Rosenqvist Awake and Alert After Turn 6 Shunt in Detroit GP Race No. 1

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer

Felix Rosenqvist is awake and alert after an apparent stuck throttle resulted in a violent impact towards the Turn 6 barriers in Saturday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

Dr. Geoffrey Billows issued a statement regarding Rosenqvist’s conditions at 3:15 p.m. ET:

“He never lost consciousness and was talking the entire time. He was having some soreness, but no loss of sensation anywhere or functions.

“We were able to get him out of the car and bring him to the infield care center for preliminary evaluation. He’s been stable. Vitals have been good. We’re sending him to the downtown hospital for advanced imaging and more definitive evaluation.”

The accident took place on Lap 25 when Rosenqvist was running in 10th until everything went wrong with his No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. The impact ended in catastrophic proportions, damaging the tire barriers, a portion of the wall and fencing.

It left INDYCAR Race Control with no choice but to stop the race on Lap 28, the first since Pocono in 2019. All of that was irrelevant because everyone’s eyeballs were on Rosenqvist’s well being.

Fortunately, the onboard camera shown him conscious as the AMR Safety Team patiently got him out of his wrecked car. Rosenqvist was first taken to the infield medical care center as track workers began repairing the barriers. The red flag was lifted after 80 minutes with the race resuming shortly thereafter.

Dr. Billows mentioned had Rosenqvist’s injuries had reached a point to where it’s life or limb threatening, the medical staff wouldn’t have gone to the medical center right away.

Saturday’s red flag was the fourth time involving Rosenqvist in the last five INDYCAR stoppages. This includes the multi-car crash in Turn 3 in the 103rd Indianapolis 500, ending his race. He was also involved in the last Belle Isle red flag in 2019 when he crashed in Turn 1 in the closing laps of Race No. 2.

Months later, Rosenqvist was collected in a multi-car crash at Pocono which saw him hit some of the Turn 2 fence. The only time he wasn’t involved in a red flag in recent memory was when rain ended that same race after 128 laps.

UPDATES: Dr. Billows gave an update before 9 p.m. ET, saying Rosenqvist was transferred to Detroit Receiving Hospital. He’ll be observed overnight before being discharged from the hospital.

Former Arrow McLaren SP driver Oliver Askew will fill-in for Rosenqvist during tomorrow’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Race No. 2. Live coverage begins at Noon ET on NBC.