Marco Andretti remains cautious about his hopes for the Indianapolis 500 after claiming top spot on the opening day of practice on Monday at the famed oval circuit.
The Andretti Autosport driver set the fastest lap of the day of 39.3051s, which is just under the 229mph barrier, as the American driver revealed the team were working ahead of schedule due to the weather forecast for later in the week indicating limited running due to rain.
This meant that all five of the Andretti driver were inside the top six, with Carlos Munoz second, Ryan Hunter-Reay third, Alexander Rossi fourth and Townsend Bell sixth.
Andretti knows that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has a habit of changing characteristics during practice, and the set-up on one day may not work to the same level the next day.
“As a team, because of weather, we kind of accelerated our program and moved some things forward that we had planned for the end of the week,” said Andretti. “I think that’s why we look pretty stout right now.
“By Fast Friday you’ll see things where they really pan out across the field. I’m pretty happy with the behavior of the Snapple car but there’s some work to do still.
“The thing about this track is, you can be on top one day and then have to completely start over the next.”
