Qualifying for round 13 of the 2025 IndyCar season is in the books at Toronto, full report and results below. Could Andretti convert their dominant practice pace into a pole position with Colton Herta or Kyle Kirkwood?
Scott Dixon knew he would drop six places wherever he qualified because of an unapproved engine change.
Round 1, Group 1
Rosenqvist, Siegel, Daly, Foster, Ilott, Lundgaard, Robb, Ferrucci and Rahal all went straight to greens as qualifying got underway in Canada.
The first true flying lap came from Rosenqvist as he did a 1:01.138, three tenths ahead of Siegel. He lowered it on his next run by going a 1:00.972.
Using the harder black tyre, Scott Dixon pumped in a 1:00.929 to go fastest, before Christian Lundgaard pipped him on the greens as he logged a 1:00.852. Rosenqvist, Rahal, Kirkwood (hards) and Foster completed the top 6 with 5 minutes remaining.
Nolan Siegel lost his best time to that point as he had a big front right lock-up and took to the run-off at turn 3. He caused a local yellow.
Unsurprisingly, Kyle Kirkwood ended up quickest as everyone used softs. A stunning 59.906 put him fastest in Group 1. Will Power and Scott Dixon did two times fast enough to make it through as they were 2nd and 3rd in the 1:00.0 bracket. The star of the session was Callum Ilott as a superb 1:01.164 got him though. Rahal and Foster in the RLL cars also advanced.
Both McLarens of Siegel and Lundgaard missed the cut, with Scott McLaughlin and Felix Rosenqvist the biggest shocks not to advance.
Round 1, Group 1 results of IndyCar Toronto qualifying
- Kirkwood
- Power
- Dixon
- Ilott
- Rahal
- Foster
- Siegel
- McLaughlin
- Rosenqvist
- Lundgaard
- Daly
- Ferrucci
- Robb
Round 1, Group 2
VeeKay, Ericsson, Simpson, Rossi, Rasmussen, Shwartzman, Abel and DeFrancesco went straight for the softs in this session.
After a scare before qualifying where he had a braking issue that required great work from the Andretti mechanics to fix, Marcus Ericsson logged a 1:01.898 to go P1.
However, Christian Rasmussen quickly blew that out of the water as he did a 1:00.706. Once again, the Dane was giving all the entertainment as a lock-up in turn 8 and big touch with the wall in turn 11 showed how hard he was trying.
At the end of the first runs, a 1:00.673 from Josef Newgarden on hards saw him fastest from Rasmussen, Ericsson, Rossi, VeeKay and DeFrancesco. Herta (P7), Palou (P11) and O’Ward (P12) all found themselves outside the top 6 as everyone switched to the softs for the final 3 minutes.
Herta, Palou, the outstanding VeeKay and Armstrong all took turns at the top with the New Zealander ultimately quickest on a 1:00.098 in his MSR car. VeeKay and Palou completed the top 3. Marcus Ericsson was a standout as he logged a 1:00.208 to get through. Herta and O’Ward also got themselves in.
Kyffin Simpson and David Malukas both missed out by less than a tenth from advancing. Josef Newgarden could only manage P9 as he did not make a big step on the softs like his competitors.
Shwartzman, Rasmussen, Rossi, DeFrancesco and Abel also failed to advance.
Round 1, Group 2 results of IndyCar Toronto qualifying
- Armstrong
- VeeKay
- Palou
- Ericsson
- Herta
- O’Ward
- Simpson
- Malukas
- Newgarden
- Shwartzman
- Rasmussen
- Rossi
- DeFrancesco
- Abel
Round 2
Kirkwood, Power, Dixon, Ilott, Rahal, Foster, Armstrong, VeeKay, Palou, Ericsson, Herta and O’Ward battled it out to make the Fast 6.
On his used greens early doors, Rinus VeeKay had a tasty lock-up into turn 8 and took a trip to the run-off.
Once again Kyle Kirkwood was absolutely flying along, logging a 1:00.603 to be half a second clear of the pack. Palou, O’Ward, Dixon, Herta and Power were all in the 1:01.1s as they filled 2nd through to 6th before they all swapped to new softs.
On pit exit, Chip Gansssi Racing released Palou as O’Ward was coming along. No further action was taken, however.
Once again turn 8 claimed a victim as Scott Dixon locked up and ended up in the run-off. He lost his best time at that point and fell to 8th. In the end he never got a proper time in on the second set of softs. He had also hit the wall at turn 11 to compound a miserable session.
After Palou pumped in a 1:00.383, Kirkwood absolutely monstered that by doing a 59.927. A great effort from Will Power saw the Aussie clock a 59.976 to comfortably get P2. Herta’s 1:00.003 was also a rapid lap was the top 3 had a big gap to the rest.
Rahal, Palou and Armstrong also made their way through. It was a session where gaps were quite big. The Kiwi’s time was 0.170s quicker than Foster in P7.
Joining Foster in getting cut were Ericsson, VeeKay, O’Ward, Dixon and Ilott. Quite a few drivers went slower than they did in round 1.
Round 2 results of IndyCar Toronto qualifying
- Kirkwood
- Power
- Herta
- Rahal
- Palou
- Armstrong
- Foster
- Ericsson
- VeeKay
- O’Ward
- Dixon
- Ilott
Fast 6
Defending champion Alex Palou clocked a 1:00.637 to kick things off in the fight for pole. He was half a second ahead of Power. Armstrong, Herta, Kirkwood and Rahal did not set a competitive time or waited on the pits until the final three minutes.
Once again it was an Andretti on top when the first one did a time as Colton Herta banged in a 1:00.451. The American absolutely demolished that on his second set, posting a 59.832 to take pole position.
Palou was P2 as he did a 1:00.107, followed by Armstrong, Power, Rahal and Kirkwood.
It was a painful Fast 6 for pole favourite Kirkwood as he never got a proper time in. He had a massive slide out of turn 8 and had to abort his run.
Fast 6 results of IndyCar Toronto qualifying
- Herta
- Palou
- Armstrong
- Power
- Rahal
- Kirkwood
Full results of IndyCar Toronto qualifying
- Herta
- Palou
- Armstrong
- Power
- Rahal
- Kirkwood
- Foster
- Ericsson
- VeeKay
- O’Ward
- Dixon (will drop six spots)
- Ilott
- Siegel
- Simpson
- McLaughlin
- Malukas
- Rosenqvist
- Newgarden
- Lundgaard
- Shwartzman
- Daly
- Rasmussen
- Ferrucci
- Rossi
- Robb
- DeFrancesco
- Abel
