Patricio O’Ward will start on pole position for the first race of the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Detroit doubleheader race weekend. The Arrow McLaren SP driver narrowly bested Andretti Autosport‘s Alexander Rossi and Dale Coyne Racing‘s Romain Grosjean to take the top spot for the race later today. Meanwhile, O’Ward’s fellow championship contenders – including Scott Dixon, Rinus VeeKay and championship-leader Alex Palou – will all start deep in the field.
A slightly altered qualifying format would be used due to the packed schedule at Belle Isle, with IndyCar sharing the venue with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Indy Lights and more. Qualifying would comprise of just two rounds instead of the usual three. The first round would see the field split into two groups, with the fastest six drivers from each group advancing into the second session. From there, the remaining twelve drivers would compete for pole position instead of advancing to a final session for the top six as is normally the case.
The opening ten-minute session for the first qualifying group would see many laps completed. The drivers knew from Friday’s practice that the faster, alternate tyres could take as many as four laps to get up to peak grip. The fastest time from practice would quickly be eclipsed, with Alexander Rossi setting the pace with a 1:15.8507; eight tenths quicker than second-placed Romain Grosjean.
The final moments of the first group saw potential drama for the practice pace-setter, Will Power. The Penske driver narrowly avoided being disastrously eliminated in the opening round, but his final lap was good enough to jump above the cut-line by just three-thousandths of a second. James Hinchcliffe would be the unfortunate driver who was just on the outside looking in.
Also eliminated in group one would be Conor Daly, Jack Harvey and three of the four Chip Ganassi Racing cars. Championship-leader Alex Palou could only manage the eleventh best time of the session and will start deep in the field. His task had already been made difficult enough by a six-place grid penalty for his engine change prior to the Indianapolis 500, but starting right at the back will make race one even trickier. Team-mates Marcus Ericsson and Jimmie Johnson would also be eliminated.
In group two, Penske’s Josef Newgarden would beat Rossi’s benchmark to top his session with a 1:15.6606. He was a couple of tenths quicker than Colton Herta and the impressive Ed Jones for Dale Coyne Racing.
Elsewhere, Scott Dixon would just about advance to the final session in sixth-place, with Felix Rosenqvist, Graham Rahal, Santino Ferrucci, Max Chilton and Scott McLaughlin being eliminated. For McLaughlin, his tough weekend continues after losing the lion share of his practice time after crashing his #3 Penske Chevrolet. He will be hoping to use the Saturday race to build experience of the Belle Isle circuit prior to Sunday’s second half of the double-header.
In the final session to determine pole position, most of the drivers would get three consecutive laps on the red tyres to try and take the top spot. Grosjean would take the provisional pole with around a minute left to run, but his lap would be beaten by Patricio O’Ward, who would set the fastest time of the weekend with a 1:15.5776.
Alexander Rossi would come close and would slip O’Ward and Grosjean in second-place. But one more driver was tracking to at least be within a shot of pole position. That would be Will Power, but just like he did in qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, Power would tag the outside wall. This time, however, he would knock the toe out of the left-rear, thus ending his lap as he crawled back to the pits.
No one else would be able to go any quicker, thus putting Arrow McLaren SP‘s Patricio O’Ward on pole position in the #5 Chevrolet. Rossi and Grosjean will line-up in second and third respectively, with Grosjean putting in a standout performance after only having driven this track for the first time in yesterday’s hour-long practice session.
Ed Jones backed up team-mate Grosjean to take fourth place in a strong showing for Dale Coyne. Josef Newgarden will line up in fifth-place ahead of Colton Herta; who finally managed to get his #26 Andretti Autosport Honda dialled in after several off-track excursions yesterday.
Will Power will start seventh after his dramatic end to qualifying. Former Detroit winner Ryan Hunter-Reay will start eighth ahead of Simon Pagenaud and Sebastien Bourdais. The final session wouldn’t quite go to plan for championship contender Scott Dixon, who pitted prior to the end of the session. He will start right in the midfield in eleventh place, with fellow contender Rinus VeeKay starting twelfth; the final driver who made it through to the final session.
The first race of the Detroit doubleheader weekend will take place later today at 14:00 ET / 19:00 BST. A second qualifying session and race will take place tomorrow.
Grand Prix of Detroit Race one Qualifying results:
POS. | NO. | DRIVER | NAT. | TEAM | TIME |
1 | 5 | Patricio O’Ward | MEX | Arrow McLaren SP | 1:15.5776 |
2 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | USA | Andretti Autosport | 1:15.6584 |
3 | 51 | Romain Grosjean (R) | FRA | Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware | 1:15.7433 |
4 | 18 | Ed Jones | UAE | Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan | 1:15.8119 |
5 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | USA | Team Penske | 1:15.8697 |
6 | 26 | Colton Herta | USA | Andretti Autosport | 1:16.0832 |
7 | 12 | Will Power | AUS | Team Penske | 1:16.0877 |
8 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | USA | Andretti Autosport | 1:16.1293 |
9 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | FRA | Team Penske | 1:16.6606 |
10 | 14 | Sebastien Bourdais | FRA | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 1:17.4333 |
11 | 9 | Scott Dixon | NZL | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:17.8680 |
12 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | NET | Ed Carpenter Racing | 1:17.8776 |
13 | 29 | James Hinchcliffe | CAN | Andretti Autosport | 1:17.0691 |
14 | 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | SWE | Arrow McLaren SP | 1:16.4620 |
15 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | SWE | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:17.1579 |
16 | 30 | Takuma Sato | JAP | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 1:16.4713 |
17 | 20 | Conor Daly | USA | Ed Carpenter Racing | 1:17.2904 |
18 | 59 | Max Chilton | GBR | Carlin | 1:16.6093 |
19 | 60 | Jack Harvey | GBR | Meyer Shank Racing | 1:17.4180 |
20 | 15 | Graham Rahal | USA | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 1:16.6694 |
21 | 10 | Alex Palou* | ESP | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:17.5190 |
22 | 45 | Santino Ferrucci | USA | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 1:16.6880 |
23 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson (R) | USA | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:19.0944 |
24 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin (R) | NZL | Team Penske | 1:17.5569 |
25 | 4 | Dalton Kellett | CAN | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 1:19.0998 |
(R) – Rookie. * – Alex Palou will start last due to a six-place grid penalty for an engine change prior to the Indianapolis 500.