Palou fastest as Rosenqvist signs off at Laguna Seca
Five-time champion Alex Palou posted a 1:09.8994 to top FP1 at Laguna Seca, with Rosenqvist and O'Ward behind him, and a GT3 rumour growing off the back of it.
Alex Palou arrived at Laguna Seca with a fifth IndyCar title already in the bag, and he responded exactly as you would expect from someone who treats this place like a private test track. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver topped opening practice on Friday with a lap of 1:09.8994, the fastest time in the opening 90-minute session of the 2026 Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey weekend.
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Palou at Laguna Seca: a track that does what he tells it
The five-time champion posted that 1:09.8994 and needed only 14 laps to do it. That is not a driver easing into a season finale. That is a driver who knows this circuit better than most and sees no reason to be polite about it.
Palou has turned Laguna Seca into his personal property in IndyCar. In five starts, he has never finished worse than third, has won three times, and captured each of the last two poles. Friday was entirely in keeping with that record, and it will concern the rest of the grid deeply.
His 2026 scorecard shows six race wins and eight poles, clinching his fourth consecutive title and fifth in six years. That fourth straight title ties the series record set by Sebastien Bourdais between 2004 and 2007, and gives Palou five championships in six seasons.
The championship table behind him is still very much alive
The title is long decided. What is not decided is who finishes second, and that race-within-a-race gives Sunday real teeth.
Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard enters the weekend holding second in the championship, but only by the slimmest of margins. Lundgaard leads Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood by two points, with teammate Pato O’Ward sitting just four points behind Lundgaard after a torrid late-season charge.
O’Ward was third, 0.2770 seconds from Palou’s benchmark, with Scott McLaughlin fourth. Hot off a double win in Milwaukee, O’Ward’s pace on Friday only strengthened his status as one of the favourites going into qualifying. Three drivers separated by four points, one race remaining. That subplot alone is worth the price of admission.
Rinus VeeKay, too, still has something to play for. The Juncos Hollinger Racing driver could overtake Rosenqvist in the standings if he outscores him by 16 points at Laguna Seca.
Rosenqvist signs off from Meyer Shank with a statement lap
Felix Rosenqvist was second quickest in the opening session, and this is the final race weekend of his time with Meyer Shank Racing before he moves on to Arrow McLaren. He finished 0.0913 seconds behind Palou. That gap is tight enough to mean something.
Prior to the action getting underway, Meyer Shank Racing confirmed that Mick Schumacher will take Rosenqvist’s seat for 2027. Friday opened Rosenqvist’s final race weekend in Meyer Shank colours before he joins Arrow McLaren. He chose not to go quietly.
The Verstappen GT3 rumour that will not go away
There is a subplot circling Palou that has nothing to do with oval circuits or IndyCar points. Reports have linked Max Verstappen to the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup finale at Portimao, scheduled for October 16 to 18, a window that sits between the Singapore and United States Grands Prix, making it logistically possible without missing an F1 race weekend.
Palou is one of the names being linked with Verstappen Racing for that event. Like the Verstappen reports themselves, it remains a rumour at this stage, with nothing confirmed. Neither Palou nor Verstappen has said anything publicly to confirm it, and Mercedes has not committed to an entry. A spokesperson would say only that the manufacturer is assessing its options for Portimao.
Verstappen is said to have expressed a personal preference for Palou as the third driver in the car, though whether that wish will be granted remains unclear. The Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 is currently shared by Dani Juncadella, Jules Gounon and Chris Lulham in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. Juncadella and Gounon have WEC commitments on that same weekend, which is what opens the door.
What makes the pairing genuinely compelling, beyond the obvious star power, is the timing. Palou will be free the moment Sunday’s chequered flag falls at Laguna Seca. A champion with nothing left to prove in 2026, available for a GT3 seat alongside the most talked-about crossover racer in the world.
Verstappen said in 2025 that GT3 driving feels 2,000 times better than Formula 1, which tells you where his head is. Whether Palou ends up in the car at Portimao is another question entirely.
Qualifying at Laguna Seca takes place on Saturday. Keep up with every session result and the final standings on our Alex Palou driver profile page.
