IndyCar Toronto: Rossi leads Pagenaud in opening practice

Following an incident-packed Mid-Ohio round, in which he was involved in tangles with team-mates Romain Grosjean and Devlin deFrancesco, Rossi stormed to the fastest time on the Toronto street track with a 1m00.609s lap that was 0.090s quicker than Meyer-Shank Racing's Pagenaud.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Graham Rahal was also within a tenth of the outright pace in third, with championship leader Marcus Ericsson (Chip Ganassi Racing) and two-time Toronto winner Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) completing the top five.

Amid his contract wrangling between current employer CGR and prospective future employer McLaren Racing, Toronto circuit debutante and reigning champion Alex Palou was tenth.

The Spaniard was the first driver into the 1m01s bracket, trimming his initial 1m01.839s lap to a 1m01.478s around the 1.786-mile circuit. Two-time Toronto pole-winner Will Power then delivered a 1m01.324s to go top for Team Penske before Rossi edged ahead by 0.017s.

With 42 minutes remaining in the session, Arrow McLaren SP's Felix Rosenqvist vaulted into first by just 0.005s, right before the red flag flew for an inspection of a drain cover at Turn 2.

A second red flag followed when Juncos Holinger driver Callum Ilott struck the wall at Turn 1, moments after 2009 polewinner Rahal went quickest with a 1m01.218s effort.

After Jimmie Johnson spun his CGR machine while trying his softer Firestone alternate compound tyres, a flurry of laptimes followed on the 'red' tyres.

Pagenaud's team-mate Helio Castroneves was the first to make it count, moving into second place behind Rahal, before Palou went fastest with a 1m01.137s effort and team-mate Scott Dixon slotted into second.

Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, Patricio