793s
7 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Dallara DW12-Honda +0.075s +0.259s 1m0.868s
8 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara DW12-Honda +0.117s +0.376s 1m0.985s
9 Will Power Team Penske Dallara DW12-Chevrolet +0.008s +0.384s 1m0.993s
10 Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara DW12-Honda +0.059s +0.443s 1m01.052s
11 Christian Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara DW12-Honda +0.122s +0.565s 1m01.174s
12 Hélio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Dallara DW12-Honda +0.071s +0.636s 1m01.245s
13 Takuma Sato Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Dallara DW12-Honda +0.015s +0.651s 1m01.26s
14 David Malukas Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsport Dallara DW12-Honda +0.002s +0.653s 1m01.262s
15 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Dallara DW12-Chevrolet +0.055s +0.708s 1m01.317s
16 Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Dallara DW12-Honda +0.036s +0.744s 1m01.353s
17 Devlin DeFrancesco Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Dallara DW12-Honda +0.172s +0.916s 1m01.525s
18 Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara DW12-Honda +0.133s +1.049s 1m01.658s
19 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara DW12-Chevrolet +0.018s +1.067s 1m01.676s
20 Patricio O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Dallara DW12-Chevrolet +0.014s +1.081s 1m01.69s
21 Kyle Kirkwood A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara DW12-Chevrolet +0.145s +1.226s 1m01.835s
22 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara DW12-Chevrolet +0.315s +1.541s 1m02.15s
23 Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger Racing Dallara DW12-Chevrolet +0.537s +2.078s 1m02.687s
24 Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara DW12-Honda +0.336s +2.414s 1m03.023s
25 Dalton Kellett A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara DW12-Chevrolet +0.064s +2.478s 1m03.087s
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