{"id":14939,"date":"2023-03-06T01:50:51","date_gmt":"2023-03-06T00:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.felixracing.se\/?p=14939"},"modified":"2023-03-06T01:50:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T00:50:54","slug":"wall-squeeze-puts-felix-rosenqvist-out-of-contention-in-indycar-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wall-squeeze-puts-felix-rosenqvist-out-of-contention-in-indycar-opener\/","title":{"rendered":"Wall squeeze\u00a0puts Felix Rosenqvist out of contention in INDYCAR opener\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


NTT INDYCAR SERIES | Rd. 1<\/strong>
Firestone\u00a0Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (USA)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A first-lap incident took Felix Rosenqvist out of contention in this weekend\u2019s season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, but the Swede still left the NTT INDYCAR SERIES curtain-raiser in optimistic mood after showcasing encouraging pace.<\/strong>

Rosenqvist appeared hooked up around Florida’s 1.8-mile temporary street track after topping the times in the first qualifying segment of the new season, and eventually took P8 on the grid for the first race of the campaign. 

As racing got underway on Sunday, however, a brush with six-time INDYCAR champion Scott Dixon on the opening lap quickly derailed Rosenqvist\u2019s charge, a squeeze into the wall inflicting ample damage on his Arrow McLaren car and forcing lengthy repairs in the garage.

\u201cNot the kind of season-opener we were aiming for,\u201d says Felix Rosenqvist<\/strong>. \u201cIt got crowded at the start and unfortunately I got squeezed by Scott. He said he didn\u2019t see me and he actually came up to apologise afterwards, which was nice of him. We\u2019re always fine. It was just one of those things.\u201d<\/em>

Following repairs, Rosenqvist was able to later rejoin the race, albeit some 40 laps down. He was eventually classified 19th. 

\u201cThe team did a good job to get the car back out, which was actually quite important,\u201d Rosenqvist explains<\/strong>. \u201cIt allowed us to gain a few spots when others crashed out, so it meant a few extra points on the board. That\u2019s the kind of thing that can make a difference at the end of the year.\u201d<\/em>

Marcus Ericsson emerged victorious in a chaotic race on the slippery Florida streets, but there was cause for optimism for Rosenqvist\u2019s Arrow McLaren squad. Team-mate Pato O\u2019Ward led going into the final few laps, only for a temporary technical issue to drop him to second, while the team\u2019s third driver \u2013 new signing Alexander Rossi \u2013 finished fourth.
 
\u201cWe\u2019ve been quick all weekend, with all three cars,\u201d Felix Rosenqvist concludes<\/strong>. \u201cThat\u2019s the big takeaway from here \u2013 that we\u2019re properly in the game. The car felt a lot better here in St. Pete this weekend than it did last year, so we\u2019ve definitely improved. It\u2019s a long season. Last but not least; congratulations to Marcus on the win!\u201d<\/em>

The second round of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES takes place at Texas Motor Speedway on April 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


RESULTS<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

NTT INDYCAR SERIES | Rd. 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg<\/strong>
Streets of St. Petersburg (USA)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1: Marcus Ericsson (SWE), Ganassi, 100 laps
2: Pato O’Ward (MEX), Arrow McLaren, +2.411s
3: Scott Dixon (NZL), Ganassi, +2.925s
4: Alexander Rossi (USA), Arrow McLaren, +6.768s
5: Callum Ilott (GBR), Juncos Hollinger, +8.265s
—
19: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Arrow McLaren, +49 laps<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full results<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n


CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

NTT INDYCAR SERIES | After 1\/17 races<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1: Marcus Ericsson (SWE), Ganassi, 51 p.
2: Pato O’Ward (MEX), Arrow McLaren, 41 p.
3: Scott Dixon (NZL), Ganassi, 36 p.
4: Alexander Rossi (USA), Arrow McLaren, 32 p.
5: Callum Ilott (GBR), Juncos Hollinger, 30 p.
—
19: Felix Rosenqvist (SWE), Arrow McLaren, 11 p.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full standings<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A first-lap incident took Felix Rosenqvist out of contention in this weekend\u2019s season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, but the Swede still left the NTT INDYCAR SERIES curtain-raiser in optimistic mood after showcasing encouraging pace…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14932,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,19],"tags":[122,123],"class_list":["post-14939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news3","category-press-releases","tag-2023-ntt-indycar-series","tag-firestone-gp-of-st-petersburg","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"aioseo_notices":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14939"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14942,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14939\/revisions\/14942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/felixracing.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}