IndyCar: Will a rookie win a race in the 2019 season?

A rookie driver has not won an IndyCar race since Alexander Rossi won the Indianapolis 500 in 2016. Will this change in the 2019 season?

The last time a rookie driver won an IndyCar race was in the 2016 season when Andretti Herta Autosport’s Alexander Rossi stretched his final tank of fuel to earn an upset victory in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Will this change in the 2019 season?

A total of five rookies are set to compete full-time in the 2019 season, and they are set to drive for four different teams. Marcus Ericsson is set to drive the #7 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda while Felix Rosenqvist is set to drive the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Santino Ferrucci is set to drive the #19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda while Patricio O’Ward is set to drive the #8 Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda and Colton Herta is set to drive the #88 Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda.

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The rookie class of 2019 is as deep as it has been in a long time, and with rookies making up nearly one-quarter of the full-time field, the 2019 season could very well feature IndyCar’s first rookie race winner since Rossi back in the 2016 season.

All five of these rookies are capable of winning races, especially considering the fact that they are all set to drive Honda-powered cars following a season that resulted in Honda drivers representing all five of the full-time Honda teams combining to earn 11 victories while Chevrolet drivers representing only one of the five full-time Chevrolet teams combined to earn six victories.

Honda drivers had not previously earned more victories than Chevrolet drivers in a single season since Chevrolet returned the sport in the 2012 season.

Ericsson is an experienced former Formula 1 driver, which is what Rossi was heading into the 2016 season, while Rosenqvist is an experienced former Indy Lights and Formula E driver. They are set to drive for two of the top teams in IndyCar, so it would not be surprising to see them have success early and often in the 2019 season.

Ferrucci showed flashes of potential in the first four starts of his IndyCar career in the 2018 season, so it would also not be surprising to see the former Haas Formula 1 test and reserve driver have success in a full-time role as the teammate to four-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais.

Finally, O’Ward and Herta are coming off the 2018 Indy Lights season that resulted in them finishing in first and second place in the championship standings with nine and four victories, respectively.

Both drivers made their IndyCar debuts in the 2018 season finale at Sonoma Raceway driving for the then Chevrolet-powered Harding Racing team, and O’Ward was particularly impressive. He qualified for the race in fifth place and finished it in ninth, Harding Racing’s best result of the season, despite the fact that he struggled with tire management early on in the race.

By the time the 2019 season wraps up, expect at least one of these rookie drivers to have found victory lane, thus making Rossi’s 2016 Indianapolis 500 victory no longer than most recent victory by a rookie driver.

Will IndyCar see its first rookie race winner since Alexander Rossi won the 2016 Indianapolis 500 in the 2019 season? If so, which rookie or rookies will find victory lane this year? The 17-race 2019 season is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, March 10 from the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, and it is scheduled to last for just over six months. Be sure not to miss any of the 17 races on the 2019 schedule.