LONG BEACH, CA – Felix Rosenqvist did everything he could. Rosenqvist won the pole for the second time at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, maintained a solid race pace and the crew on his Meyer Shank Racing No. 60 Honda made no mistakes mechanically or in pit lane.
And it still wasn’t enough to beat Alex Palou.
Rosenqvist led 51 of the race’s first 58 laps, and he had a multiple-second gap in front of Palou, who had been second for most of that stretch. But when a piece of carbon debris mysteriously appeared in Turn 4 on Lap 57, the race had to go to its only caution of the day, giving the four-time champion a chance to pounce.
As all 24 cars on track pitted, the crew for Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing No. 10 Honda beat Rosenqvist’s Meyer Shank Racing crew, giving Palou his first lead of the day in time for the restart. Rosenqvist was never able to challenge Palou again, as Palou won by 3.97 seconds with Rosenqvist finishing second.
“The annoying thing for me was I had a bit of a cushion, I had like 2.3 seconds or something,” Rosenqvist said. “So I felt like even with a bad stop, I’ll probably stay ahead. … But you know, these things happen. I kind of knew it was going to be yellow at some point, and there it came. It’s a little bit frustrating, but end of the day, Alex and his crew did a better job in that moment of pressure there, and it’s just something to learn from.”
The streets of Long Beach have historically been a tough place to make passes, especially at the front of the pack. Rosenqvist held off Palou and others for nearly two-thirds of the race until the yellow flag — the only one in the last two races at Long Beach — crushed Rosenqvist’s shot at his second career win. Palou wasn’t even sure if he could have passed Rosenqvist without the caution.
“I think it would have been very, very tough for us to get him today,” Palou claimed. “I think we were trying everything possible to just overset our pit stop, try and get one lap further. At the same time, he was already three seconds ahead, which is what you lose on an out lap. I think it would have been close … I don’t know. I think it would have been really, really tough. My confidence was high, but I think my chances were low.”
The result got Palou his first win at Long Beach while denying Meyer Shank Racing its second win in team history. (Helio Castroneves’ 2021 Indy 500 victory is the only one MSR has in IndyCar.) Palou has finished in the top five in all six of his Long Beach starts in his career.
Sunday was another instance of Palou and the entire crew of the No. 10 being flawless throughout a race. It’s why he has won three of the five races this year and is back in first of the championship standings as he chases the first four-peat since Sebastian Bourdais did so in the Champ Car World Series from 2004 to 2007.
“We put a lot of effort into this,” said Barry Wanser, the strategist of the No. 10 car. “It doesn’t come easy. I know a lot of people are saying that. We know every week we have to show up, the cars have to perform, the team has to perform. We need to make good decisions. It’s hard to win in IndyCar.”
“You never know,” Palou said. “It only takes one second, like a small mistake, and then suddenly you go from second to seventh. The guys know as well. The pressure that they have to take that moment was pretty high. Incredible, the work they did.”
But that mistake rarely comes from the No. 10 crew. And on Sunday, it wasn’t enough for Rosenqvist and MSR to be mistake-free. Almost everything needs to go right to beat Palou, including elements like loose debris not changing the race. That was all it took for Rosenqvist’s lead to evaporate and for Palou to be unchallenged for the final 32 laps.
“I was kind of kicking myself at that point,” Rosenqvist said. “There’s just nothing you can do, just sitting there on the pit limiter doing 50 miles per hour, and there’s just nothing in the world that will get your position back. It’s heartbreaking.”
Many of Alex Palou’s 22 career wins have come as a result of him and CGR limiting mistakes while drivers and teams around him self-destructed. But his first win in Long Beach came because his team was perfect again, and just quick enough to capitalize on the fortune that was an unexpected caution.
Palou’s fortune was Rosenqvist’s nightmare, and it left Rosenqvist and his team defenseless.
Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Felix Rosenqvist on ‘heartbreaking’ caution at Long Beach: ‘Just nothing you can do’
Reporting by Zion Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
