Karl Felix Helmer Rosenqvist (born 7 November 1991) is a Swedish professional racing driver who currently drives the No. 7 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren in the IndyCar Series. He was named the 2019 IndyCar Rookie of the Year and won the 2026 Indianapolis 500.
Racing career
Formula Renault Rosenqvist started his single-seater career in Asia, where he won the Formula Renault 2.0 Asia in 2008, and the Formula Renault 2.0 Sweden/NEZ title in 2009.
German Formula 3 Championship In 2010, Rosenqvist was fifth in the German Formula Three Championship with two victories, eight podiums, and one pole position. He also qualified seventh in his debut, with the same Swedish/British racing team Performance Racing, finishing ninth in the 2010 Macau Grand Prix Formula Three.
European Formula 3 Championship In 2011, Rosenqvist graduated to the Formula 3 Euro Series, with the Mücke Motorsport team, where he finished his rookie year fifth, with one win, ten podiums, and five fastest laps, and won the Masters of Formula 3.
In 2012, Rosenqvist finished third in the 2012 European Formula 3 Championship and finished second in Macau Grand Prix.
The year after, Rosenqvist narrowly missed out on the 2013 European Formula 3 Championship title to Raffaele Marciello, however, he won for a second time from the pole position, the Masters of Formula 3. he started the race from the front row, but collided with Raffaele Marciello and Pipo Derani to retire from the race in the first lap, in the Macau Grand Prix 2013.
In his fourth year with Mücke Motorsport, Rosenqvist finished eighth in the 2014 European Formula 3 Championship. He ended 2014 with a win from pole position ahead of teammate Lucas Auer in the Macau Grand Prix.
In 2015, Rosenqvist switched to Prema Powerteam, claiming the 2015 European Formula 3 Championship title with 13 victories, 24 podiums, and 17 pole positions. He would also take his second consecutive victory, again from pole position, in the 2015 Macau Grand Prix. His extended Formula 3 career meant that he would become the most successful Formula 3 racer of all time.
Indy Lights In February 2016, Rosenqvist announced that he would compete in the 2016 Indy Lights series for Belardi Auto Racing as he failed to bring the budget for a continued programme in GP2 Series with Prema Powerteam. Rosenqvist had a reduced programme in the series, competing in only ten of the eighteen races, as he later in the season would have clashing commitments with his sportscar programme with Mercedes-Benz in Europe. He scored three wins in his campaign. He had a successful test in IndyCar with Chip Ganassi Racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, saying he would be happy to return to the American racing scene later in his career.
GT Racing Rosenqvist joined the 2016 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup together with French Tristan Vautier, driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3 for AKKA-ASP Team, where they together scored one victory, three podiums out of the ten races and finished seventh in the overall standings. The same duo together with Renger van der Zande lined up for the classic 2016 24 Hours of Spa where they reached second place.
DTM Rosenqvist started 2016 with the role of official reserve driver, having continued his long partnership with Mercedes-Benz before being promoted to a race seat with one of the cars run by ART Grand Prix following Esteban Ocon's departure to Manor Racing in Formula One. He made an impressive debut in Moscow where he finished tenth and scored points in his first-ever race in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.
Formula E
In August 2016, it was announced that Rosenqvist would partner with former Formula One driver Nick Heidfeld at the Mahindra Formula E team for the 2016–17 Formula E season. On 10 June 2017, he won the first race at the Berlin ePrix. It would be the first victory for him, as well as for his team. At the end of 2018, he made his last race start in Formula E before moving on to the IndyCar Series.
Super Formula and Super GT Rosenqvist raced in the Super Formula series for the 2017 season with Team LeMans.
Rosenqvist raced in the Super GT series for the 2018 season with Team LeMans, the same team he raced in the Super Formula series the year before. He replaced Andrea Caldarelli's position in the team.
