Laguna Seca IndyCar: Colton Herta leads Felix Rosenqvist in practice
Colton Herta led fellow IndyCar rookies Felix Rosenqvist and Santino Ferrucci in opening practice for the Laguna Seca finale, despite all three going off and Herta causing a red flag
Herta's 1m10.734s lap in his Harding Steinbrenner Racing Dallara-Honda pipped Rookie of the Year points leader Rosenqvist of Chip Ganassi Racing by just 0.0719 seconds.
But in the dying seconds of the session Herta looped into the runoff on the outside of the initial left-hand part of the Corkscrew, and no amount of wheelspinning could recover the situation without outside assistance.
That red was the second of the session, as Tony Kanaan had earlier binned his AJ Foyt Racing Dallara-Chevrolet at the final corner.
Rosenqvist had a long run through the sand on the outside of the Turn 4 right-hander and a wild moment through the Corkscrew before scoring his best time on his final lap, while Dale Coyne Racing driver Ferrucci also had some wild moments before setting a time just 0.15s off Herta's best.
Team Penske's Will Power was fastest of the series veterans and fastest of the Chevrolet runners, albeit 0.27s off the ultimate pace, in fourth.
Zach Veach was fifth and fastest of the Andretti Autosport cars, while Simon Pagenaud was first of the championship contenders in sixth.
The other title contenders - points leader Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi and Scott Dixon - were ninth, 24th and 14th respectively.
Rossi was on a hot lap when Kanaan brought out the red flag, and he then asked for a significant set-up change that required him to step out of the car for 20 minutes.
When Rossi resumed, there were just three minutes to go, at which point Herta's spin prevented him setting a representative time.
Practice one times
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colton Herta | Harding Racing | Dallara/Honda | 1m10.7335s | - | 13 |
| 2 | Felix Rosenqvist | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 1m10.8054s | 0.0719s | 18 |
| 3 | Santino Ferrucci | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 1m10.8837s | 0.1502s | 16 |
| 4 | Will Power | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m11.0024s | 0.2689s | 12 |
| 5 | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 1m11.0816s | 0.3481s | 13 |
| 6 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m11.1519s | 0.4184s | 12 |
| 7 | Sebastien Bourdais | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 1m11.1581s | 0.4246s | 10 |
| 8 | Spencer Pigot | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m11.2382s | 0.5047s | 9 |
| 9 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m11.2460s | 0.5125s | 9 |
| 10 | Matheus Leist | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m11.2702s | 0.5367s | 11 |
| 11 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Herta | Dallara/Honda | 1m11.2827s | 0.5492s | 8 |
| 12 | Marcus Ericsson | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 1m11.3015s | 0.5680s | 13 |
| 13 | Max Chilton | Carlin | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m11.4110s | 0.6775s | 13 |
| 14 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 1m11.4451s | 0.7116s | 8 |
| 15 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 1m11.4532s | 0.7197s | 8 |
| 16 | Charlie Kimball | Carlin | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m11.5472s | 0.8137s | 10 |
| 17 | Tony Kanaan | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m11.6237s | 0.8902s | 5 |
| 18 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 1m11.6773s | 0.9438s | 12 |
| 19 | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing | Dallara/Honda | 1m11.7449s | 1.0114s | 10 |
| 20 | Conor Daly | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 1m11.9320s | 1.1985s | 10 |
| 21 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 1m12.0043s | 1.2708s | 9 |
| 22 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 1m12.0125s | 1.2790s | 10 |
| 23 | Ed Jones | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1m12.1601s | 1.4266s | 13 |
| 24 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 1m12.9932s | 2.2597s | 4 |
Power won't "play games" with Penske team-mates' IndyCar title bids
Laguna Seca IndyCar: Ryan Hunter-Reay fastest on Friday
NASCAR bans Chastain Martinsville wall-ride manoeuvre
NASCAR has decided to ban the wall-ride manoeuvre made famous by Ross Chastain at Martinsville that secured him a place in the Championship 4.
Gasly: Mindset for Alpine is "completely different" to Red Bull F1 move
Pierre Gasly says he has a "completely different" mindset for his Alpine Formula 1 move thanks to lessons taken from his failed stint at Red Bull in 2019.
GTD Pro win a “proper send-off” for retiring IMSA stalwart MacNeil
Winning the GTD Pro class at the Daytona 24 Hours was a fitting way for Cooper MacNeil to retire from racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, says team-mate Jules Gounon.
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
Nigel Mansell’s greatest F1 and Indycar drives
It’s 30 years since Mansell won the Formula 1 world title and then headed off to do battle in America. Here are his best races – and the Briton’s memories of them
How Ericsson achieved Indy immortality as Ganassi's main man stumbled
Chip Ganassi Racing team was strong again in the Indianapolis 500, with poleman Scott Dixon and reigning champion Alex Palou leading almost three quarters of the race between them. But when dominator Dixon was penalised for pitlane speeding, ex-Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson stepped up to score the biggest win of his career and seize the IndyCar points lead
Ranking the top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2021
In an enthralling 2021 IndyCar campaign, the series bounced back from its COVID-19 truncated year prior and Alex Palou defeated both the established order and his fellow young guns to clinch a maiden title. It capped a remarkable season with plenty of standout performers
How F1's other IndyCar exile finally unlocked his potential
Romain Grosjean's swashbuckling rookie year in IndyCar captured the imagination of many in 2021. But another ex-Formula 1 driver whose potential was masked by five years of toil in, at best, middling machinery also enjoyed a breakout year in 2021 - winning twice and finishing sixth in points. Here's how Marcus Ericsson finally delivered on his promise
How Ganassi's relentless new champion outfoxed IndyCar's best
IndyCar sophomore Alex Palou stunned by overcoming team-mate Scott Dixon and the rest of a white-hot field in 2021. He was consistently fast and crucially showed a level head, rebounding well from setbacks to put himself in a near unassailable position entering the final round
Have Harvey and RLL formed IndyCar’s next winning match-up?
Despite appearing to have an IndyCar job for life with Meyer Shank Racing, Jack Harvey’s departure and move to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing sparked plenty of debate. However, Harvey's and RLL's combined strengths could prove to be a winning combination - if they get the balance right
Remembering Dan Wheldon and his last and most amazing IndyCar win
Saturday 16 October marks the 10th anniversary of Dan Wheldon’s death. David Malsher-Lopez pays tribute, then asks Wheldon’s race engineer from 2011, Todd Malloy, to recall that magical second victory at the Indianapolis 500
Why Kyle Kirkwood is America's new IndyCar ace-in-waiting
Kyle Kirkwood, the record-setting junior formula driver, sealed the Indy Lights championship last weekend. But despite an absurdly strong junior career and scholarship money, his next move is far from clear
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.