Two-time St. Petersburg winner Josef Newgarden became the first driver of the session to make contact with the wall, bending the rear toe-link of his Team Penske-Chevrolet at the exit of Turn 10.
Meanwhile, the Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda team was looking strong in the early minutes of the session with Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson up top with a 1m01.0009, but 15mins in, it was the Arrow McLaren-Chevrolets of Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist in first and third, O’Ward being the first driver down into the 60sec bracket, with a 1m00.9306s.
