Felix Rosenqvist was left dejected after a dominant display throughout qualifying fell apart in the fight for pole for the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
The 34-year-old Swede was practically untouchable and made his presence felt with a staggering 232.599mph four-lap average - which ended up being the fastest run of the entire day - during ‘all cars’ portion of qualifying that locked in 13-33 and transferred the rest into the Fast 12. He was quickest once more in the Fast 12, advancing into the six-player fight for pole with a four-lap average of 232.065mph.
Despite cooling track conditions usually proving favorable to speed and grip, Rosenqvist’s luck went the opposite direction as his #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda got slower with a four-lap outing of 231.375mph and slotted fourth.
Where did it all go wrong?
“I don't know, it seemed like a clean run,” Rosenqvist told Motorsport.com.
Rosenqvist confirmed the team did trim out his car slightly prior to the Fast Six, but “kept it in the same ballpark.” When he propelled with his best showing in the afternoon, it happened during the heat of the day when the track temperature was roughly 110F. Comparing that to a slower run as the track temperature dropped to under 95F is part of why him going slower was more puzzling.
“The weather was fairly, like the track temp came down, but the ambient temp (roughly 85F) was very comparable to Q2 [Fast 12],” he said.
“So we, if anything, we thought we were going to go a touch quicker. Everything was indicating that it was a better condition. So, yeah, I don't know. We just have to look and see what happened.”
One interesting note is that Rosenqvist did have some blistering to his right-rear tire.
“We had some blisters, but I don't know if that makes a change,” he said. “It didn't seem to really upset me, so I don't think that's it. Yeah, it just wasn't quick. But I don't think that's it, because I could tell from the warm-up lap that it wasn't the same.”
And although the pain of that hurts, Rosenqvist is trying to hold on to some optimism in having a strong car for next Sunday’s race.
“You know, if you bring back the perspective a little bit, it's a hell of a day,” Rosenqvist said. “P4 out of 33 cars.
“I think that the annoying thing for me is I've been in this situation three times now.”
In 2023 while driving for Arrow McLaren, Rosenqvist ended up qualifying third. And then last year saw another strong outing end by qualifying fifth.
“And this year where I was P1 in Fast 12, and then just kind of had nothing in Fast Six,” he said. “It's a little bit of déjà vu, so I'm definitely bummed about that.
“But in the grand scheme of things, we're still having a hell of a May. Things are looking good, so we're just going to brush this off and go into race running.”
Ultimately, Rosenqvist will have to wait another year trying to become the first Swedish-born driver to capture pole for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
“All those three years I mentioned, we've actually been kind of dominant, and then something's happening in the final segment,” said Rosenqvist, who has seven career IndyCar poles. “So, yeah, it would be cool.
“I didn't allow myself to dream of the pole, but I've had quite many poles in IndyCar, and this one would mean probably more than all of them combined. So, it's definitely a little frustrating, but it's a good problem to have.”
If he wins the race, though, will he get over this gut punch?
“Definitely.”
