It was an impressive start to the 2024 IndyCar season for one-time winner Felix Rosenqvist as he topped the times in first practice on his debut for Meyer Shank Racing.
After setting the fastest time early in the session, the Swede briefly dropped to 2nd. However, he put in a mighty lap in his final segment of practice to put almost half a second into the rest of the field.
The 32-year-old admits he was surprised at the pace they showed in first practice as they didn’t complete as many laps as they would have liked during the winter.
“Yeah, really smooth start for us. I would say I haven’t had a bunch of running this winter, so I think we’ve been feeling confident coming here, but also unsure how we’re going to stack up when everyone is out there pushing.
“So, yeah, a little bit relieved actually and a little bit surprised as well. I thought we were going to be good, but not as quick straight away, but obviously I think it’s still early days, and everyone is going to improve a lot. We’re going to try to see if we can keep that gap ahead. Yeah, so far so good. Really happy.”
Looking ahead to the whole season in general, the former CGR and Arrow McLaren driver is confident of the pace MSR has at street events. The big question will come on ovals, a type of circuit the Swedish driver has excelled at with multiple poles.
As Rosenqvist states, the Andretti package was rapid on street courses last year, allowing Kyle Kirkwood to take two victories, with Romain Grosjean also a contender at St. Pete last year before his crash with McLaughlin.
“I think on the street tracks we’re good. I think Linus jumped in a couple of races last year, and he was really quick in Nashville mainly. Helio and Simon had some really good runs on the street courses.
“I feel more confident on this race and those kind of tracks. I think ovals are probably a question mark for us that we’re trying to work a lot with Andretti to improve. That’s the main focus.
“Yeah, I think it’s no secret that the Andretti package has been really good on the street tracks. So, yeah, we’ll see how it goes.”
After plenty of highs and lows during his three-season spell at Arrow McLaren, Rosenqvist is pleased with how he’s settled in at MSR, both in and out of the car.
“I mean, I think it’s just been really nice to come to Meyer Shank Racing. It’s been a super easy transition both with people and the car, which is nice.
“I think it’s also no secret when I went to McLaren it was a big learning curve with the car. Obviously I was a bit worried that it was going to be the same here, but it’s been the direct opposite. It clicked from lap one pretty much.
“With the amount of testing we have, that’s very important because you don’t have time to try to learn the car. I’m really happy about that.
“Yeah, the team has been super, super nice. It’s obviously a smaller group, which is good I think because it’s just so much easier to get to know everyone and get up to speed quickly. Yeah, super good.”
