Rosenqvist hunts final Meyer Shank win after Portland podium

Credit: Chris Owens

Felix Rosenqvist came away from the Grand Prix of Portland with another second-place finish after spending much of Sunday fighting Álex Palou. Despite claiming victory, the Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) driver admitted his rival simply executed the better race when the crucial moments arrived. 

Starting from pole position for the second time this season, Rosenqvist led the opening stages before losing out during the first pit sequence, leaving him chasing the eventual winner for much of the afternoon.

The result continued a strong run for Rosenqvist and Meyer Shank Racing, although another opportunity to beat Palou slipped away. Rosenqvist had already finished runner-up to the Spaniard at Long Beach earlier this season and Portland produced a similar outcome. “He just drove better, to be honest. Not a lot quicker, but he was a little bit quicker,” Rosenqvist said. “Especially on the blacks. That first stint he outsmarted us, did one lap longer. I didn't know he did that, so maybe we need to work on communication. I don't think I could have kept up with that pace he did anyways, if I saved that much fuel.”

Rosenqvist began Sunday from the best possible position after taking pole, with Palou alongside him and Will Power starting third. He kept the lead when the race went green and remained out front through the opening stages, while Marcus Ericsson moved past Palou and briefly provided Rosenqvist with some breathing room from the championship leader.

Once the opening pit sequence arrived, the advantage began to shift. Rosenqvist stopped on Lap 31 alongside Power, while Palou stayed out for another lap and used the extra time on track to move ahead. Rosenqvist also encountered trouble leaving his pit box, which also worked against him. “He got us in a sequence,” Rosenqvist explained. “I got kind of twisted up leaving my box because I was so close to the Schumacher crew. I think between the overcut and that, we kind of lost the position. From there on we just sat in second.”

Losing the lead changed the shape of Rosenqvist’s afternoon. Passing around Portland remained difficult when cars were closely matched, meaning the Swede needed to find another route back ahead. There were periods when Rosenqvist appeared capable of applying pressure, particularly when tyre differences worked in his favour, but Palou maintained control when he needed to.

Rosenqvist felt that the difference between himself and Palou changed depending on the tyre compound. His car looked particularly competitive on the softer alternate tyre, while Palou held an advantage when they switched to the harder primary compound. “Some stints we looked really good,” Rosenqvist said. “The last one we were struggling a little bit. Yeah, it's hard to pass. I think they did the right move there.”

The battle was not always determined by the actions of the frontrunners. With the race running largely under green, traffic became increasingly important as the leaders worked through cars further down the order, creating significant swings in the gap between the pair.

For Rosenqvist, those moments became one of the more frustrating parts of the afternoon. A gap built over several laps could disappear almost immediately depending on where each driver caught traffic. “From there it was just like a lapped car race, I guess,” he said. “Sometimes you're getting three seconds because of a lapped car, the next time you lose three seconds.”

This issue did not change Rosenqvist’s view of who deserved the victory. He acknowledged Palou had the stronger race and avoided suggesting traffic alone cost him a win, but he questioned whether leaders should lose several seconds while trying to clear cars already a lap down.

“I think without sounding salty, I don't think I would have won the race anyway, but I think it's kind of time for us as a series to grow up and not have the lapped car situation,” Rosenqvist said. “I think it makes us all look stupid. When you work hard and all of a sudden you lose five seconds behind a lapped car, I don't think it's right. I don't think anyone wants to see that. Again, I don't think I would have won anyways. I think all drivers probably agree with me.”

The traffic problem also influenced MSR’s strategy later in the race. Rosenqvist had closed a gap of more than seven seconds to around 2.5 seconds by Lap 72 while running strongly on the softer tyres, bringing himself back into the fight before the final stops.

Credit: Joe Skibinski

His progress left Rosenqvist with a chance to pressure Palou, but another encounter with a backmarker forced the team to react earlier than planned. “We had to pit early later in the race, as well, because I got behind, I don't remember who it was, some back marker,” Rosenqvist said. “We just lost like tons of time. We pitted early again, and we were for sure screwed because Álex just kept going long, and Will [Power] also at that point.”

