Friday Practice and Qualifying Report; Saturday Preview

IndyCar has returned to its home in Indianapolis, as they join NASCAR at the Indianapolis road course, for the second race of 2022 at the road course layout. With practice and qualifying Friday, and the race Saturday at noon ET, this is a quick turnaround from Iowa, which is sure to put pressure on teams. As we head into the race, Josef Newgarden and his recovery from his Iowa crash have taken center stage, with Newgarden approved to drive Thursday afternoon. Marcus Ericsson still holds the points lead, only 8 points ahead of Newgarden’s teammate Will Power.

Friday practice was a quiet affair, with no incidents apart from some momentary trips through the grass and gravel. Alexander Rossi posted the fastest time, with Newgarden, Herta, McLaughlin, and then Palou. Palou heads into the race having been named this week in a lawsuit from Ganassi, which apparently has had no effect on his driving performance. Numerous issues were reported by Romain Grosjean, who was very dissatisfied with the rear end of his car. Grosjean has been very strong at this track, and with the Andretti perfomance was expected to be a contender for the win at the road course. The McLaren duo were very low in the charts during practice, as O’Ward battled a fantastically loose car.

In qualifying, the McLaren duo shone, with Rosenqvist putting in a monster lap of 1:10.2655 to take pole by 3 tenths, which around a track as well known and tight as this, is a huge difference. Rossi beat out O’Ward to take second by a tenth of a second, as the McLaren drivers will start nose to tail. The rest of the Fast 6 was filled out by 2021 winner Will Power, Newgarden, and rookie Christian Lundgaard. Lundgaard ran in this race last year and qualified fourth, impressing the field, but slipping back in the race. The rest of the Firestone Fast 12 was filled by Palou, Veekay, Herta, Daly, Malukas, Pagenaud. This was a great qualifying session for ECR, who have been experiencing something of a renaissance with Conor Daly, who now sits only 31 points behind his teammate after a tough Iowa weekend. Daly scored his first top 5 in 5 seasons at the first Indy GP of 2022, and is looking to repeat that Saturday. David Malukas continued his strong season of qualifying, outrunning his veteran teammate Sato.

Cars will get on track Saturday for morning warmup at 8:15 am ET, to run through their last checks before the race. When the race starts Saturday at noon ET, championship leader Marcus Ericsson will start from dead last, P25, after a engine change resulting from a failure in qualifying where he didn’t even set a lap. This is a huge blow for Ericsson, at a track where his championship rivals have a phenomenal record. Power has been the most successful driver here, winning 5 times since the inception of the road course in 2014. Newgarden and Palou have been strong here as well, and unless Ericsson can benefit from a yellow and beat his rivals, it seems likely he will lose the title lead. Look for Power to be successful, and for Rosenqvist to be aggressive early.