The first street event in the NTT IndyCar Series’ hybrid era went according to plan on Friday during the opening 45-minute session at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto. Andretti Global’s Colton Herta was fastest in the No. 26 Honda with a lap of 1m01.8906s as the field of 27 drivers concentrated on race setups with Firestone’s primary tire.
The move to the last segment of the session, where the drivers were separated into two group with 10 minutes provided apiece to focus on performing qualifying simulation runs with the faster Firestone alternate tires, also saw Herta top both groups with a 1m01.0399s, ahead of Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist in P2 with a 1m01.3323s produced in the No. 60 Honda.
“It was good,” Herta said. “Overall, the car was really nice. Feels like the same car that we brought the last two years, which we’ve had podium results in. So hopefully that bodes well for us.”
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Herta’s segment had a clean 10-minute run, but the same could not be said for the second, which required a pair of red flags, both for crashes at Turn 9 with Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Linus Lundqvist. The duo climbed from their cars under their own power.
And with the stoppages, no representative laps were generated. Nonetheless, the fastest of the second group was Dale Coyne Racing rookie Hunter McElrea, who was quickest of the lot at a 1m02.6102s in the No. 18 Honda.
A number of harmless spins and trips into runoff areas were seen, and of the 27, two were known to experience mechanical problems as Marcus Ericsson’s motor belched a cloud of smoke and leaked fluids throughout the car and its pit box. Pato O’Ward also had his session shortened with a suspected energy recovery system issue.
With 75 minutes to fill on Friday, the opening 20 minutes were unremarkable but that changed when Ericsson’s Honda engine appeared to fail. He’d completed three laps, all without getting a feel for the faster Firestone alternate tires he’ll use in qualifying.
Ericsson got into the pits without the need for caution, and with 25 minutes gone, Alex Palou was P1 at a 1m02.3310s and Felix Rosenqvist was close behind in P2 with a 1m02.3458s lap. Alexander Rossi was next to go P1 at a 1m02.2747s, and with 30 minutes consumed, Will Power spun and stalled in Turn 9 without hitting anything. He used the ERS to fire the motor, reverse, and pulled away to save a caution.
Two minutes later, Agustin Canapino did almost the same — spun, but kept the engine alive — and used the ERS to reverse and give himself space to rotate the car and continue.
After 40 minutes, Josef Newgarden went to P2 with a lap of 1m02.3361s. Two minutes later, Rosenqvist claimed P1 with a 1m02.2467s lap as the faster primary-tire runs were being made. Scott Dixon was next to move, going to P2 with a 1m.02.2694s.
Herta closed the opening 45-minute window in P1 with a 1m01.8906s before the rest of the session split the field into two groups. In the 10-minute opening, Herta held onto P1 on alternates with 1m01.0399s ahead of Rosenqvist in P2 with a 1m01.3323s.
The second group went through four of the 10 minutes before a red flag was needed to clear Rossi’s car after smashing the left-front suspension against the Turn 8 wall.
Lundqvist was into the tires more than the wall with his car, but it was stuck and needed a red flag with 3m55s to go and it counted down until the checkered flag waved.
With the pair of red flags, the second group didn’t get a proper chance to turn multiple laps on hot alternates and as a result, McElrea led them with an unrepresentative 1m02.6102s.
UP NEXT: Second Practice, Saturday, 10:30am ET, on Peacock.