Felix Rosenqvist’s Bittersweet Triumph in Long Beach

Felix Rosenqvistcompleted a nearly perfect race, yet he ended up standing on the second-highest position on the podium at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Starting from pole position in the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, Rosenqvist performed exceptionally well throughout the race, maintaining control and keeping the four-time and reigning IndyCar Series champion at bay.Alex Palou safely behind.

However, on lap 57, debris in Turn 3 triggered a caution (the first since 2024), which erased Rosenqvist’s 3-second lead and initiated the final round of pit stops. It was during this time that, although he had a trouble-free stop and sped up off pit road, he found himself looking at the rear wing of Palou’s #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Although Rosenqvist attempted to maximize the restart with 29 laps remaining, he failed to launch a challenge and ended up losing by 3.9663 seconds to the Spanish driver.

I’m just glad that [the pit stop] didn’t mess up our race,” said Rosenqvist, 34. “Incidents like this can occur. You end up ruining your entire day. Essentially, we were in the same position.

But what annoyed me was that I had a small lead, about 2.3 seconds or so. I thought that even with a poor stop, we’d likely remain in front. We also performed well during the fuel stops. These situations occur. I somewhat expected a yellow flag at some point. There it was, so… Yeah, it was a bit disappointing. In the end, Alex and his team handled the pressure better. It’s something to take away from.

Rosenqvist was in the lead for a race-high 51 of the 90 laps, a figure that also represents his highest number of laps led in a single race throughout his IndyCar career.

Having entered the season without any top 10 finishes in the first four races, where he ended up in 12th place twice (St. Petersburg, Phoenix), Rosenqvist was determined to achieve a solid performance. And while he did manage that, coming so near to his second career victory in North America’s top open-wheel series is bittersweet.