Christian Lundgaard continued his impressive adaptation to his new team, Arrow McLaren, by topping the pre-qualifying practice session Saturday for The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix.
Lundgaard set the fastest lap of the 40-minute session with a time of 1 minute, 40.6421 seconds in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, running on Firestone Firehawk alternate compound tires. His performance was even more remarkable given that he missed the final 10 minutes of practice due to a penalty. The penalty was issued because Lundgaard was late for the mandatory driver weigh-in on Friday, a requirement at all NTT INDYCAR SERIES events.
Confidence Boost for Qualifying
“We didn’t get to run our alts (alternate tires) yesterday as a proper run,” Lundgaard explained. “We had an issue on the car. So, going into today, we felt pretty confident from where we were on the primes (Firestone Firehawk primary tires) yesterday. I think today we kind of proved that. We maximized what we had today, and going into qualifying, this is a confidence boost for all of us. We’ll be there.”
Next up is NTT P1 Award qualifying at 5 p.m. ET today (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The 65-lap race is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET Sunday (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).
Strong Start with Arrow McLaren
Lundgaard transitioned to Arrow McLaren this season after three full seasons with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. He made an immediate impact with his new team, qualifying fifth and finishing eighth at the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, outperforming teammates Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel in both qualifying and the race.
Top Contenders in Practice
Three-time and two-time defending series champion Alex Palou posted the second-fastest lap of the session at 1:41.1247 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou had been the fastest driver in Friday’s practice with a best lap of 1:40.5486, still the quickest time of the weekend.
Marcus Ericsson maintained his strong weekend form by finishing third at 1:41.2831 in the No. 28 Bryant Honda for Andretti Global. He also placed third in Friday’s practice session.
Marcus Armstrong made a significant leap from 16th place on Friday to fourth place Saturday with a best lap of 1:41.3574 in the No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda for Meyer Shank Racing.
Rounding out the top five was Pato O’Ward, who clocked in at 1:41.4334 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Arrow McLaren was the only team to have two drivers finish in the top five.
Tire Strategy Key for Qualifying
With qualifying fast approaching, teams are focusing on their tire strategy for the 17-turn, 3.067-mile circuit at the base of the Santa Rosa Mountains. Team Penske’s Will Power, the all-time INDYCAR SERIES poles leader, emphasized the challenge ahead.
“It’s a very, very difficult track,” Power said. “Very difficult to get it right. You feel like you’ve just got one lap on your red (alternate) tires, so you’ve got to put it together. And you get to the (Firestone) Fast Six, and you’re doing it on used (alternate tires), or if you wanted to take a risk, I guess you could do new blacks (primary tires).”
With the stage set for an intense qualifying session, all eyes will be on whether Lundgaard can maintain his momentum and secure pole position for the race.
Thermal Club IndyCar Practice
March 22, 2025
