Felix Rosenqvist endured a challenging day in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, where the Swede experienced an abnormal fuel-saving scenario in round four of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
As has become customary this season, Rosenqvist once again qualified strongly to line up sixth as racing got underway at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday.
Rosenqvist was faring well in the opening stint of the 90-lap encounter, too, comfortably matching the pace up front while maintaining his P6 position with relative ease.
As the race entered its second half, however, the Arrow McLaren SP driver hit trouble. Rosenqvist was instructed by his team to go into fuel-save mode – something the rest of the field, despite running on the same strategy, appeared to do at a lesser extent.
With Rosenqvist executing eco-drive measures to meet his fuel target and reach the end of the race, his rivals were quick to profit, dropping the #7 Vuse car to 16th at the flag.
“That wasn’t a good one, not at all,” says Felix Rosenqvist. “We’re analysing what happened right now, and it’s probably going to be a few days before we know for sure. It’s clear that something is wrong, and it can be a small number of things, but we should not need to save this much more fuel than everyone else.”
“It’s obviously disappointing to lose out on a potentially strong result, but the main thing now is understanding what went wrong today, and I know the guys are looking hard at it as we speak.”
With today’s race in the books, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES now heads firmly into the tradition-steeped Month of May, culminating in the blue-riband Indianapolis 500 at the end of the month.
Before all eyes turn exclusively towards the world-famous oval race, however, the field will battle it out around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course iteration in the GMR Grand Prix on May 14.
RESULTS
NTT INDYCAR SERIES | Rd. 4
Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Barber Motorsports Park (USA)
1: Pato O’Ward (MEX), Arrow McLaren SP, 90 laps
2: Alex Palou (ESP), Ganassi, +0.980s
3: Rinus VeeKay (NED), Ed Carpenter Racing, +12.481s
4: Will Power (AUS), Penske, +15.261s
5: Scott Dixon (NZL), Ganassi, +22.829s
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16: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Arrow McLaren SP, +41.614s
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
NTT INDYCAR SERIES | After 4/17 races
1: Alex Palou (ESP), Ganassi, 144 p.
2: Scott McLaughlin (NZL), Penske, 141 p.
3: Josef Newgarden (USA), Penske, 135 p.
4: Will Power (AUS), Penske, 134 p.
5: Pato O’Ward (MEX), Arrow McLaren SP, 114 p.
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16: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Arrow McLaren SP, 56 p.