2020 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – Practice & Qualifying Report

|Photographer: Taylor Robbins|Event: Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg|Circuit: Streets of St Petersburg|Location: St Petersburg, Florida|Series: NTT IndyCar Series|Country: United States|Session: FP1|Season: 2020|Team: Arrow McLaren SP|Car: Dallara DW12 UAK18|Car: Chevrolet|Number: 5|Driver: Patricio O’Ward|
2020 Firestone Grand Prix of St. PetersburgPractice & Qualifying Report
Streets of St. Petersburg – St. Petersburg, FL 
Date: Sunday, October 15 
Round: 14/14 
Race Laps: 100 
Race Total Distance: 180 miles/289.68 km 
Track Length: 1.8 miles/2.9 km 
Number of turns: 14 
Session start times: 
Practice: Saturday, 10:55 a.m. – 12:25 p.m. ET
Qualifying: Saturday, 3:05 – 4:20 p.m. ET
Warm-Up: Sunday, 10:40 – 11:10 a.m. ET
Green Flag: Sunday, 2:32 p.m. ET
TUNE IN: Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC
Pato O’Ward – No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
Practice: 17th, 1:01.8724
Qualifying: 6th, 1:01.7725
Starting Position: 6th 
“The practice wasn’t great for us but we made our way back to the front part of the field during qualifying. The No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet is starting on the third row so we can try and win the race from there. It’s going to be tough to pass and pit stop windows aren’t going to be as big as they used to be, because the race is ten laps shorter. I think if we have a good, consistent race and good pit stops, we should be in contention in the end.”
Oliver Askew – No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
Practice: 13th, 1:01.7222
Qualifying: 10th, 1:00.9772
Starting Position: 10th 
“I haven’t been in an Indy car in a bit over a month, so I was a bit rusty. But it was great to be back here at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Big shoutout to everyone at INDYCAR and Green Savoree for making this event happen. To have it as a season finale is pretty incredible. It’s a home race for me, and I’ll have some family out here tomorrow that I hope to put on a good show for them and Arrow McLaren SP in my final race.”
Taylor Kiel
Managing Director, Arrow McLaren SP
“It was a good day for Arrow McLaren SP. First of all, getting Oliver back in the car was big for us and big for him. I’m really happy that he was able to get back in the car for his home race. In terms of performance, it was really tight out there. Everybody is quick. We are just trying to get up to the front end. Pato did a great job to get into the Firestone Racing Fast Six but made a mistake in Turn 1 on his flying lap. Those things happen and we will start P6. Oliver was really close to getting out of Round Two but didn’t quite get there. All in all, good day for us and we will look to race forward.” 

Gil de Ferran Sporting Director, McLaren Racing

“Starting with Oliver, this was his second best qualifying of the season, so this has been a really positive comeback weekend so far for him.  On Pato’s side, it was great to get into the fast six, it demonstrates well how competitive he has been. We rolled the dice and he tried hard to get into the front row, but unfortunately it didn’t work out.  Looking at the times, you can see how competitive the IndyCar field is.  Regardless, both guys are in good starting positions to be able to run a competitive race.  Execute is the word!  Looking forward to the usual exciting show St Pete provides in front of local loyal fans!”