The opening practice session at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix delivered excitement and close competition as reigning race winner Alex Palou topped the leaderboard. Palou, driving the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, recorded a blistering lap time of 1m01.721s, securing the first position among the 27 drivers on Friday.

Palou was closely followed by Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward, who clocked a time of 1m01.731s in his No. 5 Honda. Andretti Global's Colton Herta joined them on the same tenth, finishing with a lap time of 1m01.796s in the No. 26 Honda, rounding out the top three.

Expressing his satisfaction with the car's performance, Palou mentioned that the track had a lot more grip compared to last year. He also highlighted the significant improvement in lap times, with the drivers going almost two seconds faster than in the previous season's opening practice session.

However, the session was not without incidents. Two drivers encountered contact with the walls during the lone outing. Marcus Ericsson of Andretti Autosport suffered damage to his right-rear wheel and suspension after hitting the Turn 7 wall, forcing his early withdrawal from the session. Dale Coyne Racing's Jack Harvey also had a collision with the Turn 7 walls, damaging the right-front suspension of his No. 18 Honda.

Fortunately, both drivers emerged unscathed from the incidents, with Harvey acknowledging his mistake and apologizing to his team for the incident.

As the practice session got underway, Colton Herta took an early lead with a lap time of 1m03.0s, only to be surpassed by Palou, who set a new benchmark with a time of 1m02.6s. Herta fought back with a lap time of 1m02.097s. The running order of Herta, Palou, and Scott McLaughlin prevailed for a significant portion of the session until Will Power and McLaughlin improved their lap times to secure second and third, respectively.

In the latter part of the practice session, Christian Lundgaard stormed into the mix, claiming the fourth position, followed by Palou in fifth. Marcus Ericsson, despite his earlier mishap, managed to secure the sixth spot on the leaderboard.

The session also witnessed numerous drivers exploring the limits of the track, resulting in several visits to the runoff areas. Contact between Josef Newgarden and Kyle Kirkwood caused light damage to Newgarden's car, while Christian Rasmussen's stall led to a temporary red flag.

Despite the interruptions and challenges faced by the drivers, the session was overall clean and provided valuable insights for qualifying and the upcoming race.

The second practice session saw further competitive performances, with Pato O'Ward recording the second-fastest lap time of 1m01.7315s, closely trailing Palou. Santino Ferrucci made an impressive leap to claim the seventh position, while Herta secured fourth.

With the opening practice session complete, the drivers will now look forward to refining their strategies and improving their performance as they prepare for the qualifying rounds and the highly anticipated Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.