Alex Palou tops IndyCar practice 1 at Sonsio GP - See full results

Alex Palou asserted his dominance in the IndyCar field yet again at the Sonsio IndyCar Grand Prix weekend. The Spaniard topped the first practice session of the race weekend before the grid splits up into two to get in the groove for the qualifying simulation.

The first practice session of the IndyCar Grand Prix weekend showcased a variety of colors. Chip Ganassi Racing got off to an early lead, but not with the team's usual driver Palou, as Kyffin Simpson was the early timing charts leader.

Meanwhile, a tinge of chaos was happening in the background. PREMA Racing's Robert Shwartzman made an off-track venture; while Andretti's Marcus Ericsson became the first one to make contact with IMS' walls.

Despite the small incursions, the session was sailing smoothly. However, Alex Palou came in to take over the top spot in the final few minutes of the primary phase of the session before Rinus VeeKay came to a halt on track, bringing out a red flag.

The standings then remained the same as drivers ventured out for a mere five minutes before the drivers were split up into two groups. The two groups were formed to help decongest the grid and help teams get a better reading for the qualifying lineups ahead.

Despite the field being divided into two, Alex Palou retained the top spot on the leaderboard. He posted in a time of 1:09:9790, almost a tenth faster than his teammate Simpson.

On the other hand, the second group headed out and was unable to break into the 1:09s. Alexander Rossi led the second group, fending off heavyweights like Will Power and Colton Herta.

Moreover, the following are the results for the 27-car grid during the first practice session at IMS' road course:

1. #10 Alex Palou - 1:09:979
2. #8 Kyffin Simpson - 1:10:0677
3. #45 Louis Foster - 1:10:1235
4. #14 Santino Ferrucci - 1:10:1545
5. #6 Nolan Siegel - 1:10:1730
6. #7 Christian Lundgaard - 1:10:1853
7. #5 Pato O'Ward - 1:10:2590
8. #27 Kyle Kirkwood - 1:10:3081
9. #20 Alexander Rossi - 01:10.3228
10. #26 Colton Herta - 01:10.3755
11. #12 Will Power - 01:10.4658
12. #15 Graham Rahal - 01:10.4916
13. #60 Felix Rosenqvist - 01:10.5535
14. #9 Scott Dixon - 01:10.5820
15. #28 Marcus Ericsson - 01:10.6333
16. #4 David Malukas - 01:10.6559
17. #76 Conor Daly - 01:10.7131
18. #77 Sting Ray Robb - 01:10.7146
19. #66 Marcus Armstrong - 01:10.7457
20. #3 Scott McLaughlin - 01:10.7999
21. #21 Christian Rasmussen - 01:10.8290
22. #2 Josef Newgarden - 01:10.8655
23. #90 Callum Ilott - 01:11.0063
24. #30 Devlin DeFrancesco - 01:11.0288
25. #51 Jacob Abel - 01:11.0291
26. #18 Rinus VeeKay - 01:11.0528
27. #83 Robert Shwartzman - 01:18.3410

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Alex Palou shares the details on how to ace IMS' road course for the IndyCar Grand Prix

Alex Palou at the NTT IndyCar Series Sonsio Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Alex Palou's strong pace put forth the possibility of the Spaniard leading the IndyCar Grand Prix at Sonsio. Moreover, he has emerged victorious at the road course layout for the past two years, showcasing his strengths around the track.

Talking about how to ace IMS' road course and the way to make way up the grid, the CGR driver said (via NTT IndyCar Series):

"You have some moments where you're saving fuel and you're getting attacked, and there's not much you can do when you're on track, and there's other phases of the race where you can just go crazy and try and get good lap times and start passing cars." (0:27 onwards)

"Here's that chicane that I was talking about where you need to take full curbs. You need to cut the track as much as possible. It's not a place to overtake. Unless, obviously, there's an issue with another car. And then we get here, I would say it's the last overtaking spot together with this turn 12 where there's some moments, where if the car in front of you is struggling... you can overtake them," Palou added.

Palou led home a 1-2 for CGR at the first practice session, meanwhile, veteran Scott Dixon finished the session in 14th.