Rosenqvist made his final stop on Lap 81, one lap before Palou. When the championship leader emerged from pit lane, he remained directly ahead, leaving Rosenqvist in the same position he had occupied for much of the race.

With overtaking difficult and the tyre advantage no longer as significant, Rosenqvist needed something to change the shape of the race. A caution could have erased the gap and given him another opportunity on a restart, but the interruption never arrived.

“Yeah, obviously you try to stay calm, hope for a yellow that can reset the race a little bit. It just never happened,” Rosenqvist explained. “Yeah, I think a yellow could have made it interesting. Actually, I think the strategy Will [Power] had would have been pretty strong if that happened. Yeah, it is what it is. It could always work out in different ways. Today just nothing really happened. So that's all we had.”

Instead, Rosenqvist had to focus on protecting second place. Power emerged from his final stop on the softer tyre and immediately began closing, reducing the gap to 1.8 seconds by Lap 93 before moving within half a second at one stage.

Rosenqvist responded to the pressure and eventually rebuilt his advantage beyond two seconds. With Palou pulling clear ahead, keeping Power behind became the final task before the chequered flag and secured another strong result for Meyer Shank Racing.

Rather than expressing anger at another missed opportunity, Rosenqvist recognised the consistency that has allowed Palou to establish a commanding championship advantage. “I did my best today to make it interesting for the championship. I mean, he's just really good. Kind of been a topic of the season, right? We all get our shot to beat him. I had probably two, three this year. Yeah, he's just really tough to beat. He's got it figured out. I probably wouldn't put my money on anyone else,” he said.

Rosenqvist believes competing with the championship leader also offered another indication of how far MSR has progressed. The team has moved from occasional qualifying speed to becoming a regular threat across complete race weekends, giving Rosenqvist opportunities to fight at the front more consistently.

Rosenqvist’s future beyond 2026 will take him away from the MSR team, but his final season with the team has produced some of their strongest performances together. Rather than allowing his upcoming departure to affect results, both sides have continued pushing forward.

Rosenqvist believes the improvement has followed a clear path since he joined the team. Early speed gradually developed into more consistent top-five finishes before race pace became the final piece needed to regularly contend at the front.

“Yeah, I mean, I think we've known that all along,” Rosenqvist said. “I think since I joined the team, it's been an upward trajectory. The first year we had poles, front rows, we couldn't really put it together. Second year we had more top fives. This year we've got the missing piece, which is the race pace. Yeah, we're contenders most of the weekends now, which is super cool. The pit stops have been better and better and better all the time, as well.”

Credit: Joe Skibinski

Portland provided another example of that progress. Rosenqvist secured pole on Saturday, led early on Sunday and remained Palou’s closest challenger at the finish. While the victory remained out of reach, second place continued a run of results which has placed MSR among the teams capable of fighting near the front.

Rosenqvist still has unfinished business with the team. MSR has already experienced one of its biggest moments this season at Indianapolis, but Rosenqvist wants another victory before their time together ends.

“On a really good day we do results like today or the 500, which is exciting. There's still many races to go. I hope we can get one more win together. It would mean a lot,” Rosenqvist said. “We got Indy, which is super cool. There's also something to winning a non-Indy race. Hope we can get it done. Yeah, rolling really well at the moment.”

That goal carries extra significance as the calendar moves through a demanding run of races. The Portland weekend opened a triple-header and forms part of a six-race stretch across five weekends, placing considerable strain on drivers, engineers and crew members.

“I think you mentally prepare yourself for it,” said Rosenqvist. “You know it's going to be a rough stretch. You kind of just go into war mode. You'll figure it out. I think it's harder on the crew, the engineers. They work their asses off, stay up late at night. Don't get that much sleep. For us, we're training to do this. For them it's never easy. Yeah, but they're all pros.”

The remaining races give Rosenqvist several more chances to turn MSR’s recent form into another victory. Podium finishes have become a more regular sight for the team this season, while their performance in Portland showed they have the pace to fight some of IndyCar’s strongest teams at the front.