Twenty-five NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers got their first look at the new street circuit in Markham, Ontario on Saturday morning, learning the nuances of the 12-turn, 2.19-mile layout that was a day late in showing its Canadian colors.

Series points leader and reigning season champion Alex Palou paced the hour-long first practice, posting a lap of 1 minute, 14.9915 seconds. Series rookie Caio Collet of AJ Foyt Racing was second at 1:15.0454. Times are expected to improve with each lap on track.

SEE: Practice Results

The next chance to take the track is at 2:30 p.m. ET, with a live broadcast on FS1. Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award is at 6:30 p.m., with the first 30 minutes airing on FOX One and FS2 joining at 7 p.m.

Palou described a track with varying highlights. He said the Turn 1-2 sequence is “a bit scary but super fun at the same time” while the loop at Turn 5 is effectively one lane. The long, uphill run to Turn 6 is very fast. The result of the recent total repaving of the circuit has led to physical conditions, Palou said.

“We’re not used to having a street circuit where you have such good (track surface) and it’s so grippy,” he said. “It’s like you’re on a road course with walls looking at you. So, very fun honestly.”

Drivers said the challenges of learning not only a new circuit but one that was repaved since it was scanned for simulator testing are immense – and that fact they have one day to figure it out makes it all the more so.

“You try to understand what might be similar to other street circuits and try to set up around that and just learn as much as possible,” said Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, who has won five of his six series races on street circuits. “But it’s a tight day given that we have (two practices within) four and a half hours. That’s not a lot of time to really look at everything.

“We have hundreds of sensors … to look at on one of these race cars, and it’s not enough time to do all that, so we’ll just pick the big things out of it and roll with them punches. It’s going to be a stressful day for everybody, whether you’re fast or slow.”

Kirkwood was 12th on the speed chart in the first practice.

There were a few brief stoppages in the opening practice. The first was for the late Turn 4 spin without contact of Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson. Later, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson hit the Turn 6 wall with his car’s left rear corner, with enough damage to end his session.

Before the field was split for the final 30 minutes of the practice, Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong saw his car hit the bump approaching Turn 10 and spin into the tire barrier, where the contact was light.

During the split-group part of the session, Team Penske’s David Malukas, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward drove harmlessly into run-off areas of corners. Dale Coyne Racing rookie Dennis Hauger had slight contact, and Power lightly touched the wall in another close moment.

Simpson described the circuit as “great.”

“It’s tough, it’s twisty, but it’s also very fast in sections,” he said. “So, it’s going to be a very difficult track to learn and get right.”