Malukas reveling in ‘fantastic’ Markham course

Team Penske's top performer of 2026, David Malukas, said that the new 2.19-mile 12-turn Markham course in Ontario, Canada is offering a great but fun challenge.

Following IndyCar's first practice session on the track, he declared, “I love it. I think it's fantastic. Super smooth. I think this probably is taking the lead on smoothest street course that we've had.

“It's a blast. I think it's very well-designed. A lot of fun. A lot of difficult corners. From the hairpin to the last section, pit lane through turn 10, a lot of technicalities we need to fix up, but love it.”

The Chicagoan, who currently lies third in the championship, finished first practice in sixth, but implied he would have been higher had he better synched the temperature of his brakes and tires.

“We've been dealing with it, especially just me and my car, just trying to build brake time,” said Malukas. “We get into an issue where tires are ready and brakes aren't. It's something that obviously we've got to work on.

“I just lost my temper, which I normally don't. Now we don't have a read on the reds and only a few hours to figure it out. Thankfully we got a good read from [his teammates] Scott [McLaughlin] and Josef [Newgarden].”

Predictably, the profile of the keyhole-shaped hairpin prompted several questions, since it is significantly different from how it appeared on pre-event simulators.

“The hairpin is definitely different, for multiple reasons – obviously a track change,” Malukas observed. “Also simulators, it's tough to picture elevation. On the sim it was flat. In real life you get a good elevation going up into the hairpin.

“Other than that, the simulator was pretty spot on. Some corners feel wider and narrower than others. Supposed to be more of like a big turn. It's going to be fun, a lot of fun.”

With two practice sessions followed by qualifying session being compressed into one day by the scheduling snafu caused by track construction delays, Malukas says that the day does indeed feel busier. It alters, too, a driver’s approach to a session, knowing that an accident could cause him to miss not only the remainder of one session, but also time in the next session.

“Plans for us still stay the same – on track stays the same… Off track – a little more rushed. By the time qualifying comes, we should have everything close to where we want it to be.

“The difficulty is from Practice 1, you're being a bit more reserved, maybe 90, 80 percent pushing. You don't want to mess something up today because you will lose a lot of track time.”