IndyCar Series Chip Ganassi Racing (2019) Subsequently, Rosenqvist signed with Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2019 IndyCar Series. He went on to win Rookie of the Year honors that year after finishing sixth in the championship standings. In the 2020 season, Rosenqvist won his first IndyCar race at the REV Group Grand Prix at Road America.
Arrow McLaren (2020–2023)
On 13 October 2020, it was announced Rosenqvist would leave CGR and join Arrow McLaren SP in 2021, replacing Oliver Askew in the organization's No. 7 entry.
On 12 June 2021, in the first race at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix weekend doubleheader, Rosenqvist suffered a significant crash on lap 28 as his car experienced a stuck throttle, and as a result, his car crashed hard into the wall. He did not suffer any life-threatening injuries, but was taken to a downtown Detroit hospital for further evaluation. Rosenqvist was released the following day from the hospital, but was not cleared to participate in the second Detroit race nor the following race a week later at Road America. He was replaced in those races by Oliver Askew and Kevin Magnussen, with Magnussen making his IndyCar debut.
Rosenqvist stayed with McLaren for 2022, and picked up his first podium with the team at Toronto. It was announced in September that he would also be driving for the team in 2023. Rosenqvist picked up three pole positions on the season at Texas, the IMS Road Course, and Laguna Seca. However, he was again unable to pick up a race win for Arrow McLaren, with his best finish on the season being second at Portland.
Meyer Shank Racing (2024–2026)
On 5 September 2023, Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) announced that Rosenqvist would drive the No. 60 Honda in a multi-year deal beginning in the 2024 season. In the early portion of the season, Rosenqvist led a significant uptick in performance at Meyer Shank Racing, starting near the front of the field at St. Petersburg and taking pole at Long Beach, the latter of which gave Meyer Shank Racing their first ever IndyCar pole position.
Rosenqvist then had a mid-season slump, including at the 2024 Indianapolis 500. He finished the season with 306 points, 12th in the standings. In 2025, he took a big step forward with MSR. He sat fourth in points after three races. At the 2025 Indianapolis 500, he qualified for the Firestone Fast Six, qualified fifth for the race, and finished fourth in the race. He then followed that up with a second at Road America after charging from 12th position, tying MSR's best non-Indy 500 result. He finished sixth in points with 372 pts.
In 2026, Rosenqvist had a rough first four races, finishing outside the top-ten in each of those races. Nonetheless, he earned the pole position at Long Beach and earned a podium finish. Rosenqvist started the month of May with a 23rd place DNF at the Indianapolis Road Course. For the Indianapolis 500, he was the fastest through the first two rounds of qualifying. His speed during qualification allowed him to earn a spot in the Firestone Fast Six, qualifying fourth for the race. Then, in what would be the closest finish in Indianapolis 500 history, he beat Penske's David Malukas to the yard of bricks by the closest of margins (0.0233 seconds) to win his first Indianapolis 500. At the end of June, Meyer Shank announced Rosenqvist's departure from the team at the conclusion of the season. On July 13, he went to the White House to help promote the Freedom 250 Grand Prix along with Álex Palou and Malukas.
Second stint at Arrow McLaren (2027–) For 2027, Rosenqvist will return to Arrow McLaren with Pato O'Ward and Scott Dixon. It was announced on September 22nd that he will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet for them.
Driving style Street circuits Rosenqvist is known to be a street circuit specialist, having won and earned poles at St. Petersburg, Toronto, Grand Prix de Pau, Norisring, Macau Grand Prix (two wins) and Long Beach, where he has started multiple times from the front row.
Personal life In November 2023, Rosenqvist became engaged to his long-term girlfriend Emille Sutt in Tanzania. They married on 24 September 2024 in Sweden and have one daughter, born 4 May 2026.
