2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Arrow McLaren Practice Report

Streets of St. Petersburg

Practice Date: Friday, March 3

Round: 1/17

Total laps: 100 Laps

Total race distance: 180 miles/289.68 km

Length: 1.8 miles/2.90 km

Number of turns: 14

Session start times:

• Practice 2: Saturday, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. ET
• Qualifying: Saturday, 2:15 – 3:30 p.m. ET
• Warm-Up: Sunday, 9:00 – 9:30 a.m. ET
• Green Flag: Sunday, 12:30 p.m. ET

TUNE IN: Sunday, 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

Practice 1: 11th, 01:02.0177

Total Laps: 23

“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, No. 6  NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 

Practice 1: 15th, 01:02.1094

Total Laps: 26

”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, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet 

Practice 1: 21st, 01:02.4616

Total Laps: 22

”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.”

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Gavin Ward, Race Director, Arrow McLaren

“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.”