Reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou led a 15-car IndyCar test in Sebring, with less than a second separating the entire field.
Palou debuted a new livery on his Ganassi bike for the 2019 season, which begins in St. Petersburg next week. He recorded a best lap time of 52.0883 seconds on the Florida road circuit.
“Nowadays we don’t get as many test days as we would like,” said Palou, who completed 70 laps. “We would always like to have a lot of test days; it’s more crucial now because we’re only a week and a half away from St. Petersburg.
“We want to go over a lot of the engineering list that we’ve been thinking about this offseason. We won’t have enough time, but it’s a chance for the drivers, crew, and team to get together and brainstorm ideas for St. Petersburg.”
Christian Lundgaard was second fastest for RLL, less than two hundredths of a second behind the two-time champion. Josef Newgarden, Palou’s 2023 title opponent, finished third for Penske, less than a tenth of a second behind Palou.
Drivers will have a lighter IndyCar chassis for the first races of the year, as the Dallara DW12 has undergone a weight reduction campaign in preparation for the inclusion of hybrid power units later this year.
“I don’t think the cars are going to be crazy-different but they’re slightly lighter, lap times will probably reflect that just marginally,” Newgarden said in an interview. “Don’t expect a big jump, but there will be some performance there.
“I believe everyone is preparing for the season of two halves. You’ll start the year in one shape, and then it’ll be about adjusting to the hybrid transformation. That is something I believe everyone is thinking about.
“We have to be strong at the start of the season and strong when we adapt to the hybrid system, and that is the challenge in racing. You’re constantly handed challenges, and that’s going to be the biggest one this year.”
