Felix Rosenqvist is the Fastest 'Slow Mover' in IndyCar (Exclusive)

Felix Rosenqvist will tell you, unprompted, that although he is a race car driver, he takes on the rest of his life... slowly. Not on track! After all, he just made Indianapolis 500 history by two hundredths of a second. Off of it.

Before every race, his PR lead, Maddie, pours a shot or two of espresso into an unmarked plastic water bottle and hands it to him because without it, by his own admission, nothing in him wants to move.

Felix Rosenqvist Meyer Shank with Espresso Water Bottle | Meyer Shank Racing

It's a strange admission to hear from a driver, but Rosenqvist is a man who thrives on being a living oxymoron. He is often considered the 'nice guy' in the paddock — a paddock that doesn't reward niceness. Ask anyone who works with him or has had even the briefest of conversations with him.

Put Rosenqvist on the track, though, and his reputation, pre-session rituals, and driving skill build you the driver who gave IndyCar one of its best Indianapolis 500 wins of all time. Grand Prix on SI sat down with Rosenqvist to chat through his road to Indianapolis, his future in the sport, and the quirks that make Fro, Fro.

By Way of Sweden

Long before drinking the milk and espresso shots at IMS, Rosenqvist was training to be an Alpine skier. He split his childhood years between racing in the snow in the winter and go-karts in the summer. How did he choose between the two? Boredom.

"I kind of got tired of all of the practicing with skiing because it's a winter sport. With go-karts, you were practicing maybe twice a week. I thought it got kind of repetitive and boring, because I just liked the racing part. Let's go race. I don't want to practice."
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank

Like choosing karting over skiing, Felix was not a kid who had racing posters on his wall at home. His earliest racing memory is watching Kenny Brack win the Indy 500 at eight or nine years old, filed away as 'something that happened' rather than inspiration.

The idols, Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen, and the like, came later, once he was old enough to actually understand the implications of the sport. It was truly all for fun when Rosenqvist was coming into the European racing scene.

Then came the start of his genuinely global career. First, through European championships, Formula 3, Sports Cars, a year in Indy Lights (now Indy NXT), and his first 'big-time' seat in Formula E. He built real racing credibility before IndyCar entered the picture, which happened almost by accident.

"There was a thing then where you could do a test if you ran more laps than the main driver, so it was Scott Dixon's car. I did like 110 laps in the morning and he did like 109 laps in the afternoon. That's how that came about."
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank

That was Rosenqvist's 2016 test with Chip Ganassi Racing, where an odd rule let him out-lap Scott Dixon's own car by a single lap in the same session. Even with a full-time ride in Formula E after this test, though, Rosenqvist was chasing more 'adrenaline' than he could find in that series – tying nicely back to why he chose to race in the first place.

"I had an option to get a contract in 2019 because one of the drivers that was supposed to go there, Brendan Hartley, got called in to do F1. They were like 'we need a driver' and they and they called my manager."
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank

That call brought him to the IndyCar series we love today, entirely by chance. Felix packed his bags for the United States.

Felix Rosenqvist, Indianapolis 500 Winner

Rosenqvist is almost a decade removed from full-time life in Sweden, but says the primary thing that actually carried over from his time there wasn't a superstition, habit, or driving style. It is the way he communicates with his team. Raised in a European system where engineers make the more difficult calls, he never fully shed that instinct.

In an American paddock, namely IndyCar, it's common practice that drivers have just as much say in race-time decisions and setup details as the engineers. For Felix, he just wants to drive.

"Some drivers are very much, 'I need these springs, I need this and that'. I kind of like my engineer to take more of the hard decisions and to lean on them and their expertise. I'm always always making sure that I'm maximizing my own driving, you know. I've always been very focused on my own driving and maybe less focused on that aspect."
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank

The same consistency can be said of keeping his circle small. He counts around five drivers that he'd actually call up for dinner: Armstrong, Ericsson, Dixon, and O'Ward, who tops the list. An important list when you consider that Dixon, Rosenqvist and O'Ward will be teammates next season, returning to the Arrow McLaren team that Rosenqvist called home from 2021 - 2023.

True to his character, Rosenqvist isn't worried about complicating anything, because the friendship was always built on full transparency... even when they were teammates.

"We were very open about everything, we didn't really hide anything. Some drivers do, and that's fine, you don't owe anyone anything when you're competing at this level. But we didn't have that. We were very open with the team and tried to just push the team forward."
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank

Even with his best friend on the team and a newborn at home, ask Rosenqvist about that Arrow McLaren decision, and he's a man of few words. It was certainly one of the most difficult decisions of his career, but one that was devoid of any personal feeling or outside influence.

"That decision for me has always been – you're in this line of work, you just have to separate it. You have to try to position yourself in the best place you can be, and not make it personal."
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank

It was truly about where Felix sees himself in one, three, or five years. The lesson that threads through all of his professional racing choices. What matters most to him is the direct team that surrounds him, not whose name is on his car or team kit.

The quirks where 'Fro' actually shows up are in those relationships. There's the espresso, obviously, or his 'slow lifestyle'. Then, there's the chant in Swedish he runs through with his crew before every green flag – that started at the 500, despite his crew insisting it has existed longer than that.

Felix Rosenqvist Meyer Shank Racing Indianapolis 500 Qualifying | via Penske Entertainment, Joe Skibinski

There's the fan in Gasoline Alley who once handed him a newborn to autograph, straight on the head, after qualifying. Then there are the relationships he has built throughout his racing career.

A great driver? Yes. An Indianapolis 500 winner? Of course. A person everyone in the paddock respects? That's Felix Rosenqvist.

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