Just one month to the day after Felix Rosenqvist won the 110th running of the Indy 500, Meyer Shank Racing announced that he will not return to the team for the 2027 NTT IndyCar Series season.
Entering the year, Rosenqvist was thought to be among those on the hot seat, needing a strong year behind the wheel of the No. 60 Honda to justify an extension.
Skip ahead a couple of months, and he has opted to leave on his own terms, making him the first reigning Indy 500 winner since Takuma Sato in 2017 to leave his team at the end of the same year.
While Meyer Shank Racing's focus is now on replacing the Indy 500 champion and making sure rising star Marcus Armstrong doesn't also get away, the big question is this: where will the 34-year-old Swede compete next year? Here are three possible landing spots.
Andretti Global
Andretti Global seems to be the frontrunner for Rosenqvist's services at the moment, with Marcus Ericsson in a contract year behind the wheel of the No. 28 Honda and no indications of an extension coming his way, even amid a significant uptick in form from his first two seasons with the team.
This would almost feel like a lateral move for all parties involved, although in some ways, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Andretti Global hasn't won the Indy 500 since 2017, and Rosenqvist, like Ericsson, is a recent Indy 500 winner but one who has endured a lengthy multi-year win drought. Both are also mid-30s drivers from Sweden who own top finishes of sixth in the championship and just one win since May 2022.
Rosenqvist's main advantage would appear to be outright pace, as he owns seven career pole positions, compared to Ericsson's one. He hasn't started lower than third row of the Indy 500 since 2021.
Arrow McLaren
Sure, Rosenqvist was not re-signed by Arrow McLaren for the 2024 season, and had Alex Palou joined the team in 2023 as initially planned, he would have been the odd man out at that point as well.
But when Palou opted to stay at Chip Ganassi Racing for 2024 as well, there was a belief that Arrow McLaren actually wanted to retain Rosenqvist, if the sponsors who demanded an "A-level" driver would allow it. In the meantime, wanting to shore up his own future, Rosenqvist landed his Meyer Shank Racing ride instead.
Arrow McLaren could have one or two seats open for 2027. Nolan Siegel is most definitely out, after two-plus years of subpar performance, and the team have somehow yet to extend Christian Lundgaard's contract. The Lundgaard situation, given the year he is having, would seem to hint that he hasn't ruled out moving elsewhere, rather than an indication that the team is willingly stalling.
The one downside here is the fact that Rosenqvist struggled during his initial three-year stint with the team, scoring just three podium finishes and posting an average championship finish of 13.7, including 21st in 2021.
Chip Ganassi Racing
This particular reunion is more of a longshot, and it depends on Scott Dixon actually leaving Chip Ganassi Racing, which is not guaranteed simply by the fact that he is now reportedly allowed to talk to other teams.
And if he does, Lundgaard would make by far the most sense as his replacement. He is responsible for both of Arrow McLaren's wins and both of their other podium finishes this season. McLaren cornerstone Pato O'Ward has been vocal about his frustration with the cars, but Lundgaard is doing just fine.
Additionally, the technical alliance between Chip Ganassi Racing and Meyer Shank Racing would make the timing of Rosenqvist's departure announcement a bit odd, if that's the move he's actually planning on making.
Still, let's not forget that Chip Ganassi Racing never wanted to lose Rosenqvist to begin with, following his 2019 Rookie of the Year campaign and his 2020 Road America win.
It was his decision to join Arrow McLaren for the 2021 season, and it was that decision which allowed the team to go out and take a swing on then-Dale Coyne Racing rookie Palou, who has since won four of five championships and also leads this year's standings.
There's no telling whether Rosenqvist's decision this time around will have a similar domino effect, but the departure announcement is most definitely the first of many dominoes at play in this year's IndyCar silly season.
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