ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske is ready to rebound from a disappointing 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season.
He proved that point in the season’s first official practice session on Friday at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
The driver of the No. 3 DEX Chevrolet had the fastest lap in the combined practice session around the 13-turn, 1.8-mile temporary street course in downtown St. Petersburg.
McLaughlin’s best lap was 1:01.1020 for a speed of 106.052 mph.
“Decent first day,” McLaughlin said. “Obviously being P1 is a great start. The DEX Imaging Chevy was straight away fast and felt good and comfortable. It’s good for us. It’s the start of a long season and it was nice to have a smooth session to start. We’ll keep pressing on and see how we go.”
The combined speeds for the afternoon had Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing second at 1:01.1660 (105.941 mph) in the No. 60 Honda. Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global was third in the No. 27 Honda at 1:01.1777 (105.921 mph), followed by Kyffin Simpson’s 1:01.1782 (105.920 mph) in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Global rounded out the top five at 1:01.1967 (105.888 mph) in the No. 28 Honda.
In the first session where all cars were on track, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden slid off the track to create a red flag stoppage. Newgarden’s slid off the final turn on the track but did not make contact
Newgarden refired the car and drive it down pit lane but was assessed a five-minute penalty for stopping practice.
At that point in practice, four-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou was the fastest at 1:01.696 mph followed by Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon at 1:01.799 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. Rinus VeeKay of Juncos Hollinger Racing was third at 1:01.096 in the No. 76 Chevrolet followed by Team Penske’s David Malukas’ at 1:01.914 in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet at 1:01.914.
Later in practice, Malukas locked up the brakes but was able to keep it on track.
Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren was fifth at that point in practice at 1:01.970 in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
This was the 40-minute first session for all cars followed by two groups that run in 12-minute session
The first car to bring out a red flag was the No. 19 car driven by rookie Dennis Hauger of Dale Coyne Racing. It was for a part of the car that created debris on the race track.
The second red flag was for Alexander Rossi’s spin in Turn 4. One minute later, it was back to race before the third red flag for Newgarden’s incident nine laps later.
At the end of the all-group session, Scott McLaughlin was the fastest driver with a lap at 1:01.5793 in the No. 3 DEX Chevrolet.
Palou was second at 1:01.694 followed by Malukas at 1:01.726. Marcus Ericsson was third at 1:01.740 in the No. 28 Andretti Global Honda. Dixon rounded out the top five at 1:01.7999 in the No. 9.
The group session began at 2:24 p.m. ET.
Kyffin Simpson of Chip Ganassi Racing set the early pace in that session at 1:01.178 in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda. Christian Rasmussen of ECR was next in the No. 21 Java House Chevrolet at 1:01.4828. Christian Lundgaard of Arrow McLaren was third at 1:01.532.
Marcus Armstrong, however, shuffled the speeds when the Meyer Shank Racing driver ran the second quickest lap at 1:01.339 in the No. 66 Honda with five minutes left in the session.
Scott Dixon had a big crash in Turn 9, pile driving the wall with a headfirst impact into the wall. That brought out the red flag.
According to Chip Ganassi Racing, the car will be repaired in time for Saturday morning’s practice.
Malukas drove through the debris field, threading his way through Dixon and the wall.
There was a little over one minute left in the first group when the track went back to green with Simpson still on top, but teammate Palou moved up to second at 1:01.261.
The second session was interrupted quickly when Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Louis Foster stuffed his No. 45 Honda into the tire barrier in Turn 13.
At that time, Foster was the second-fastest in the session at 1:05.846. Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood was the fastest at 1:05.833 in the early moments of the final session.
With 6:46 left in the final session, Romain Grosjean was the fastest at 1:02.847, but didn’t stay there long as Kirkwood, Rinus VeeKay, Newgarden and Pato O’Ward all went faster.
By the time practice concluded, McLaughlin of Team Penske was the fastest in that group at 1:01.102 in the No. 3 Chevrolet followed by Felix Rosenqvist’s 1:01.166 in the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. Kirkwood was third at 1:01.1777 in the No. 27 Honda followed by Simpson’s 1:01.1782 in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda.
Ericsson rounded out the top five in the final session at 1:06.888 in the No. 28 Honda.