Felix Rosenqvist earned his best finish of the 2023 IndyCar season on Sunday, climbing from outside the top 10 to a second place finish in Portland.
Rosenqvist wasted no time moving forward once the green flag waved, and placed himself in the top five spots after only 20 laps.
He held that position through expert tire management, and the Swede took a gamble by saving his softer tires until the final stint of the race.
He nursed the undesirable compound to the end, helped by a caution period which allowed him to cool his tires, and ended the day solidly on the podium.
“I was really bummed yesterday after qualifying,” said Rosenqvist after the race.
“We had something break in the steering rack, and we had to pit before we could do our lap in Q2. So there was definitely more in it than our starting position showed.
“Yeah, what a race. That was really good fun. It kind of went our way as well. We gambled on staying out on red [tires], but it worked out with the yellow in the end.
“We had to obviously save the tires a bit, so I think it wasn’t the winning strategy, but it was for sure enough for a podium. Really happy with the comeback we did.
“I thought I had a shot [at Alex Palou for the win], but honestly the blacks were kind of as good as the reds on the restart. That’s at least from my point of view.
“I just couldn’t really attack him. Once I realized he was pulling away, I was, like, ‘I probably have to save my tires now because otherwise I risk actually falling through the field in the last five laps.’
“I was just kind of managing after a couple of laps, and I think I pretty much did the optimal stint time that I could with those tires.”
Rosenqvist’s strong result comes as he is set to leave Arrow McLaren at the end of the season, with no new contract yet announced.
His ability to pull out skillful results has shown itself from time to time in his five year IndyCar career, though not necessarily as often as he would like.
Perhaps fans will get to see Rosenqvist on the podium more often in the future, with whichever team he signs to drive for.
