A 0.0198-second gap at the top of the order and a 0.0028s gap at the bottom after 10 miles and four laps - Indianapolis 500 qualifying always delivers an incredible spectacle and storylines at 230mph+.
With positions 13th-30th decided on Saturday, 1st-12th go through to the pole fight on Sunday and the bottom four cars will fight for three places left in the field, there was plenty to be decided.
There was a familiar name at the top but an absolute shock rookie in sixth, while the fight for the 30th and last guaranteed spot in the field is always exciting but gut-wrenching and produced plenty of drama today.
Here are the stories of the day.
Spectacular Prema
Despite Robert Shwartzman having never raced on an oval before and his rookie team Prema not having its cars ready to practice on Tuesday, by the time it came to Saturday Prema made good on its promising practice pace to sit sixth in the order.
Despite missing that Tuesday running, the team has worked methodically thereafter and while Shwartzman’s car has looked better than his team-mate Callum Ilott’s, considering this team has no technical help from an established IndyCar squad and has never raced ovals before either, to sit sixth and 23rd is an unbelievable achievement.
Shwartzman gave one of the bounciest and most excited interviews we’ve seen in a while during an IndyCar session after his run.
“Honestly it felt amazing,” he said.
“It definitely tickled my nerve.
“I think this qualifying is the hardest qualifying I’ve ever done in my career, and I’ve driven different categories, I’ve driven a Formula 1 car and it never felt so challenging. Because here it’s not only one lap, it’s four laps, you have to be super precise and consistent.
“Honestly, whenever I did my first lap I was like, damn 233mph, we’re fast! That’s nice! And then from lap three it started to be a bit more loose and I was like, ‘ooh, I need to play with it’.
“But I was still holding on. When I passed by and I finished I had relief. And then I looked and we were really close to Pato [O’Ward, fastest at the time of Shwartzman’s run] and I was like ‘ooh, I think it was a good run!’”
Perhaps some of ex-technical director Michael Cannon’s magic at Indianapolis wore off before he left pre-season. But that could also do a disservice to the hard work that has gone in and continues to go on as Prema tries to shortcut the learning for its European personnel and blend them with the natives in the team.
Being in the top 25 at your first 500 would be a success. So being sixth and 23rd is a marvel.
A miraculous recovery
At 1205pm local time, Colton Herta was smashing into the Turn 1 wall and scraping along the road upside down in a shower of sparks. At 4.45pm, he was making it into the 109th running of the Indy 500.
Putting aside the unusual nature of Herta’s lap one, Turn 1 crash, which looked very similar to incidents he had in 2022 and 2024, to put that aside and deliver a lap good enough for 29th is a testament to Herta’s bravery and character.
To further that point, his car was a short oval back-up car turned around in less than four hours. Bear in mind the primary car has been worked on for a year, to go out without any sort of installation lap and head back into Turn 1 where you crashed hours earlier at over 230mph is just staggering. The utmost in nerve and courage on display from the ballsy Herta.
Given he fancied a go at pole and the race win in practice, it’s not how the day should end, but given where it was just after noon, this achievement is incredible.
In a similar story, Marcus Armstrong crashed in practice on Saturday morning for Meyer Shank, and it took hours for him to be cleared to drive again. His car was ready to run with around five minutes to go, and while he’ll run in Last Chance Qualifying tomorrow, he at least got back on track for checks after a huge crash.
The drivers gunning for pole
Every year we’re told that an early draw to run at the start of the day in qualifying is absolutely crucial, but apparently that’s just another negative thought Alex Palou isn’t willing to entertain. Another trend he's bucked, another speedbump he's laughed in the face of.
The 97-point championship leader was 25th in line to run, and promptly delivered the best run of the day, just 0.0198s quicker than Scott McLaughlin’s earlier effort.
Top 12 heading to pole qualifying tomorrow
1 Alex Palou 233.043mph (2m34.4781s)
2 Scott McLaughlin 233.013mph (2m34.4979s)
3 Josef Newgarden 233.004mph (2m34.5036s) run about 1900
4 Pato O’Ward 232.820mph (2m34.6257s)
5 Scott Dixon 232.659mph (2m34.7327s)
6 Robert Shwartzman 232.584mph (2m34.7828s)
7 David Malukas 232.546mph (2m34.8080s)
8 Felix Rosenqvist 232.449mph (2m34.8726s)
9 Takuma Sato 232.415mph (2m34.8591s)
10 Will Power 232.144mph (2m35.0760s)
11 Marcus Ericsson 232.132mph (2m35.0843s)
12 Christian Lundgaard 231.809mph (2m35.3004s)
-McLaughlin cursed a poor gearshift on his second lap and he hit the rev limiter of the car, so he is confident he has what it takes to try and defend his pole from 2024 - which was his first on an oval.
He did star in the commentary booth for an hour or so, and broke off talking about his own qualifying run to praise Shwartzman's. He seems very relaxed.
His Penske team-mate Josef Newgarden was another late runner but such is the quality of his car it didn’t prove a hindrance, plus because he was 33rd in line he could withdraw from the queue, keep his car cool in the garage while others waited to run on pitlane, and only started a spot further back than he would have done if he'd stayed in line.
