Qualifications are underway for the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500, and those who went out on track first are currently sitting with a healthy advantage.
Following a miserable day fighting gusty winds on Friday, drivers and teams weren’t expecting the track to feel as good as it did early in the qualifying order.
That order was chosen by random draw, and those that were allowed to run first ended up with a large advantage that others were not afforded.
Felix Rosenqvist was the fourth driver to hit the track, and his Arrow McLaren SP team left too much downforce on the car. That left him with a comfortable, but relatively slow car.
“I think it was a bit too easy of a run,” Rosenqvist told Motorsport Week just after the run. “We could have probably trimmed a bit more and could have nailed our gear ratio a bit better.
“We had a bit hit on the rev-limiter on the third lap, which was kind of weird. Have to look at that. Probably cost us one mile-per-hour on that lap. Kind of disappointed with it, but for the moment it looks like we’re sitting somewhat comfortable.”
The conditions were so much better for his run than others behind him, that Rosenqvist remained in third place through the first time through the field.
Romain Grosjean ran directly after as the fourth driver of the day, and was similarly disappointed that he didn’t attempt a lower-downforce qualifying run despite logging a lap good enough to beat most that came after him.
“It was easier than I thought it would be,” said Grosjean. “The conditions were very nice and gentle to us. We played it too conservative to be honest. We had too much downforce on the car. It felt good, but I don’t think it’s good enough for the fast 12.”
After an hour of running, the sun began to pop through the clouds and the track temperature rose quickly. Immediately, the speeds fell for those that had the misfortune of running later in the order.
The only hope drivers that drew a later qualifying number have to advance to tomorrow Fast 12 session is to get a second run in when cooler temperatures return just before rain arrives later in the afternoon.
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