ARLINGTON, Texas — Penalties can be so, so cruel, especially for Felix Rosenqvist.
The Swede crossed the finish line of the NTT IndyCar Series’ inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington on Sunday (March 15) in sixth place, having run in the top 10 for nearly the entirety of the 70-lap race and even leading seven laps before Kyle Kirkwood was victorious.
However, an early pass on a late-race restart meant that Rosenqvist was classified 20th following a penalty from INDYCAR race control that dropped the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda down the running order.
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“I felt like everything kind of clogged up, and I went out of line to avoid running into David [Malukas] because it just stopped quick and unexpected,” Rosenqvist told Frontstretch. “And so I kind of passed him without really wanting to pass him, and then I thought they would do a swap and then [they] just gave me a penalty afterward, so yeah.
“It’s one of the most frustrating things ever, to be honest, just to have that after the race. But yeah, I can only blame myself for doing it.”
Rosenqvist was behind Malukas as the field went back to green with one lap to go following a full course yellow for the stalled car of Christian Rasmussen. As the field approached Turn 14, Rosenqvist went to Malukas’s right to pass the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet.
However, drivers are not allowed to pass one another until driving past the restart line, which was just after the final corner.
Per the INDYCAR rulebook, Rule 7.7.1.3.1: “For Road/Street Course Events, once the Green Condition is declared, all Car(s) must maintain their respective Track positions until reaching the designated restart line prior to the start/finish line.”
Because the infraction happened as the field was starting the final lap of the race, race control issued a post-race penalty to put Rosenqvist to the rear of the cars that finished on the lead lap, as there was no time to assess a penalty during the race.
That penalty dropped Rosenqvist 14 positions in the lineup and drew criticism from Scott Dixon, who was moved up to eighth as a result of the penalty.
“Unfortunately, I think Felix [Rosenqvist] got a penalty there with passing before the control line,” Dixon told Frontstretch. “Which, man, it was pretty brutal, honestly, to put them at the back of the pack. They [INDYCAR] probably need to work on the guidelines for penalties.”
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Shortly after Rosenqvist’s pass, race control called for a full-course yellow for a collision involving Kyffin Simpson, Nolan Siegel and Romain Grosjean, which resulted in Siegel’s and Grosjean’s cars being stopped together heading into Turn 14.
The last time race control assessed a jumping the restart penalty was in 2022 at the Nashville street circuit, when Kirkwood jumped the lap 55 restart. Kirkwood was running 10th at the time and had moved up to eighth by the time he got to the finish line. Race control issued Kirkwood a two-position penalty for that infraction, as it had occurred with 25 laps to go.