He took third, ahead of the person he overtook for the win here last year, O’Ward, who hasn't always had the best qualifying here.
Scott Dixon followed to round out the top five, with MSR's Felix Rosenqvist in eighth and Will Power in the other Penske in 10th feeling like the other potential pole candidates.
Rosenqvist did a monster practice lap in the morning and perhaps with the knowledge of today, he can get closer to Palou and Dixon, his team-mates as part of Shank's technical partnership with Ganassi.
David Malukas is worth a shout-out, too. Last year at this race he was doing TikToks with IndyCar because he’d been dropped by McLaren after a pre-season injury robbed him of a start. People had faith, but speaking frankly that’s the kind of transition that can end a career at the top level.
After his starring run for Meyer Shank in the second half of last season and signing for AJ Foyt, here at Indy he’s overshadowed a struggling Santino Ferrucci and delivered a late improvement to go seventh.
And given his car was destroyed in the pre-event test, Takuma Sato came back to do an ace job to advance for Rahal Letterman Lanigan in ninth.
Marcus Ericsson was in last chance qualifying last year but was 11th this time, ahead of Christian Lundgaard, who previously at Rahal had a best start of 28th in his previous starts so he’ll more than half that in 2025.
Who faces elimination?
Tomorrow, four drivers will get a four-lap run to make the field and then be allowed to run again for however long is left in the hour-long session. Bump Day is one of the most exciting of the Indy 500 traditions.
Drivers in Last Chance Qualifying
Jacob Abel
Marco Andretti
Marcus Armstrong
Rinus VeeKay
For the majority of the session it was Graham Rahal, who’s had a miserable month so far with a struggle for grip he and the RLL team haven’t been able to solve, on the bubble in 30th.
He had to sit and watch as at any moment a string of challengers could usurp him.
With 12 minutes to go, he even survived by just 0.0028s over four laps and 10 miles as 2020 pole winner Marco Andretti came up short.
Rinus VeeKay - never lower than seventh in qualifying at previous team Ed Carpenter - and Armstrong both failed shortly afterwards. After that, Andretti wasn’t ready to run which allowed Conor Daly a chance to improve from 21st just missing out on the top 12.
That left Andretti sat at the pit exit in his car waiting to go as the clock expired in heartbreaking fashion.
That means two Dale Coyne cars (Abel and VeeKay) will take on Armstrong’s battered Meyer Shank and Andretti.
It was a Coyne rookie - Nolan Siegel - who failed to make the field last year, which doesn’t bode well for Abel.
Kyle Larson latest
After crashing in the pre-event test and then crashing again during Fast Friday, this year’s IndyCar cameo is currently a world away from when Kyle Larson was qualifying fifth for last year’s Indy 500.
It feels like Arrow McLaren are struggling a touch more, but of course the addition of the hybrid both in terms of the weight it adds and the complication of using it must be tough against a field of drivers with more experience of that.
However, at no point has the NASCAR points-leader panicked. He couldn’t have looked less worried after his Friday crash, and after his first run being at the wrong end of the 20s, he just shrugged it off and delivered a better run the next time he got the chance.
Obviously starting 21st is not the fifth he had last year. But, he wasn’t the last McLaren as Nolan Siegel was 26th, and ultimately he’s overcome obstacles to make the race.
He did want a chance to improve but was also happy to preserve his car.
The qualified drivers
13 Conor Daly 231.725mph (2m35.3568s)
14 Alexander Rossi 231.701mph (2m35.3725s)
15 Kyffin Simpson 231.643mph (2m35.4127s)
16 Ed Carpenter 231.633mph (2m35.4180s)
17 Santino Ferrucci 231.593mph (2m35.4453s)
18 Devlin DeFrancesco 231.575mph (2m35.4575s)
19 Sting Ray Robb 231.461mph (2m35.5336s)
20 Christian Rasmussen 231.438mph (2m35.5489s)
21 Kyle Larson 231.326mph (2m35.6242s)
22 Louis Foster 231.058mph (2m35.8049s)
23 Callum Ilott 230.993mph (2m35.8489s)
24 Helio Castroneves 230.978mph (2m35.8592s)
25 Kyle Kirkwood 230.917mph (2m35.8999s)
26 Nolan Siegel 230.571mph (2m36.1342s)
27 Ryan Hunter-Reay 230.363mph (2m36.2752s)
28 Jack Harvey 230.348mph (2m36.2853s)
29 Colton Herta 230.192mph (2m36.3910s)
30 Graham Rahal 229.863mph (2m36.6152s)
Perhaps the biggest shock here was Kyle Kirkwood who had constantly set rapid no-tow times in practice but could only piece together the 25th fastest run of the day. With his Andretti team-mate Ericsson in the top 12, that has to be a disappointment especially as Kirkwood is second in the championship and Palou is in the top 12 as is closest challenger Lundgaard.
A 24th for Helio Castroneves is also sub-optimal in his bid to become the first five-time winner here.
Sunday's schedule
Practice - 1300-1500 (1800-2000 UK)
Top 12 qualifying - 1605-1705 (2105-2205 UK)
Last Chance qualifying - 1715-1815 (2215-2315 UK)
Fast Six qualifying - 1825-1855 (2325-2355 UK)
