Arrow McLaren SP: Rosenqvist “doing what he needs” to retain IndyCar seat

Speaking in Detroit at a media conference with the team’s new signing for 2023 Alexander Rossi, and in light of last week’s announcement that Pato O’Ward was staying onboard through to 2025, Kiel was inevitably quizzed on whether Rosenqvist would retain his seat in the team.

“Felix is doing what he needs to do,” replied Kiel. “Us as a team, we're doing what we need to do. Again, there's been no secret that that team has taken a little bit of time to gel. We're seeing fantastic pace, good races. The Indy 500 was fantastic on a lot of fronts.”

Kiel later added: “I think Felix is a fantastic driver and he's a great fit for our team. Felix just needs to continue doing what he's doing. We're evaluating how to make our team better all the time. Felix is a part of that right now. As long as he's doing what he needs to do, and he knows what that is, he'll be driving for us. There's no secret about that.

“I'm proud of Felix. I think he does a great job. I'm expecting him to have a great weekend this weekend. He was very quick here last year. I'm just excited for Felix because I feel like he's in that group now, our team is in that group. He had a fantastic Indy 500. We'll see how the rest of the season goes.”

Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Kiel explained that the signing of Rossi had also removed the desire to run three cars this year, after the Indy 500, as was originally being considered by team management.

“I would say that the plans to run a third car a few times towards the end of the year was more an opportunity to evaluate, should we need it,” he said. “Obviously having Alex signed up eliminates the need for us to go to market and evaluate. I particularly don't want