Palou in perfect form for first IndyCar practice at Laguna Seca

Fresh off of earning his fifth IndyCar title, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou carried that momentum into the first practice session of the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, going quickest with a 1m9.899s.

Felix Rosenqvist was only a tenth off in second, turning in a 1m9.990s ahead of Pato O’Ward (1m10.176s) in third. All three drivers put in their fastest laps on alternate tires. It was a solid start to the weekend for O’Ward, who’s hoping to steal second place in the championship from Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood.

Early in the 40-minute opening session, Josef Newgarden spun in Turn 9 but managed to make a quick recovery. A few minutes later, it was Scott Dixon who spun, this time in newly-resealed Turn 2.

Santino Ferrucci took a hard hit into the barrier at Turn 9, bringing out a red flag in the final minutes before split-group practice began. After being pulled from the gravel by the AMR Safety Team, he was able to drive back to the pit lane and exit the car on his own.

Scott McLaughlin was fourth with a 1m10.319s, followed by Kyffin Simpson in fifth (1m10.376s) and Graham Rahal in sixth (1m10.459s). Marcus Ericsson was seventh fastest (1m10.461s), David Malukas was eighth (1m10.470s), and Alexander Rossi was ninth (1m10.501s). Christian Rasmussen rounded out the top 10 with a 1m10.555s.

UP NEXT: Practice 2, 10:05 a.m. local/1:05 p.m. ET Saturday

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