The morning after winning the Indianapolis 500 in the closest finish in the 110-year history of the race, Felix Rosenqvist was back at it, checking off interview after interview with national networks and local reporters.
The schedule for the race winner doesn’t end there, because there’s the Indy 500 banquet next and then a trip to New York to celebrate his victory with even more events.
There has been so much for Rosenqvist, a 34-year-old from Sweden, to process and so little time to fully grasp his accomplishment. There were 700 text messages on his phone he had yet to check, but the most important communication was immediately after his victory Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he was able to FaceTime with his wife, Emille, and their 20-day-old daughter, Stella. She was born May 4.
In a last-lap sprint to the checkered flag, Rosenqvist, from the outside, beat David Malukas to win the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday by .0233 of a second in the closest finish in race history for Meyer Shank Racing. Rosenqvist is the third Swedish driver to win the Indy 500, joining Kenny Brack (1999) and Marcus Ericsson (2022). The series, like Rosenqvist, doesn’t rest and heads to Detroit for the three-day Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix that begins Friday on the downtown street circuit.
“It’s very hard to describe, to be honest,” Rosenqvist said in a phone interview with The Detroit News on Monday when asked about his May. “It’s so many new things, new emotions that it’s incredible. I’m just taking it all in, and I’m enjoying every moment of being a new father. That alone was the coolest thing that ever happened to me and my wife, and I felt at that point it’s like you can’t really lose in life, so everything else is going to be a bonus.
“And then there’s winning this, which is a completely different emotion. That win was very overdue for me, and it was just so many emotions that came out. It’s kind of a full-circle moment. I watched Kenny Brack when I was 8 years old in Sweden, when I just started go karting, and that’s 27 years ago now. I watched him sit here at the IMS the day after doing interviews on Swedish media, and now I’m here myself. I’m still waiting to kind of wake up from the dream. It feels like we’re still waiting to race, really. That’s the best way I can describe it. I’m a very lucky man. I think I’m probably the happiest man in the world.”
Rosenqvist had been fast all month at Indianapolis and with 15 laps to go was leading the race. A red flag for an accident stopped the race with eight laps to go and on the restart with four to go, Armstrong took the lead. But Mick Schumacher brushed the barrier in Turn 2 on Lap 197 to set up the final-lap shootout.
“It was a range of emotions, because we were controlling the race before the last two yellows,” Rosenqvist said of the last caution. “It was crazy. We were like playing chess at 220 mph, and we were looking so good. We had more fuel than anyone. We’re kind of starving the other drivers of fuel and just playing a very tactical game, which was amazing. It was cool to be controlling the race like that, and then everything just kind of flipped upside down when that yellow came out, and you just have to recharge. Mentally, I was like, let’s just stay positive here. We’ve still got the best car, so let’s keep focused and eyes forward because it’s very easy to become defeated a little bit when that happened. I wasn’t allowing that to get to me, and I’m very happy it worked out the way it did.”
Armstrong, Rosenqvist’s teammate at Meyer Shank Racing, was leading when the race restarted at the end of Lap 199, Malukas was second and Rosenqvist third. Malukas took the lead entering Turn 1 leaving Armstrong and Rosenqvist side-by-side racing.
The high line of the track had been working all day for Rosenqvist, and he ran outside the entire last lap, a gutsy move with so much on the line. He went ahead of Armstrong in Turn 4 and then pursued Malukas. Their cars were side by side heading to the finish line when Rosenqvist, driving the No. 60 Honda, edged ahead for the victory.
“My team, Meyer Shank Racing, and Honda just gave me such a rocket, and it felt good on that high line all day, so I was like, I’m kind of going to keep that in my pocket for the end of the race, because I did a couple of passes like that through the race, not on a restart but just in the middle of a race,” he said. “This high line actually seemed to work pretty well, and on the restart, I was like, ‘OK, it’s there, let’s use that.’ And that last resort, I’m gonna be on the high line, I’m not gonna be on the bottom, because I’ve done that mistake before. I got trapped on the inside, and you know, both times I finished fourth (at Indianapolis), that has happened to me. So it’s like, I’m gonna be on the high line, I’m gonna try to stay flat, and whatever happens is gonna happen, and if I end up in the wall, I know my team would be proud of me anyways, so you only really have one choice.”
Watching the final moments from the camera in Rosenqvist’s car captured the thrill of the moment.
“It’s crazy to see,” he said. “I’ve watched the in-car camera once, and it’s crazy, because I don’t even remember it. I had so much adrenaline that it almost felt like it didn’t happen, because you’re just driving on pure instinct at that point. It’s just crazy how much you’re willing to risk when you’re in that situation. We’re not here to score points or to take home second or third place. Everyone is willing to risk everything to win this race. It’s just so, so cool, and the way we finished that race with a photo finish, and the last lap was just incredible.”
This is his eighth season in the IndyCar series, and while he has finished second more than a handful of times, Rosenqvist had not won a race in six years since winning at Road America.
“We’ve been so close for wins so long, it was overdue, for sure,” Rosenqvist said. “We needed it, and it’s kind of nice because in a way, you’re relaxed, because we did. We won this one, and after you win this one, your life changes, and it’s a relief, like a monkey off your back, and you can just drive more relaxed for the rest of your life, really. That’s good because we all put enough pressure on ourselves as drivers every day, and pressure has been a big part of my life, but I feel like now, for the first time, I’m probably letting a bit of that release, which is so cool.”
Now, the series turns to Detroit, a much different track considering it’s a 1.7 mile, nine-turn bumpy, tight street circuit. Rosenqvist finished third in the first Detroit Grand Prix back in Detroit in 2023 after a lengthy stay on Belle Isle. In 2021, he hit the wall and was ruled out of the next two races because of concussion issues.
It’s also a tough race for the Indianapolis 500 winners. Alex Palou finished 25th last year after winning Indy, Josef Newgarden, who won in 2023 and 2024, finished Detroit 10th and 16th, respectively. Ericsson had the best recent finish, seventh in 2022, and Dario Franchitti in 2012 was second.
“Detroit is definitely my record for how many times I’ve been to the medical center and the hospital,” Rosenqvist said, laughing. “I’ve been on the podium at the new Detroit layout, and I love Detroit, so you know we’ll be ready.”
He is still catching up on all those missed texts and calls and has yet to fully turn his attention to the Detroit Grand Prix. Rosenqvist is eager to take the Borg Warner Trophy for winning the Indy 500 to Sweden. But he knows Detroit is the next race and said he will be prepared.
“We’ll be there, and we’ll be sleep deprived, but I’ve already shown that you can race well sleep deprived, so I think a little more won’t hurt,” Rosenqvist said, referencing the sleepless nights for the parents of a newborn. “Three hours, that’s my new eight hours now.”
Sleepless or not, the new Indianapolis 500 winner and new father will set his sights on Detroit.
achengelis@detroitnews.com
@chengelis
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Felix Rosenqvist cherishes newborn, Indy 500, but ‘we’ll be ready’ for Detroit
Reporting by Angelique S. Chengelis, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
