Indycar driver says no to F1 midfield seat
Swedish driver Felix Rosenqvist says he has little interest in launching a Formula 1 career.
"Formula 1? No thank you. I want to win races," he told the Swedish newspaper Expressen.
Rosenqvist, 28, had a highly promising junior career in Europe, winning the European F3 title in 2015, back-to-back wins at Macau, and testing a GP2 car.
But together with former F1 driver and manager Stefan Johansson, he opted instead to head to America where in 2019 he became Indycar's rookie of the year driving for Chip Ganassi.
This year, he will be joined at the top Indycar team by former F1 driver and 2019 Alfa Romeo tester Marcus Ericsson, who is also managed by Johansson.
"I like that Indy is a little rougher (than F1)," Rosenqvist said. "It is a little tougher with different types of circuits - whoever wins the championship is really a complete driver."
In contrast, he says life as a midfield driver in Formula 1 would be less satisfying.
"I don't want to drive somewhere where I can't win," said the Swede. "If you are not in the right team in Formula 1, you cannot win.
"I can say that if I really, really wanted to race for a bad team in F1 then I would have done it, but I never wanted to."
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I understand the Brit/Euro attitude about F1 superiority. I once shared it. My advice, try watching a few Indycar races. Solid tracks, great races and multiple winners. Good stuff.
That's a pretty bold statement, as for one year of Indy and only PlayStation-F1-experience
Which of his statements is bold?
Way I look at it is if Lewis Hamilton started and finished his career in Indy car racing I'd feel it would have been a wasted career compared to F1
If Lewis Hamilton had switched to Indy at any point I'd just think to myself 'what a waste of talent'. The only drivers in Indy are failed ones, retired ones and ones that can't get/afford an F1 seat.
I agree completely. It is my opinion that L Hamilton would not have 6 championships if he were driving one of the other eight team cars. Felix is smart in that if he wants to win, drive a car that is at least even with the others. That does remove him from the pinnacle of open wheel racing, but that is his choice.
Whilst I agree he may not have had 6 championships he clearly makes the car better by driving it the way he does. He must have also helped in that development over time with his experiences and the way he talks to his engineers etc. The same was true of Shumi, Ferrari were rubbish until he moved there and helped them become the superior force for so many years
Indy Car is getting better every year and I am enjoying it as much or more than F1.
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