Alex Palou earns one other P1 begin, whereas Andretti drivers face struggles for Indy

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No shock right here: Alex Palou is again on the entrance of the NTT IndyCar Sequence subject. This week, at Indy.

The dominant championship chief continued his near-flawless 2025 marketing campaign into the Month of Could at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a cushty cruise to pole for Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix. Palou laid down a scorching 1:09.3417s lap to safe the pole by practically half a second. It marked his eighth-career pole and second of 2025.

For Palou, the distinction was a recent set of soppy tires.

“I believe we had a little bit of a bonus there with a set of name new comfortable tires,” Palou mentioned. “I believe some used it in Q1 and we didn’t. Possibly that’s the place the time comes. However anyhow, that #10 DHL automotive was wonderful. It’s been tremendous quick all season, actually. However at present it’s been on fireplace.”

Palou wanted the tempo to disclaim a pole to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLLR), who stormed by qualifying on the Indianapolis highway course with all three drivers within the Quick 6. Graham Rahal led the group in second, securing his finest beginning place since his 2023 pole run in Portland. Rookie Louis Foster adopted together with his first Quick 6 look in third, whereas Devlin DeFrancesco tied his career-best qualifying efficiency in fifth.

Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Photograph by: Penske Leisure

The entrance row run was a nice shock for Rahal, who assumed others might need softs and deny him a front-row begin. However greater than something, Friday supplied a much-needed enhance for the staff.

“Everyone watching is aware of this, we wanted this,” Rahal mentioned. “We anticipate to be good at (the) Indy highway course. However to see it come collectively and truly have three automobiles within the top-five is wonderful. It feels superior for our staff.”

Staff Penske’s Scott McLaughlin cut up the RLL group in fourth, with Josef Newgarden following in sixth to finish the Quick 6. They’ll begin simply forward of teammate Will Energy, who didn’t advance to the ultimate spherical in seventh.

Earlier than Palou’s sizable pole run, the ultimate moments of the Quick 12 noticed continuous shakeups on the high of the charts, with most drivers setting their quickest lap after time expired whereas Felix Rosenqvist went for an sudden journey off-course.

Palou managed to maintain himself away from the sector, main the trio of RLL drivers and Staff Penske’s Newgarden and McLaughlin. Energy, Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi, Kyffin Simpson, Santino Ferrucci and Rosenqvist had been eradicated within the spherical. Energy felt he’d misplaced two tenths within the opening corners, whereas a confused O’Ward mentioned his automotive gave up two tenths down the straightaway.

O’Ward paced the sector in Group 1 because the lone Quick 12 qualifier for Arrow McLaren. He was adopted by Rossi, Rosenqvist, Ferrucci, Foster and Simpson. Palou was quickest within the second group and set the highest total time of the group rounds at 1:09.6683s, main DeFrancesco, Energy, Rahal, McLaughlin and Newgarden.

Each teams noticed shocking eliminations, with Andretti International’s trio of drivers all ousted in group qualifying. Present championship runner-up Christian Lundgaard fell .0332s wanting Newgarden for the ultimate switch spot within the second group. He was adopted by two-time Indy highway course winner Scott Dixon, who couldn’t make sense of his lack of tempo.

“The automotive feels fairly good,” Dixon mentioned after. “I don’t know what we’re lacking. It feels sort of irritating, to be trustworthy.”

There have been no main incidents in qualifying, with the forgiving Indy highway course providing bountiful runoff space within the uncommon moments a driver dipped a wheel off-course. Essentially the most consequential second could have been a block that wasn’t televised.

Andretti stars battle — hassle for Saturday

If you wish to understand how Andretti International’s qualifying effort went, it may be finest summed up by one succinct quote afterward from championship hopeful Kyle Kirkwood.

“I don’t actually have any constructive issues to say right here, if I’m being trustworthy,” Kirkwood instructed FOX Sports activities. “It’s just a little disappointing.”

Kirkwood, Colton Herta, and Marcus Ericsson all struggled within the opening group qualifying spherical, leaving every driver mired within the pack for Saturday’s race and in want of a rally to maintain from dropping floor to their championship rivals.

Lower than a month after Kirkwood and Herta swept the entrance row in Lengthy Seashore, none of Andretti’s drivers managed to crack the Quick 12 on the Indy highway course. Herta got here closest of the trio, falling simply shy of development in seventh as the primary group session drew to a detailed. Kirkwood was a distant eleventh in the identical group, whereas Ericsson discovered himself tenth within the second group.

For Kirkwood, who entered Indy third within the standings as the one race winner outdoors of Palou, a tire technique play could have been his undoing.

“I didn’t get an opportunity to run the reds this morning,” Kirkwood instructed FOX Sports activities. “We sort of took a chance with that and I don’t assume it labored out completely in our favor. We needed to have the most effective tires for the race, proper? So meaning not utilizing as a lot of them.

“The best way that qualifying labored out, all people was backing up. It was just one lap to get it performed. I didn’t actually have a reference, if I’m being trustworthy. And I ended up locking up (my tires) into flip 7, (solely) ever-so-slightly. But it surely’s sufficient to value you a tenth or two, which is every little thing right here.”

Herta was left with comparable considerations to Dixon. “The stability hasn’t been an issue,” he mentioned. “It’s a bizarre factor this weekend. I’ve been typically pleased with the automotive. We’ve simply been gradual. I believe it’s simply (a) lack of total grip. Nonetheless the mechanical grip is working is simply not giving us the final word grip we want.”

Herta will roll off thirteenth within the Sonsio Grand Prix, with Ericsson and Kirkwood following in twentieth and twenty first, respectively.