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 |
Previous article
Power won't "play games" with Penske team-mates' IndyCar title bids
Next article
Laguna Seca IndyCar: Ryan Hunter-Reay fastest on Friday
Indy500: Starting grid
IndyCar: Colton Herta takes victory at St. Pete
Barber IndyCar: Lap 1 Crash
Barber IndyCar: Palou wins at Birmingham
Why IndyCar’s longest silly-season is still far from over
OPINION: The 2021 IndyCar silly season has been one of the silliest for many years, as many talented drivers remain in play – with new pieces to the puzzle being added all the time. Here's what we know so far about who will end up where in 2022
Why IndyCar's generational shift isn't as stark as it appears
OPINION: The rise of two drivers racing only their second full-season IndyCar campaigns to head the points with four races to go has led to some observers doubting the credentials of the old guard. But they haven't faded away, there's merely a deeper talent pool that is helping to make this season one of the best in recent years
The F1 champion who became an Indy king in his second career
Emerson Fittipaldi’s decision to go racing with his brother led to him falling out of F1, but he bloomed again on the IndyCar scene. NIGEL ROEBUCK considers a career of two halves
The lasting legacy of a fallen Indycar rookie
Jeff Krosnoff was plucked out of obscurity to become a respected and highly popular professional in Japan, and then got his big break in Indycar for 1996. But a tragic accident at Toronto 25 years ago cut short a promising career and curtailed his regular team-mate Mauro Martini's passion for racing
The two key areas where Dixon needs to re-assert his authority
OPINION: Having been Chip Ganassi Racing's IndyCar focal point for the best part of a decade, Scott Dixon has been so far outgunned by new team-mate Alex Palou in 2021. After finishing behind the Spaniard at his traditional happy hunting ground at Mid-Ohio, Dixon has work to do to assume his traditional position in the team and the standings
The winners and losers of IndyCar 2021 so far
At the halfway point in the 2021 IndyCar Series season, we've had seven winners in eight races, spread between five teams – none of them Team Penske. In this unusual season, even by IndyCar standards, who’s excelling and who’s dragging their heels?
Castroneves: How I kept it under control to make Indy 500 history
Helio Castroneves’ overwhelming vivaciousness outside the cockpit belies a hardcore racer who knows how to plot his moves – and then recall it all. A day after his fourth Indy 500 win, he explained his tactics
How 'chess master' Castroneves cemented his Indy legend status
Helio Castroneves joined AJ Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears with the most Indianapolis 500 wins after edging past Alex Palou on the penultimate lap of a thrilling race that validated Michael Shank's faith in the veteran Brazilian - who is discovering that there is life after Penske after all
