Colton Herta sat in the pits with a technical problem Saturday morning in the opening minutes of practice for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding, but he overcame the gremlins to lead the session.

Herta turned a top lap of 1 minute, .1331 of a second in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Global. He spent the first few minutes of the 45-minute session with an apparent electrical problem in his car. Herta was eighth in Friday practice at 1:00.9937.

SEE: Practice Results

Up next today is NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2 p.m. ET (live, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network). Live coverage of the 100-lap race starts at noon ET Sunday on NBC, Peacock, Universo and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Josef Newgarden was second at 1:00.3872 in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. His teammate and fellow two-time series champion, Will Power, was third at 1:00.4101 in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet, a jump of one position from Friday’s practice.

Pato O’Ward, second Friday, slipped to fourth at 1:00.5789 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Romain Grosjean continued his strong debut with Juncos Hollinger Racing, climbing to fifth at 1:00.6033 in the team’s No. 77 Chevrolet.

Kyle Kirkwood’s session ended about 20 minutes early when the right rear wheel of his No. 27 AutoNation Honda fielded by Andretti Global clipped one of the concrete barriers lining the 14-turn, 1.8-mile temporary street circuit. The impact bent the rear suspension of the car.