Felix Rosenqvist heads into the 2026 IndyCar season on strong footing. The Swede drove superbly in 2025, finishing a strong P6 in the standings and scoring a podium at Road America. Rosenqvist continues to pilot the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing alongside teammate Marcus Armstrong.
Rosenqvist spoke about the upcoming 2026 season during IndyCar content days attended by Pit Debrief and other outlets.
Learning from the champion
Rosenqvist openly praised reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou for his consistency throughout the 2025 IndyCar season. Last season, Palou drove dominantly, securing his fifth IndyCar title and first Indy 500 win. The Spaniard finished the season almost 200 points clear of runner-up Pato O’Ward.
Heading into the 2026 IndyCar season, Rosenqvist suspected many drivers will look to learn from Palou’s dominance and consistency.
“I think a big takeaway was just that all these big teams, drivers, some of the absolute best in the world, everyone is making a lot of mistakes. We talk about this here every year. Alex [Palou] was definitely — that was something different, something game-changing. I feel like that was the biggest takeaway from the year. We all have to learn from him.
“I think what was required to win five years ago has changed, where you can just kind of finish every race in the top 10, top 6, and that would put you in contention. Now you actually have to be on the podium almost every race to challenge for the win.
“That’s a new thing. We all aspire to win. As I said before, we’re not happy with being P6 or whatever. That’s something we learned from a lot.”
Rosenqvist on chasing Palou
When asked about what drivers can do to catch Palou, Rosenqvist responded, “You just got to try to reel him in in every area possible. He was definitely a step ahead of everyone last year. I feel like it was a clear kind of trend in the field where a lot of drivers had two or maybe three really poor weekends that kind of put them behind Alex [Palou] or behind contention of winning the title.”
Rosenqvist continued, praising former teammate Pato O’Ward. The Swede and Mexican drivers raced together at Arrow McLaren from 2021 to 2023. O’Ward finished P2 in the 2025 standings, managing to score two wins to Palou’s seven.
“Pato [O’Ward] was maybe a little bit of a bridge between that and the rest of the field. Yeah, I think everyone’s just realized that the bar has raised even one step higher. It’s not like one massive thing either. I think all of us have been analyzing a lot. It’s not like there’s one big area where you can just like, ‘Oh, there it is.’ It’s just all the little things, right? Like always in racing.
“You just got to come back stronger. Yeah, we’ll try to get him.”
Keeping in race shape ahead of 2026 IndyCar season
Rosenqvist highlighted the importance of physical activity and simulator work for keeping in shape during the IndyCar off-season. Speaking to Pit Debrief and other outlets, the Swedish driver expressed not being worried about stepping back into the car after the nearly six-month off-season.
“I mean, physical training, which has been really good for me this year. Working on your physical fitness. Simulator. Spending probably seven to 10 days in the simulator in the off-season, which are big, long days. It’s not the same, but it gives you something.
“Otherwise you have to be creative. You have to do like Marcus [Armstrong], go to Italy and run a go-kart championship. Yeah, I haven’t really been in a car. I’m not super worried about it. I feel like it’s good to get laps, but also those laps will always be very different from an IndyCar anyways. Once you kind of get going in IndyCar, it gets busy. You get into it quick.
“I think the important thing is to have your mind in it in the off-season and think about what you want to improve, think about driving even when you’re out of the car. I think that’s the bigger key than actually doing the miles.”
Rosenqvist on journey with Meyer Shank Racing ahead of 2026 IndyCar season
Heading into the 2026 season, Rosenqvist begins his third IndyCar season with Meyer Shank Racing. The team joined IndyCar in 2017, and currently hold four podiums and one Indy 500 win. Rosenqvist highlighted the strong momentum within the team ahead of the season.
“It’s been a cool journey. When I jumped on board, we all looked up. We said we just want to get better, we want to win. We want to do a lot of things, right? It’s easier said than done.
“It’s been a good momentum. You have that feeling when you go to the shop that we’re on a mission. You can all probably relate when you’ve been part of an organization or a team that everyone’s kind of pulling the same direction. It’s hard to describe. But when you have it, it’s a really cool thing.
“It’s been the same in other areas of the team, as well, with the IMSA program, just a future outlook for the team, ever-evolving and getting brighter, I’d say.
“Yeah, super cool to be part of it. I really, as I said before, I think it’s truly become a family to me. We’re all sort of speaking the same language in terms of what we want and what we expect out of ourselves.”
Technical partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing
Rosenqvist spoke about Meyer Shank Racing’s technical partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing ahead of the 2026 IndyCar season. Speaking to Pit Debrief and other outlets, he confirmed their partnership will continue into 2026.
“It’s continuing. I thought it was great, I worked with Ganassi many years ago now. I think that organize is unchanged in terms of leadership role and stuff like that.“
Rosenqvist continued, “I really enjoy working with my engineer Ross, my assistant engineer Rebecca, as well, and Ben. I think they’re all great engineers. The partnership was super smooth from the first day onward.
“Yeah, it’s nice to kind of have a year for the team. All that stuff remains the same. We got the same engine, same partnership, same car. My crew is pretty much unchanged as well. Riding into ’26 with a lot of consistency is going to be I think a big key to go forward.“
