The journeyman ready to rock IndyCar

He's an IndyCar Series rookie with a dream drive at Chip Ganassi Racing in 2019, but Felix Rosenqvist could have taken the same opportunity last year. So when the offer came up again this time around, he wasn't going to turn it down. "I realised that I've been lucky enough to get this chance two years in a row now, and I really wanted to take it because I might not get it again," he reflects. "Going with Chip is just something I had to do."

The reason why he couldn't go IndyCar for 2018 was that, by the time it became apparent that there was a potential berth alongside the great Scott Dixon, Rosenqvist was already committed to Formula E: "I had a contract with Mahindra. I was happy in Formula E. It was not an easy decision. Obviously I'd always wanted to do IndyCar, but at the time I was doing well in Formula E, and why would I leave this? The decision at that point was to stay put - 'There's no reason to do anything stupid now, let's just stay in Formula E and see what happens'."

The whole Ganassi gig is something in which Rosenqvist's manager Stefan Johansson has been instrumental. The older Swede has looked after Dixon since the Kiwi burst onto the Indy Lights scene with his Johansson Motorsports team in 1999. He started giving Rosenqvist friendly advice after his rookie European Formula 3 season in 2011, and the relationship became formal around the time of his maiden Macau Grand Prix victory in 2014. With strong links to Japan and the US from his own racing career, Johansson initially tried to steer Rosenqvist to the East, but his new protege was in debt after ekeing out four years in Euro F3.

"At the time when Stefan and I started working, there was already so much stuff that I had brought from the past," he alludes.

Lance Stroll's father Lawrence - the Prema Powerteam majority shareholder - gave Rosenqvist a debt-clearing lifeline in 2015 and he romped to the Euro F3 title, and further Macau glory (below). Now, for 2016, Johansson took him West - to Indy Lights.

"That was something that probably personally I wouldn't have put highest on my list at that time," admits Rosenqvist, "but we gave it a shot and I remember Stefan saying, 'You never know what it could lead to, and you might get a test with some of the big teams in IndyCar if you do well'. And that's exactly what happened and that's why I'm with Chip today, so that's pretty cool."

Remember, 2016 was the year when the go-anywhere, drive-anything Rosenqvist had an insanely busy schedule. He dovetailed Indy Lights with a Mercedes campaign in Blancpain GT, in which he wrested second in the Spa 24 Hours and a Sprint Cup race win. Merc also called him up to replace Formula 1-bound Esteban Ocon in the DTM; at this point his Lights campaign was terminated, but he'd done enough to earn a crucial IndyCar test with Ganassi - and, it's worth mentioning, he had a DTM grid average two positions higher than that of Ocon. Two years earlier, the penniless Rosenqvist had been making arduous roadtrips to F3 races from Sweden with his mate. Now he'd laid the foundations to become a newly minted professional, joining the racing diaspora in Monaco.

By the time he made his DTM debut, Rosenqvist had already set the ball rolling on his 2019 deal with a hugely impressive first IndyCar test at Mid-Ohio in July 2016.

"IndyCar had a rookie test, where the teams could get another test day if they used an Indy Lights driver for half a test day," he explains. "So I had to share the car with Scott, but I had to drive more than Scott that day. They put me in for the morning and I drove 120 laps or something, then Scott drove the rest of the day. It was a win-win for everyone. I had good momentum at that time - I came from two straight [Lights] wins in Toronto, and that's where it all happened."

"Whenever I come into a new championship, my first target is always to take a win" Felix Rosenqvist

So, 120 laps at Mid-Ohio... That must've been tough! "The IndyCar is a very physical car because it doesn't have power-steering. But at the time I was very fit because I was driving so much - that's the year where I did, like, everything that had four wheels. And I did a lot of stuff with Prema [helping Stroll's Euro F3 title success] at the time. So I was formula-car fit, and it wasn't really any problem for me. But I would say that when I had my first test since I signed my Indy contract, at Barber a couple of months ago, that's where I really had gone unfit and I got a wake-up call!"

In 2017, this time while he was racing in Japan's Super Formula series, Rosenqvist took part in the same Mid-Ohio test, again with Ganassi - and now the team began raving about him: "It went even better. All the points where... I wouldn't say I'd struggled, but the points I needed to work on, seemed to be a lot better. That's where every one of us decided to say, 'Well, let's make something happen'."

And now it has happened. Many observers of the sport would go so far as to suggest that the Ganassi line-up of Dixon and Rosenqvist is at least on a par with that of all but a very few F1 teams. Dixon prevaricated a little before committing for 2019, but elected to stay with Ganassi as he bids for his sixth IndyCar crown, as part of an all-Johansson-managed driver line-up.

"I was really happy when he renewed his contract because I was signed before him," says Rosenqvist.

"I found it really important for him to be there because there's just so much to learn from a guy like Scott. He's one of those guys like... when you nail a lap and then you compare it against him... well, by my standards I know normally when I've beaten someone, but he will always surprise you and be better somewhere, and is always pushing the limits every session. He's the kind of guy that whenever he's in the car he's just going for it, no matter if it's a test, quali or race - it's in his blood to push all the time.

"He's also a super guy - he's not playing any mind tricks, as drivers can. I'm pretty lucky to have him as a team-mate. I would also consider myself to be a straight-to-the-point kind of guy when it comes to the racing, and I try always to work with my team-mates to make everything better. He seems to be of the same philosophy, so I think it's going to be a good match."

There's no reason why Rosenqvist, who has already tested for Ganassi's parallel Ford GT endurance programme "in case they have somebody injured, so I could be there", can't be ready to win on road or street circuits from the off. But the 27-year-old is not one for bold self-proclamations.

He puffs, then considers: "Well, I think the benchmark has to be Robert [Wickens, Rosenqvist's 2016 DTM team-mate] last year. He didn't win a race but he was close already in his first one. I wouldn't say anything now - I know it's a big task ahead. But if you feel quick and it works from free practice onwards, there's no reason why you shouldn't go for a win. Whenever I come into a new championship, my first target is always to take a win. It doesn't matter how or when, or if you're quick or if it's luck. But I feel there's always something changing after you take your first win."

Chances are it won't come on an oval though. By his own admission, Rosenqvist struggled at Phoenix and Indianapolis during his Lights campaign: "Leaving Indy Lights, I felt like you can be two kinds of driver. You can be the one who says, 'OK, I was shit on ovals and I will never go back because that's my weakness'. Or you can be the guy who's staying up awake at night because he wasn't good at ovals. And it bothered me a lot, and that was one of the big reasons why I decided to give IndyCar a shot, because I couldn't feel like a complete driver if I couldn't make myself good on ovals.

"That's definitely the big thing this year. I've been on the simulator - I haven't driven an actual oval yet - but I think it went pretty good, basically starting from zero. I feel like there's a lot of things that I didn't learn back then in the Indy Lights days that I already know now. These guys have the possibility to really prepare me well - it's a different approach now. It's going to be exciting to see how it goes!"

It will be. Dixon's now 38, and can't go on forever. In being offered the seat alongside him as a paid pro, Rosenqvist is clearly viewed as Ganassi's man for the future. Once he gets the hang of those ovals - and he will - he'll never have to bother with a Formula E contract.