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Watch: Lando Norris Congratulates Felix Rosenqvist After the Most Insane Last Lap in Indy 500 History
Lando Norris had a day to bury in Montreal – McLaren‘s bet on intermediate tyres collapsed, gearbox trouble ended any remaining hope, and the reigning world champion walked away from the Canadian Grand Prix with nothing.
His response was to board a plane to Indianapolis. There he linked up with Daniel Ricciardo and Conor Daly to absorb the chaotic end of the Indy 500.
It was also his first time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Good timing, as it turned out.
Felix Rosenqvist had just delivered a daring outside move past David Malukas to win the closest finish in Indy 500 history by 0.0233 seconds – his first oval win across 120 IndyCar starts. He and teammate Marcus Armstrong had run side by side for 23 seconds, spanning all the way from the middle of Turn 1 to the entrance of Turn 4.
Footage shot outside the paddock at IMS captured Norris, orange McLaren polo, cap on backwards, walking up to Rosenqvist, still in his Meyer Shank Racing whites and winner’s wreath, and pulling him into a hug.
The Two of Them Broke It Down Right There on the Asphalt
What followed was one a discussion between now-motorsport royalty. Norris, visibly stunned, stepped back from the embrace and swore at the sheer lunacy of what he’d just watched:
“[Inaudible]… F-ck. That’s on the final lap, man. Even on the straight…”
Rosenqvist replied: “I can’t even describe it.”
And then, still standing there with his hands on his hips, Norris started picking the lap apart the way a racing driver would – not out of politeness, but because he genuinely wanted to understand it. He asked how long they were running side by side. Rosenqvist corrected him: not Turn 1 to Turn 3, but Turn 1 to Turn 4.
“Side by side pretty much.”
“…what, from one to three, right?”
“Uh, one to four. I was on the outside of three and just… yeah. And I’d never done that. I never, ever tried it before, so…”
Rosenqvist had said as much in his post-race press conference: “I’ve never been flat around… To do the whole lap on the outside, that was pretty cool. It’s kind of unheard of at Indy.”
Running the high line for a full lap at a place as unforgiving as Indianapolis – against your own teammate, no less – and doing it for the first time, in the last lap of the race, to win by the width of a shadow.
It was the first time since 1993 that a reigning Formula 1 world champion had been at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the Month of May, and Norris clearly wasn’t going to waste the visit.
Rosenqvist had said after the race that following the birth of his daughter Stella 20 days prior, he already felt like he’d won the month of May.
Getting the actual trophy on top of that is the kind of story that writes itself. Norris, fresh off a weekend he’d rather forget, showed up at exactly the right track at exactly the right moment – and the look on his face said everything about what he’d just seen.
