Long Beach EL1 – O'Ward fastest, Pourchaire 21st

O'Ward finished the session at the top of the timesheet ahead of Will Power (Penske), Scott McLaughlin (Penske), Felix Rosenqvist (Meyer Shank) and the championship leader (Penske). Two red flags interrupted the session, both caused by rookie Kyffin Simpson (Ganassi), who spun.

Theo Pourchaire was able to make his debut in IndyCar, with 35 laps completed, and a final 21st place, one and a half seconds behind his teammate Pato O'Ward. The Frenchman was also able to test the soft tires, with green sidewalls. The champion of F2 title must get into the swing of things very quickly, with just one more session before qualifying tomorrow.

The format of this first session was quite unusual, with the first 45 minutes contested with all 27 cars on track. The peloton was then split into two groups, each given ten minutes of track time. The rookies, like Pourchaire, were able to participate in the running of the two groups, in order to give them more track time and acclimatization.

Romain Grosjean had a more complicated session in terms of speed over one lap, with 19th position, seven tenths behind his teammate Agustin Canapino. The Juncos Hollinger Racing driver was only able to complete 14 laps of the Californian street circuit.

The weekend continues with Free Practice 2, this Saturday from 17:25 p.m. French time.

Long Beach, Free Practice 1 – Ranking