Felix Rosenqvist wins the 2026 Indy 500 in the closest race in history

Felix Rosenqvist jumped from third to first in a one-lap shootout to win the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500.

The 34-year-old Swede came out side-by-side with Meyer Shank Racing teammate Marcus Armstrong, and Team Penske’s David Markus made a dramatic push in the closing stages for a photo finish by 0.0233 seconds.

“What a car, what a car,” Rosenqvist said. “We were able to put two cars out there for the win, which is a very luxurious situation for us as a team. Thank you, Meyer Shank Racing, Honda… I think we had the best car today. We managed to control it in all situations. That last yellow helped. I didn’t get there, but it kind of worked out for me when I got back to third. Then I was able to do a flat out lap at the high line. That was the coolest way to win the Indy 500. I’m so glad I missed my wife and my new baby. I wish they were here with me. ”

Marcus held onto second place, and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin made a late push to move into third. He was clearly disappointed and spoke in tears after the race.

“I mean, I don’t know what else I could have done. We were the fastest car during the race. I don’t know. I gave 150%, almost crashed into this car every lap, and still ended up finishing second. It’s unbelievable. I don’t know what else I can give.”

Marcus added: “I give everything to this team. We’ve had a really great season this past month. They gave us a lot of support and gave me everything I needed. It’s unbelievable. But I’ll be back again. I’m going to give it 160% next time. Thank you to everyone here. It’s been an incredible race. Thank you to Team Penske and thank you to Roger Penske for believing in me when no one else did.”

Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward finished fourth, with Armstrong starting the one-lap shootout at the front before slipping into fifth.

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus Veekey finished sixth, ahead of last year’s Indy 500 winner Alex Palou. AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci was eighth and Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean was ninth. Two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato drove his one-time Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda to 10th place.

race

Pole sitter Palou led the way to the green flag, but it was Rossi who took the lead into Turn 1, and the two traded the top spot over the next few laps.

Rossi and Palou continued their back-and-forth exchange throughout the first 17 laps.

The first incident occurred on lap 18 when Arrow McLaren’s Ryan Hunter-Reay went off Turn 2 and crashed into the outside wall. Katherine Legge spun and hit the inside of AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet’s #51 HMD Motorsports as she tried to avoid the 2014 Indy 500 champion.

When the pits opened, the field was split as Palou pitted for service and was the first of the players off pit road to pit. However, Linus Veekay (Junkos Hollinger Racing) took the lead and restarted in 17th place, ahead of Romain Grosjean’s #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda.

At the restart on lap 26, Grosjean took the lead, followed by Colette. However, contact between Ed Carpenter and Sato caused the former to crash in Turn 1. Carpenter, the series’ only driver and owner, got out of the #33 ECR Chevrolet and pointed at Sato in obvious displeasure.

Vee Kay had the opportunity to pit on lap 29, and the restart took place two laps later. Collett took the lead shortly after, and Daly was in the lead by lap 34. Palou moved up to third place.

Grosjean jumped into the pit lane on lap 39, and Palou returned to the lead on lap 41 with Daly’s pass.

Palou was in the lead after 50 laps with a 0.2495 second lead over Daly.

After repeated pit stops, Palou passed Rosenqvist on lap 66. Dixon moved into second place and moved into the lead on lap 69. Dixon and Palou traded the lead in choreographed passes over the next few laps.

Will Power spun on lap 92 and later confirmed on the radio that his #26 Andretti Global Honda had “exploded.” Rossi came to the pits smoking from his #20 ECR Chevrolet as the track was covered in liquid and yellow flags were shown.

On lap 97 Dixon led the field into the pit lane, followed by Palou and Rosenqvist. Dixon won the race by pitting, with Palou second and Newgarden third. Rosenqvist fell to 7th place.

A red flag was brought out on lap 105 due to light rain forecast. Fortunately, it only took 12 minutes for the engine to restart.

Dixon led until the green flag restart on lap 110. A slow jump allowed Palou and Marcus to jump to the front. Dixon fell back to fifth place.

Meanwhile, Connor Daly made an outside pass of Newgarden in Turn 3 to move into third place. Despite a fast pace being set, the race was stopped by a yellow flag on lap 116 due to road conditions, with Marcus leading Palou and Daley.

Marcus led the field to a restart with 75 remaining, but was quickly put back on alert after teammate and two-time Indy 500 champion Josef Newgarden hit a curb in Turn 4 and spun. Newgarden’s #2 Team Penske Chevrolet collided with the wall on the left front, then the left tank hit the wall and snapped.

The pits opened on lap 131, and several takers, including Rosenqvist, O’Ward, and Santino Ferrucci, took a gamble on pitting with one more stop.

A heavy restart occurred on lap 132, and Marcus lost the lead to Daly as McLaughlin and Palou briefly went four widths into turn one. McLaughlin took the lead after two laps, Palou took the lead the next lap, and Daly settled for third. The trio continued to rotate the lead over the next few laps.

Marcus struggled by lap 147, sliding past Palou in Turn 1 and returning to the lead. Marcus and McLaughlin pitted at the end of the next lap, the latter overtaking the former after a quicker stop. On the next lap, Palou and Daley entered service.

Using a split strategy, Rosenqvist moved into the lead and held a 1.2-second advantage over second-place O’Ward with 46 seconds remaining. O’Ward was unable to improve his time as much as Rosenqvist and pitted with 36 laps remaining. Rosenqvist came back from the lead with 34 points remaining. However, O’Ward was able to jump first on the exit.

With 33 laps to go, Marcus returned to the lead, followed by Palou and McLaughlin. O’Ward and Rosenqvist were fourth and fifth, respectively.

With 25 laps remaining, Marcus relinquished the lead and jumped into the pit lane for service. Parow and McLaughlin came on the next lap and handed the lead to O’Ward.

Oward then cut through the backmarkers, but was told to conserve fuel and chose to remain behind Graham Rahal.

O’Ward moved around Rahal with 18 left, followed by Rosenqvist. Rosenqvist continued to pursue O’Ward as the laps progressed.

Rosenqvist passed the Yard of Bricks with 15 laps to go and finally took the lead.

However, with eight laps remaining, AJ Foyt Racing rookie Caio Colletto crashed heavily on the exit of Turn 2, prompting a caution. The entire right side of the No. 4 Chevrolet was crushed, and the contact knocked Caio Colletto into the inside wall. Fortunately, he was able to crawl out of the car despite the heavy impact.

Colette’s crash caused race control to issue a red flag.

After a 10-minute red flag, the cars returned to the track and prepared for the final push.

With four laps to go, Rosenqvist took the lead until the restart, with O’Ward in second, Armstrong in third, Marcus in fourth, Grosjean in fifth and Palou in sixth.

Armstrong went three-wide to take the lead into Turn 1, with Marcus following through to second place. A yellow flag was shown shortly after rookie Mick Schumacher made brief contact with the Turn 2 wall.

Race control judged it to be a green-white flag start with Armstrong leading Marcus and Rosenqvist.

Marcus took the lead as Armstrong and Rosenqvist fought side by side. Rosenqvist got past Armstrong and late surged Marcus to win by a nose at the line.

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– Motorsport.com Team