ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Felix Rosenqvist has a point to prove.
Five years ago, he was on the verge of becoming IndyCar’s newest star as a rookie driver at Chip Ganassi Racing.
It was the 2019 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Rosenqvist started third and finished fourth in Ganassi’s No. 10 NTT Data Honda. He led 33 laps in the race before Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden took charge for the victory.
It looked like Rosenqvist’s star was on the rise. He scored his first career IndyCar win in 2020 in the second race of a doubleheader at Road America on July 12, battling a young rookie from Dale Coyne Racing named Alex Palou.
At the end of that season, Rosenqvist left Ganassi and joined Arrow McLaren as CEO Zak Brown was building his NTT IndyCar Series operation. But seven races into his relationship at Arrow McLaren, Rosenqvist was injured in a crash at Detroit’s Belle Isle.
He missed two races before returning to action at Mid-Ohio, but was quickly surpassed by teammate Pato O’Ward.
He finished 21st in the final IndyCar standings in 2021 but battled back to ninth in the standings during a winless 2022. It took a strong finish to the end of the season for Rosenqvist to retain his ride as Arrow McLaren expanded to three cars for 2023 with the addition of Alexander Rossi joining the operation from Andretti Global.
By the end of 2023, Rosenqvist was out at Arrow McLaren and found a new home at Meyer Shank Racing.
With Simon Pagenaud unable to continue his racing career because of lingering effects from an injury at Mid-Ohio on July 1, and Helio Castroneves moving into an ownership role, Rosenqvist would become the veteran driver on the team owned by Michael Shank and Jim Meyer.
Teamed with rookie driver Tom Blomqvist, Rosenqvist is now the veteran driver.
It’s safe to say Rosenqvist can’t be overlooked or underappreciated in his surroundings.
That is why he is out to prove a point in 2024. The driver from Sweden wasted little time by posting the fastest speed in Friday’s opening practice session to the new NTT IndyCar Series season.
He raced around the 13-turn, 1.8-mile street course in St. Petersburg at 1:00.3390 at a speed of 107.393 mph in the No. 60 SiriusXM/AutoNation Honda.
Rosenqvist Finds Groove With MSR During St. Pete Practice
Five years to the day that Rosenqvist started the 2019 season with so much promise and potential, he managed to show that he is fast as ever.
“It feels like ages ago, to be honest,” Rosenqvist recalled. “I was definitely in a different place personally, professionally. Yeah, different person probably back then. I think I was a bit immature at the time. Even if I had a lot of experience, I was immature in terms of IndyCar and the challenge that it was.
“It was a big learning curve even if I started off really well. It was super tough to compete with these guys and all the different kinds of tracks and stuff. It’s nice to look back. I feel like I’ve taken a lot of steps since then. I feel more calm, less pressured, and just kind of more in harmony with the series and my team and everything. Yeah, hopefully we can just keep building.
“Every year everyone gets better. Scott Dixon and Will Power and these guys are showing. The level just steps up every year. You have to work hard in the winter and try to close every gap you can.”
Following Friday’s practice session, Will Power said, “Felix is on another planet out there.”
Power was fourth in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet for Team Penske at 1:00.8409 (106.507 mph).
Rosenqvist has settled in on his new team and adapted to his veteran leadership role rather nicely.
“A really smooth start for us,” he said. “I would say I haven’t had a bunch of running this winter, so I think we’ve been feeling confident coming here, but also unsure how we’re going to stack up when everyone is out there pushing.
“I’m a little bit relieved actually and a little bit surprised as well. I thought we were going to be good, but not as quick straight away, but obviously I think it’s still early days, and everyone is going to improve a lot. We’re going to try to see if we can keep that gap ahead. So far so good.”
A change of scenery on a new racing team is working out for Rosenqvist — a highly-acclaimed driver from Europe who is well-liked in the paddock but seems to suffer from hard luck from time to time.
He hopes to make the most of his new opportunity at Meyer Shank.
“It’s just been really nice to come to Meyer Shank Racing,” Rosenqvist said. “It’s been a super easy transition both with people and the car, which is nice. I think it’s also no secret when I went to McLaren it was a big learning curve with the car. Obviously, I was a bit worried that it was going to be the same here, but it’s been the direct opposite.
“It clicked from lap one pretty much. With the amount of testing we have, that’s very important because you don’t have time to try to learn the car. I’m really happy about that.
“The team has been super, super nice. It’s obviously a smaller group, which is good I think because it’s just so much easier to get to know everyone and get up to speed quickly. Yeah, super good.”
Overlooked and underappreciated has been the story of Rosenqvist’s IndyCar career. But he has time to turn it around and made a step in the right direction on Friday.
“I don’t look back at my five years with any regrets or anything,” he said. “I want to be teammates with the quickest guys, and I think I’ve been with some of the absolute quickest guys for sure, which has taught me a lot.
“Obviously, a little bit of different scenario now. I have to take that leader role obviously a bit more. We’re a two-car team, and Tom is a rookie. So obviously we know each other from the past, and we have a really good relationship, and trying to get him up to speed as quickly as possible.
“It’s a little bit of a difference, but I feel like I’m ready for that after quite a while in the series now. I think every year you learn something, and you bring that with you, but at this point I have quite a lot of experience in the bag.
“Yeah, feels good to be in that role.”