Rosenqvist “really impressed” with “professional” Meyer Shank team after Portland pole
- Archie O’Reilly
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Felix Rosenqvist has credited the way in which his Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) team have handled his impending exit, with the Swede headed to Arrow McLaren in 2027.
Despite the knowledge of his departure, sitting seventh in the standings with four top-10 results in the last six races, Rosenqvist is currently driving as well as at any point in what has become a memorable three years with MSR.
On Saturday, the Indianapolis 500 winner took his eighth career pole position at Portland International Raceway, ousting Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR)’s championship leader Álex Palou to secure the accolade. It marks Rosenqvist’s second pole of the season, having also claimed the P1 Award in Long Beach in April.
“Everyone has been very professional,” Rosenqvist said of the team’s handling of him leaving at season’s end. “From my point of view, nothing changes. It’s just the way IndyCar works, where you have to do deals in the middle of the season. Even if you have a very long off-season, it’s always been the way it works.
“It makes for an awkward conversation. Everyone in the team, obviously it’s not easy when you say: ‘Hey, we’re not going to continue.’ But everyone’s done a good job in just putting that behind us. You still have so much to do [and] have good cars.
“I feel like I’m performing probably the best I’ve done in my career. ‘Let’s just go out and try to win races.’ I’ve been really impressed on their mentality with that.”
Having finished 10th in Practice 1 and fourth in Practice 2, Rosenqvist then showed consistent pace throughout qualifying for this weekend’s Grand Prix of Portland, leading both his opening-round group and the Fast 12 session to progress to the pole shootout.
He ultimately edged out championship leader Palou by a mere 0.0184s in the Fast Six, with the margin also only 0.0302s back to Andretti Global’s Will Power in third.
“I have to correct myself because in the [television] interview when I looked at the screen, I thought I had three-tenths to P2. I thought everyone messed up or something,” Rosenqvist said after qualifying. “I was shocked when I saw that. Then when I heard it was only two-hundredths, I said: ‘That makes more sense.’
“It was qualifying by execution - that thin line between risking it and not making mistakes. I kind of experimented in Q1, Q2; was able to do safe but quick laps in Q3. That was just enough. It’s a little bit overdue for me. I feel like I’ve been close here many times so it’s cool to get a pole here.
“Great job by all the Meyer Shank Racing team. We tuned on it all day yesterday and all day today. Got better and better and better. We weren’t really quick yesterday. Great comeback from us coming from practice.”
Sunday will mark the second successive year that Rosenqvist has started from the front row in Portland, having inherited second place following an engine penalty for Arrow McLaren’s pole-sitter Christian Lundgaard last season.
He has also twice finished as a runner-up on race day in the Pacific Northwest - as a rookie with CGR in 2019 and in his previous stint with Arrow McLaren in 2023.
“It has a good flow to it,” Rosenqvist said of why his style suits the 1.964-mile road course. “I enjoy it. The Turn 4/5 section has always been pretty strong for me. It’s just one of those where you find a good flow [and] rhythm; you have a good confidence.
“I don’t really think Portland has any ‘bad corners’. For me, they’re not annoying. They come quite naturally. Maybe that’s why. Maybe more of a traditional road course, which might favour us European drivers a little bit. Always liked it.”
Attention now swiftly turns to Sunday’s race start for Rosenqvist. Back in Long Beach, he led a field-high 51 laps from pole before succumbing to Palou, who had placed him under pressure throughout much of the race, under a yellow-flag pit cycle.
Rosenqvist came home to finish second on that occasion, which remained a marker of an improved ability to convert qualifying pace into a better race result.
“It’s always nice when you beat him, even if it’s only qualifying,” Rosenqvist said of Palou. “You know you’re doing a good job when he’s P2 and you’re P1. It makes me happy. You’re not happy when you have him in your mirrors, though. You have to be pretty perfect.
“Long Beach was a good example of that. Even if that day maybe we were a little quicker, he just never really has bad days. You just have to bring your A-game tomorrow. But we’ll try. I think we’re so far looking pretty good. Also this year I think we just got stronger in the races, as well. Hopefully we can translate that into something big.”
MSR are continuing to pursue a first non-Indy 500 victory, following Rosenqvist’s success this May and Hélio Castroneves’ crown in 2021. And before he parts in six races’ time, Rosenqvist is keen to give the gift of becoming the driver to break that duck.
“Everyone’s just been super hungry for another one,” he said. “Even before Indy, after Indy, we feel like we’ve been sniffing on a non-Indy win. Long Beach was close. Road America, both me and Marcus were close in that one. I feel like we all deserve it, to be honest.
“All the boys and girls at Meyer Shank Racing, they’re doing a really good job, being really consistent, preparing really good cars. That’s my main goal, to give them exactly that.”
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