Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta are satisfied with their early speed in St. Petersburg after the pair finished first and second fastest in today's first Practice session for Sunday's Grand Prix of St Petersburg.

The season's curtain raiser has started well for Andretti Autosport, with Grosjean leading home Herta to complete an Andretti 1-2 with Will Power the best of the Penske's cars in third.

Both drivers were satisfied with their performances in the opening session, with Grosjean openly admitting to selected media outlets, including Motorlat, that he was saving a little bit of pace for tomorrow's Qualifying session. 

"The car was performing well as we could see. Obviously quite a bit of traffic out there, but nice to put in a lap, and we did a couple of test items to get a read. I think we've got a very, very strong baseline, but I think there's a little bit more to come if we put it all together. Hopefully, we can find that and have fun for the rest of the weekend" Grosjean said.

Herta echoed his teammates' comments as he expressed his surprise at the amount of grip he found around the streets of St. Petersburg.

"It was good. Kind of for me left off or brought it back where we left off from last year with the car. It felt really good in the first session. Surprising amount of grip. No, it was all good for me " He said.

For 2022 IndyCar have modified the rules regarding the push to pass system, with cars that are a lap down now unable to use the system when they are being overtaken.

When asked about the changes made to the push to pass system, Grosjean and Herta held the view that the rule change was unnecessary, with the Frenchman even arguing that series bosses could have gone further.

"I think It makes no difference because they're already a full lap down said, Herta. They're not going to try to stay in front of you. What they should do is do it for when you're about to lap them. So it's not going to -- they're going to let you go. If they're a full lap down to the field, they're not going to defend with Push-to-Pass and make a hard time, but they will if they're about to go one lap down " replied Grosjean.

"Yeah, (the) first time I heard about the rules, I thought it was if you were going to lap down a car that he was going to have his Push-to-Pass disabled to fight the leader, but no, it's if you are eligible for a command (the) blue flag, which anywhere there's a blue flag you have to let by. So yeah, I wish they had pushed it a little bit further, but it is what it is."

Power was the most vocal, arguing that the rule would ruin several drivers' races when the system is activated as a driver is about to be lapped by the leaders.

"Every single driver in that meeting except for maybe one or two said we should enforce the blue flag when you're coming around to lap the back of the field. We should do something about it. So what does that mean when all the drivers say that? Nothing? Because clearly, it doesn't "  Power stated.

"Yes, that would be really great if they did that on the lap that -- not when you have to be down a lap from the whole field. It's kind of ridiculous. At that point, it's the end of the day for that guy, and they usually let you go anyway. It's more the guys at the back of the train trying to stay on the lead lap. I think they're trying to work" it out. I think they want to do that. I just don't know whether they have the ability yet with the system."