Following a delay of 19 hours, Practice 1 at Markham finally got underway in round 14 of the 2026 IndyCar season.
As the track was nowhere near ready on Thursday, it eventually led to no running on Friday as they needed to complete various works, such as installing tyre bundles in front of walls.
Alex Rossi, Christian Rasmussen and Marcus Armstrong all headed into the weeekend facing six-place grid penalties due to unapproved engine changes.
Having started in the 1:20s, the field quickly started to learn the track and drop times. Kyle Kirkwood logged a 1:17.871 to lead early doors, with Andretti teammate Marcus Ericsson behind in 2nd.
Unsurprisingly, there was plenty of sliding, wheelspin and lock-ups going on as the track was dusty and dirty, particularly on the exit of the turn 5 hairpin.
Red flags
Down at turn 4, Marcus Ericsson spun as he got a touch deep on entry, causing a red flag.
The #27 led at that stage on a 1:15.675, followed by the #28 as Andretti started well. Hauger, Palou, Armstrong, Malukas, McLaughlin, Collet, Rossi and Grosjean was the top 10 when the session got going again.
A second red flag was caused by Kyffin Simpson a few minutes later. Entering turn 6, the #8 lost the rear and clouted the outside wall, damaging the left rear suspension. He limped back to pit road.
On the approach to turn 10, Felix Rosenqvist caught a bump and had a spin like his fellow Swede as the rear got loose on braking. After a tiny tap with the tyres, the Indy 500 winner continued on his way.
At the front, championship leader Alex Palou clocked a 1:14.991 to be fastest, less than a tenth clear of Louis Foster. Collet, Malukas, McLaughlin, Armstrong, VeeKay, Power, Kirkwood and Ericsson completed the top 10.
Practice 1, Group 1 at IndyCar Markham
Preparing the wide entry for turn 4, David Malukas locked his front tyres but avoided the wall.
At turn 10, Alex Rossi had rear locking and went down the run-off area as the bump struck once more. He had been complaining about deployment issues earlier in the session.
To the surprise of nobody, the defending champion was quickest again. Palou clocked a 1:15.082 to be P1, almost 0.6s ahead of the #20. Armstrong, Siegel, Hauger and Dixon completed the top 6.
Practice 1, Group 2
Yet again at turn 4, there was issues. Pato O’Ward locked his front left and ran deep, before reversing away.
Dennis Hauger had two decent taps with the wall, as well as running deep at turn 10. A red flag was thrown because of debris he left on the circuit.
Rookie Caio Collet was quickest on a 1:15.045, narrowly ahead of Louis Foster as both impressed. McLaughlin, Power, Ericsson and VeeKay completed the top 6.
Palou was P1 overall, ahead of the Brazilian and the Brit.
