Felix Rosenqvist won the Indianapolis 500 in the closest finish in race history, holding off David Malukas by 0.0233 seconds after a late sequence of restarts, yellows, and a dramatic red flag involving Indy 500 rookie Caio Collet.
INDIANAPOLIS — Felix Rosenqvist swung to the outside of David Malukas, cleared the Team Penske driver with about the final 50 feet of racing, and then watched the clock come down on a victory that came down to fractions.
On Sunday, Rosenqvist won the Indianapolis 500 by 0.0233 seconds, the closest finish in the race’s history. It was a margin so thin that, for Malukas, the race ended just as it seemed to open in his favor.
Malukas looked set for the win when he passed race leader Marcus Armstrong off the final restart with one lap remaining. Armstrong and Rosenqvist—both from Meyer Shank Racing—had been battling wheel to wheel down the back straightaway and through the fourth and final turn. Rosenqvist had just enough power to pull away from Armstrong, then slip behind Malukas before making the deciding outside pass.
Rosenqvist said the difference felt like more than speed. “The last five years I’ve been in the front and I’ve had a good enough car to probably win it, but today there was just something more,” he said. “It was an absolute rocket this month and year; it was still there in the race.”
It was Rosenqvist’s second career win in 120 IndyCar races, and it arrived after his recent first child’s birth. His previous win was on July 12, 2020, at Road America, but Sunday marked his first victory on an oval. Rosenqvist also joined Kenny Brack and Marcus Ericsson as the only Swedes to win the Indianapolis 500.
The finish beat the closest previous Indy 500, set in 1992 when Al Unser Jr. beat Scott Goodyear across the yard of bricks by 0.043 seconds.
The wild ending was shaped by a day already turned upside down by interruptions. The first red flag came with seven laps to go after a scary crash involving Indy 500 rookie Caio Collet. Flames billowed out of the side of his car as it skidded to a stop in the grass. After a 10-minute delay. racing resumed with Armstrong and Malukas moving past the top two cars—Rosenqvist and Pato O’Ward.
Then. with 3 1/2 laps left. another yellow flag came out when Mick Schumacher—son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher—brushed the wall in Turn 2. On the final restart. Lap 200. Malukas sling-shotted his way past Armstrong for the lead and started to pull away from the two Meyer Shank Racing cars.
Rosenqvist caught Malukas in time to strike at the end, and he celebrated by sipping milk before dumping it over his head. Malukas, 24 and an American, was consoled by his father in pit lane.
Malukas’ teammate Scott McLaughlin finished third, while Rosenqvist’s best friend in racing, O’Ward, came home fourth. O’Ward entered the weekend with two runner-up finishes and a third place in the past four years.
For Malukas, the question wasn’t about effort—it was about options. “I just don’t know what else we could have done,” he said. “We were driving 150% that whole time. We had the fastest car out there, loved that whole race. It was ours to win and I knew that, so I just never pushed like that my whole life.”.
Armstrong finished fifth, and after the final sequence, he looked back on the decision he made when Rosenqvist’s pass attempt became inevitable. “I was given two options: either I lift or I crash with Felix,” said Armstrong. “I chose to lift. I don’t know if I could have done anything different.”
Even the race conditions had their own momentum. It was a strange day at the 2.5-mile Brickyard. There was a 12-minute rain delay near the midway point. and the threat of more rain the rest of the afternoon changed strategies throughout the day. At one point. it looked like Rosenqvist and O’Ward had an advantage over the final 25 laps because of pit strategy.
But as the field shuffled with timing and caution periods, Malukas and McLaughlin fought their way back into contention. Defending Indy champion and pole winner Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing faded to seventh. Palou led the most laps with 59, recorded the most on-track passes with 60, and retained the points lead.
In the standings, Malukas passed Kyle Kirkwood for second. The Chicago native trails the four-time series champion and 2025 Indy winner by 40 points.
The rain never returned until after Rosenqvist had already finished celebrating—turning the last part of the afternoon into something even harder to predict than the final pass.
Indy 500 Felix Rosenqvist David Malukas Marcus Armstrong Pato O'Ward Scott McLaughlin Mick Schumacher Caio Collet Alex Palou Indianapolis IndyCar