The difference between the pole and Pato O'Ward's starting position in third was 0.0826 seconds in qualifying at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

A close NTT INDYCAR SERIES paddock is nothing new, and it stretched throughout Rounds 1-3 in qualifying today.

Alexander Rossi and Callum Ilott were unable to advance out of Round 1 and will start the race 15th and 16th, respectively.

On Sunday, the Arrow McLaren team will be on track for warmup at 9:10 a.m. ET before the 100-lap race on NBC.

Pato O'Ward, Driver, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

"We're rolling off P3 tomorrow. Inside Row 2 was exactly where we were last year, so it is a great spot to have many options in the race. I’m pretty stoked about that. I think we will be in good shape to do some good things tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it."

Alexander Rossi, Driver, No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

"That was very disappointing, because we had a pretty strong car. I was happy with the changes that we’ve made from yesterday and through the day today. We didn’t get a clear run on the Firestone Alternates, and it is so close that you can’t afford that. So, it is very unfortunate that we are so far back, but I do think the car is pretty strong. We’ll see what we can make of it tomorrow."

Callum Ilott, Driver, No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

"We were eighth in our group, so it’s a bit disappointing not to transfer to the top 12. We’ve learned a lot over the course of the weekend so far, and again, it’s a long race tomorrow. A big thanks to the No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet crew. I’m sure we can squeeze a bit more pace out of it, but it’s been a bit of a learning progression so far. It’s a slightly different car than I had last year and than I’m used to. I’m trying to put everything together, but it’s good and I think we can get there."

Gavin Ward, Team Principal, Arrow McLaren

"I think overall, it is hard to be too happy when you only get one car out of Round 1. That one car got pretty close to putting it on pole, only seven hundredths of a second off of pole position. It was a great job by Chevrolet, who we’ve been working super hard with during the offseason to improve our competitiveness. Street courses were a particular area where we wanted to improve, so it’s great to see a bowtie get the pole here at St. Pete. “I think we have two Chevy cars that can easily race for the win. I'm not writing off our other two cars after just missing out on Round 2, but that’s the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. It’s tight, but racing is where the points are scored. We showed last year that you can make up a lot of ground with a clean race and sound strategies. So, we’ll try to do that tomorrow."

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