After two years at Chip Ganassi Racing in which he delivered the 2019 Rookie of the Year title, a win and two other podiums, he will take over the #7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet from Oliver Askew, as revealed here a couple of weeks ago.
Rosenqvist will get his first run in the car during the Barber Motorsports Park test on Nov. 2. It will be his first opportunity to work alongside team incumbent and new teammate Patricio O’Ward in the team co-owned by Sam Schmidt, Ric Peterson and McLaren.
“I can’t wait to take the next step in my career and join Arrow McLaren SP,” said the Swede who turns 29 next week. “The team has shown itself to be a consistent challenger this year and I’m looking forward to working with Pato to help take it forward. I want to thank Sam, Ric, Zak [Brown, McLaren CEO], and the entire team for giving me this opportunity and I’m already working to be as prepared as possible for next season. It’s going to be fun.”
Said Schmidt: “We’ve been watching Felix since he came over to Indy Lights in 2016 and have been constantly impressed by his performance over the past two years. We think that he and Pato complement each other well and together we believe they will help us on our journey forward as a team.”
Added Brown: “It’s not very often that you get the opportunity to combine two young, established talents like Pato and Felix. I think this pairing gives us a strong driver lineup and I’m excited to see what they can do together on and off the track.”
O’Ward, who finished fourth in the 2020 championship with his fourth podium of the season last weekend in St. Petersburg, also said he was looking forward to working with Rosenqvist, who has won in Formula E, Blancpain GT, FIA Formula 3 and Indy Lights, as well as IndyCar.
“I am looking forward to working alongside Felix. He is a driver I truly respect, in and out of the car, and I’m sure we will work well together,” said O’Ward. “I think we can learn a lot from each other to develop the strongest package possible at every race weekend together with the team.”
Rosenqvist’s replacement in the #10 Ganassi entry will be former Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh driver Alex Palou, and an announcement is expected later today.