Rosenqvist nabs pole position in tense single-car qualifying in Long Beach

Credit: Paul Hurley

Meyer Shank Racing's Felix Rosenqvist will start the 2026 IndyCar Grand Prix of Long Beach from pole position after a hard won performance in single-car qualifying for the Fast 6.

Pato O'Ward grabbed second place, with the reigning champion Álex Palou slotting into third place for tomorrow's race start. See how it all unfolded on Saturday evening.

Group 1

12 drivers headed out on track in Long Beach Saturday evening to be the first to set their lap times. David Malukas was the first of them to set a benchmark time but it was Arrow McLaren's O'Ward who was the early pacesetter of the group.

Then it was Romain Grosjean, who had made it to the pits just in time after the team had repaired his car from a crash during practice earlier today, who went to the top of the timing sheets. He was quickly replaced as other drivers set their times, before O'Ward went back on top with his second lap.

With four minutes to go in the session it was O'Ward's McLaren teammate Christian Lundgaard who was on top, ahead of Rinus VeeKay and Rosenqvist. Sitting right on the outside of the elimination zone was Andretti's Marcus Ericsson ahead of Louis Foster.

Malukas, who had been sitting in the bottom of the top six, jumped up to first overall with the first lap time of the evening in the 1:07s range. Foster improved in the final moments but only to sixth, and was bumped out again as O'Ward and then Rosenqvist went fastest overall.

Malukas slotted into third as a result, ahead of Lundgaard, Scott McLaughlin and VeeKay, the final drivers in Group 1 to advance.

Armstrong looked to be improving but was unable to go faster on his final lap and stayed where he was in seventh. Ericsson was also unable to improve on eighth place. Foster, Dennis Hauger, Grosjean and Mick Schumacher were the final drivers of the group to be eliminated, knocked out in Group 1.

Group 2

Credit: Paul Hurley

The rest of the grid was out on track not long after for Group 2 for their shot at a top 12 appearance in Long Beach. Ed Carpenter Racing's Alex Rossi was the early pacesetter as everyone got started on their first lap times.

Unsurprisingly, Palou then went to the top, but Rossi's second lap was enough for fastest again. Then it was Kyffin Simpson, the first driver of Group 2 to break the 1:07s range as he set a time of 1:07.908 to go fastest overall.

There was a lull in action as drivers came back into the pits, but with three minutes to go everyone needed to get back out to set their final laps. Simpson, Christian Rasmussen and Rossi were at the top and Kyle Kirkwood, one of the favourites for the weekend, was sitting in seventh just outside of the bubble to get into the Fast 12.

Then in quick succession, Palou, Kirkwood and Josef Newgarden took first, second and third respectively. Next it was Kirkwood's Andretti teammate Will Power who jumped up to second place. Palou was the next driver to get overtaken by his teammate as Scott Dixon went fastest overall with a time of 1:07.523.

And it was Dixon and Palou who retained the top spots as the clock ticked down and everyone set their final laps. Power and Kirkwood were third and fourth, while Simpson and Graham Rahal were the final drivers to make the cut.

Newgarden was seventh, and therefore the top driver eliminated. Rasmussen improved on his final lap but only to eighth, ahead of Rossi, Caio Collet, Santino Ferrucci and Sting Ray Robb. Nolan Siegel in 13th was the final driver eliminated, setting his place in last for tomorrow's race.

Fast 12

Credit: Paul Hurley

It was the top six drivers from both sessions who made an appearance on track for the Fast 12, all of them looking to crack the top six one more time this evening. And it was Palou again who was the early pacesetter for the group, topping the timing sheets early on before Lundgaard and Dixon were both able to improve on the Spaniard's time.

Rosenqvist and Malukas were the next drivers to sit in first and second respectively. Kirkwood again was stuck in seventh, right inside the elimination zone ahead of McLaughlin and Palou with three minutes to go.

Palou went back to the top on his penultimate lap, almost half a second faster than Rosenqvist's time. Kirkwood was able to jump up to second as there was a flurry of improvements throughout the field. Looking faster than ever, Malukas then jumped to first despite a big moment in Turn 10.

Rosenqvist was able to hang onto third despite the improvements around him, with Kirkwood securing fourth. O'Ward and Power were the final two drivers on the timing sheets in the final moments, but all of a sudden Dixon was able to pull out an improvement and stole the final spot in the Fast 6 from Power.

As a result, Power will start Sunday's race from seventh place. McLaughlin finished eighth ahead of Simpson, Rahal, Lundgaard and VeeKay.

Fast 6

With the second appearance of single-car qualifying for street courses, drivers were able to pick their qualifying order based in the order they finished in the Fast 12.

Malukas and team had first pick and picked first. Palou, Rosenqvist and Kirkwood slotted in to second, third and fourth respectively. O'Ward's team with the second to last choice chose to go last, leaving Dixon to set his lap time fifth in the order.

With the order set it was time for Malukas to set his lap. He worked hard to warm up his set of tyres before getting to work, completing a clean lap and setting a time of 1:07.650, the benchmark for his following competitors.

Palou was up next, and was immediately up on Malukas' time. He was looking at a huge improvement before locking up in the final corner. Fortunately for Chip Ganassi Racing driver, his time of 1:07.528 was fast enough for provisional pole, up over a tenth on Malukas.

Rosenqvist, the next driver to take to the track, oppositely struggled to stay on the pace of Palou until the final corner. After being slower than his rival for most of the lap, a clean delivery of the final moments of the lap put his lap time at 1:07.463 to steal provisional pole from Palou.

With half of the drivers still to go, Kirkwood was the driver up next. The Andretti driver ran neck and neck against Rosenqvist's time, but ultimately was only fast enough for third and was the first driver in the session not to go fastest.

With O'Ward's team wanting to go last, it was Dixon up next on track. The Chip Ganassi driver was, like Kirkwood, unable to go faster than Rosenqvist on his lap. He couldn't quite keep up with the pace of the frontrunners and his time of 1:07.619 put him fifth so far.

O'Ward was the final driver to make his run, and quickly looked to be neck and neck with Rosenqvist's time. It was close throughout, but ultimately O'Ward fell just short, slotting into second as the Swedish Meyer Shank Racing driver took his first pole position since 2024.

With O'Ward in second, Palou will start from third. Kirkwood, Malukas and Dixon will round out the top six in that order.