IndyCar Practice 1 at Mid-Ohio ahead of the 2026 edition of the race has been completed, view the full session report here.
Silly season kicked into overdrive this week. Chip Ganassi Racing confirmed Scott Dixon would be leaving at the end of 2026 following 24 years and six championships together.
Earlier today, Meyer Shank Racing announced that Marcus Armstrong agreed a new multi-year deal with them. Last week, it was confirmed Felix Rosenqvist was leaving them at the end of the year.
IndyCar announced Sting Ray Robb would drop six spots on the grid thanks to an unapproved engine change.
Full field running in 2026 IndyCar Practice 1 at Mid-Ohio
After a very quiet first 20 minutes, Marcus Armstrong had a failure on his car, finding the fence at turn 2 and damaging his machine. He was in 4th before the incident.
Pato O’Ward led the way on a 1:06.968 before the red flag was thrown. Marcus Ericsson was the only other driver in the 1:06s.
Power, Armstrong, Simpson, VeeKay, Rossi, Robb and Grosjean were the only drivers who completed a proper time at that stage.
The session resumed with 15 minutes to go.
Down at turn 4, Romain Grosjean locked up and had a trip through the gravel. He immediately returned to the pits. At turn 2, Pato O’Ward spun with a minute to go. He locked up initially but then dropped his left hand side tyres on the grass and had a small rotation.
A 1:06.656 from Alex Palou saw the championship leader pace the field, a hundreth clear of Kyle Kirkwood. Despite that spin, O’Ward put in a good last lap right at the end to go 3rd.
Power, Ericsson, Lundgaard, McLaughlin, VeeKay, Malukas and Dixon rounded out the top 10 in full field running in 2026 IndyCar Practice 1 at Mid-Ohio.
Group 1
Once everyone did a lap on the reds, Alex Palou led the way. He did a 1:05.755, beating Lundgaard by a tenth of a second. The Dane was the only other driver in the 1:08s.
Siegel, Malukas, Simpson, Rasmussen, Dixon, Rahal, Rossi, Robb, Schumacher, Hauger and Collet completed the order.
Group 2
With 7 minutes remaining, Romain Grosjean was heading for turn 9 when he found the wall, breaking the rear wing on his DCR machine.
Andretti finished 1-2 in the group and overall. Will Power logged a 1:05.554 to pace Kirkwood by a tenth. O’Ward, Veekay and Ericsson rounded out the top 5.
Newgarden, Rosenqvist, McLaughlin, Collet, Ferrucci, Foster, Schumacher, Hauger and Grosjean completed the order.
