On Sunday, March 1, the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES will kick off on the streets of St. Petersburg. Felix Rosenqvist is set to enter his eighth season in America’s premier single-seater series, commencing his third with Meyer Shank Racing. With just over a month to go before the new campaign dawns, the Swede provides an insight into what lies ahead in the coming weeks, and how some new additions are set to make 2026 a truly special year – both on and off the track.
A new year has arrived, and we’re eagerly waiting for things to kick off after the winter break. What have you been up to after last year’s finale in Nashville?
FRO: It’s been a mix of work, vacation and a lot of physical training. On top of that, we’ve also moved to a new house and received confirmation of pregnancy, so it’s been a lot of exciting stuff going on at the same time! It’s been nice to recharge the batteries for a while, but the eagerness to get back behind the wheel is becoming very tangible now.
You mentioned training. What’s your exercise regime like at this time of year? How do you keep in shape?
FRO: This is the most intense time of the year when it comes to that. During the season itself you often don’t have the time to work out as much, and you also need to rest at least one day after each race. The off-season is when you lay the foundations for your fitness.
I usually work out with my personal trainer, Jeff, Monday-Friday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we do double sessions (strength in the morning and cardio in the afternoon). On weekends I train in my own gym at home.
One of the more challenging aspects is making sure there are apt training facilities if travelling somewhere, but usually it works out pretty well.
2025 was a successful year for you – a tied personal best of sixth in the championship standings, and the best-ever result for Meyer Shank Racing. Now with some distance, how would you analyse last year?
FRO: Everyone in the team agrees that it was a very good season. We achieved all the targets we had set ourselves, apart from winning a race. We had no mechanical issues, which was a key priority following on from 2024, and we improved substantially in the standings from the year before (P12 in 2024; P6 in 2025). Having said that, we all feel there’s more potential to exploit. There are things we believe we can do a lot better.
The higher the mountain, the stronger the wind. How are you planning to take it from here to even greater heights?
FRO: We all agree that we are raising the bar in 2026. We are determined to get a win; I think we’ll give that some extra priority this year. Like always in racing, it’s down to very small details – but what really makes me hopeful is the sheer amount of work we’ve been able to do on the areas of weakness that we identified in 2025.
Will you be working with the same crew as last year, or are there any changes on the pit wall?
FRO: It will be essentially the same, barring a few small changes on the pit crew. It is probably the smallest year-on-year change that I’ve had since I started in INDYCAR in 2019.
You’ve been in the championship since 2019, like you said, but you still talk frequently about the importance of challenging yourself. Are there any specific areas of your driving that you would like to work on in 2026?
FRO: Yes. What’s interesting about 2025 is that virtually every driver, I believe, felt they had one or two massively off weekends. For me, those were Barber and Milwaukee. The field is so close now that as soon as you’re slightly out of the window, your whole weekend can unravel completely. I’ve analysed those two weekends extensively this winter and hopefully it will translate into better consistency.
I think this is the key in this championship, being brutally honest with yourself and your weaknesses. If you just run around “hoping” for things to improve, you will be eliminated from the series pretty quickly.
2026 will be a big year for you – that much we already know. It seems the Month of May is getting even busier than usual!
FRO: The Month of May will be a fun one! Our baby girl is due on May 14, which is two days before qualifying for the Indy 500. It’s going to be a special time, but I’m relieved that I’ll be at home in Indianapolis and that the hospital is just 20 minutes from the track. My wife, Emille, has been feeling surprisingly well throughout and we’ve been very well taken care of. We’re really looking forward to starting our little family in May.
Moving on to this year’s calendar, veteran fans are likely to be familiar with most of the schedule. There are a couple of new additions, however: the street races in Arlington, Texas, and Markham, Canada. What do you expect from these new venues?
Full look: 2026 INDYCAR calendar
FRO: I personally enjoy street tracks a lot, and going to a new one always adds a bit of extra spice. You need to think outside the box in the early practice sessions to get quickly up to speed, and then build your weekend from there. I think it’s hard to say what these two tracks will be like technically, but I know INDYCAR and the promoter have done a thorough job on the marketing side. The rest, we will have to find out!
We will also see a return to Phoenix Raceway, a dogleg oval which last staged an INDYCAR race back in 2018. You were not on the grid back then, so in that sense it will be another new track for you – although you have indeed raced at Phoenix before. As a matter of fact, it’s even kind of historic grounds in Felix Rosenqvist’s career, right?
FRO: Indeed. Phoenix is where I did my first-ever oval race. I did some races in Indy Lights back in 2016, and Phoenix was one of them. It’s quite comical looking back, because I recall it being one of the most difficult weekends of my career. I was all new to ovals and I was struggling in many ways – a lot has happened since then! I think the track will feel extremely quick in INDYCAR, a bit like Iowa perhaps. Also, it’s nice to get back a desert race (the track is located in such a setting in Arizona) as we lost Thermal Club (in California) which I also really enjoyed.
What is waiting up ahead? What about pre-season testing?
FRO: We have our Content Days in Indianapolis this week (Tuesday-Wednesday), which basically symbolizes the start of the season. After that, we’ve got two pre-season tests in Sebring and, incidentally, Phoenix (read more here) in February before heading out to St. Pete for the opening race. Then it will be flat out until we return to Indy in late April. The start to the season will be intense this year with four races in March, which I think is great after all the anticipation that builds during the winter.
Time flies and soon we’ll be there, kicking off yet another season in St. Petersburg. What are you looking forward to the most this year?
FRO: I think just getting back to racing, back to competing. This year feels like a great opportunity for us. I’m looking forward to hitting the track, apply everything we learned last year and during the winter, and measure it against the best. That is what drives me, every year.