Racing record
Career summary SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPolesF/LapsPodiumsPointsPosition 2007 Asian Formula Renault Challenge March3 Racing 14 1 1 1 6 193 4th Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Trakstar Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 Asia March3 Racing 13 10 8 5 12 215 1st Asian Formula Renault Challenge 2 2 0 1 2 60 8th Formula Renault 2.0 Italy Prema Powerteam 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2009 Formula Renault 2.0 Sweden BS Motorsport 14 6 6 3 13 115 1st Formula Renault 2.0 NEZ 10 3 2 1 9 193 1st Formula Palmer Audi PalmerSport 3 2 0 2 2 48 21st2010 German Formula 3 Championship Performance Racing 18 2 1 0 8 83 5th 2011 Formula 3 Euro Series Mücke Motorsport 27 1 0 5 10 219 5th Masters of Formula 3 1 1 0 1 1 N/A 1st Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF 2012 Formula 3 Euro Series Mücke Motorsport 24 4 3 3 9 212.5 4th FIA Formula 3 European Championship 20 4 3 3 7 192 3rd Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 9th Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 2nd 2013 FIA Formula 3 European Championship Mücke Motorsport 30 10 4 10 18 457 2nd Masters of Formula 3 1 1 1 1 1 N/A 1st Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF 2014 FIA Formula 3 European Championship Mücke Motorsport 33 1 1 3 2 198 8th Macau Grand Prix 1 1 1 0 1 N/A 1st Formula Acceleration 1 Acceleration Team Sweden 4 2 1 2 3 73 5th 2015 FIA Formula 3 European Championship Prema Powerteam 33 13 16 13 24 518 1st Macau Grand Prix 1 1 1 1 1 N/A 1st 2016 Indy Lights Belardi Auto Racing 10 3 3 3 3 185 12th Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup AKKA ASP 10 1 1 1 3 51 7th Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup 1 0 0 0 1 18 23rd Intercontinental GT Challenge AMG – Team AKKA ASP 1 1 0 0 1 25 7th Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Mercedes-Benz DTM Team ART 8 0 0 0 0 5 25th ADAC GT Masters AMG – Team Zakspeed 2 0 0 0 0 13 37th IMSA SportsCar Championship – PC Starworks Motorsport 1 0 0 0 0 1 31st Macau Grand Prix Prema Powerteam 1 0 0 1 1 N/A 2nd 2016–17 Formula E Mahindra Racing 12 1 3 2 5 127 3rd 2017 Super Formula SUNOCO Team LeMans 7 0 0 2 3 28.5 3rd Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia Mtech Competition 4 3 4 3 3 0 NC† 24 Hours of Le Mans – LMP2 DragonSpeed – 10 Star 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 12th FIA GT World Cup Scuderia Corsa 0 0 0 0 0 N/A DNS 2017–18 Formula E Mahindra Racing 12 2 3 1 2 96 6th 2018 Super GT Lexus Team LeMans Wako's 7 0 0 0 1 41 10th IMSA SportsCar Championship – Prototype Jackie Chan DCR JOTA 1 0 0 0 0 20 55th Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup Ram Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup – Pro-Am 1 0 1 0 0 5 24th Porsche Supercup Dr. Ing h. c. F. Porsche AG 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC† 2018–19 Formula E Mahindra Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 25th 2019 IndyCar Series Chip Ganassi Racing 17 0 1 0 2 425 6th 2020 IndyCar Series Chip Ganassi Racing 14 1 0 2 1 306 11th 2021 IndyCar Series Arrow McLaren SP 14 0 0 0 0 205 21st Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia Porsche Experience Racing 2 0 1 0 2 38 14th 2022 IndyCar Series Arrow McLaren SP 17 0 2 0 1 393 8th Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia Porsche Experience Racing 2 0 1 0 0 8 25th 2023 IndyCar Series Arrow McLaren 17 0 2 1 2 324 12th 2024 IndyCar Series Meyer Shank Racing 18 0 1 0 1 306 12th IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2 United Autosports USA 1 0 0 0 0 226 55th2025 IndyCar Series Meyer Shank Racing 17 0 0 1 1 372 6th IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTP Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian 1 0 0 0 1 345 33rd 2026 IndyCar Series Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian 18 1 2 0 3 412 9th † As Rosenqvist was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points. Season still in progress