The Arrow McLaren NTT INDYCAR SERIES team had a difficult season opening day at the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg presented by RP Funding on Friday with Pato O’Ward in the No.5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet ending the day P11 with a time of 01:02.0177s and speaking following the session where he completed 23 laps he said:
“I’m very happy with the car. The team did a fantastic job on all the pre-event stuff to arrive with a way better baseline than what we’ve had in the years past. Some guys put on some new tires there in the end, but we didn’t. I’m very happy with it. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Felix Rosenqvist in the No.6 NTT DATA Chevrolet ended the day in P15 with a time of 01:02.1094s and completed 26 laps. Speaking following the action, he commented saying:
”I think we had a good start. It’s kind of hard to read into the times because a lot of people changed their tires. We decided to save our tires for tomorrow, only using the one set we started with. We put up really competitive times even after 20-25 laps, so I’m really optimistic. I thought the feeling of the car was good. Being the first race of the year, it’s all about how you feel about being back in the car and on a street course. I think everything felt natural, and I have a really good feeling going into the weekend.”
Alexander Rossi, who took part in his first practice session with Arrow McLaren in the No,7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, ended the session in 21st place with a time of 01:02.4616s and speaking following the action he commented saying:
”It was a tough afternoon. There are a lot of differences for me, obviously, but the track seems to be a little bit unpredictable based on everyone’s comments compared to last year. It’s not quite the start we wanted, but we have plenty of time left.”
Arrow McLaren Racing Director Gavin Ward commented saying:
“It was a really solid day, to be honest. It was a solid first session for the team. It seems like a lot of cars ran a second set of tires, and we didn’t. We’re trying to set ourselves up for the best place for qualifying. Pato and Felix seem pretty happy. And Rossi, we’ve got a little work to do there and dig in, but that’s to be expected. Him being new to the team, there’s a little more to figure out in that world. I don’t think it’s dire days by any means. We need to find a couple tenths, and we’ll be right there.”