Linus Lundqvist had a successful rookie season in IndyCar, winning the Rookie of the Year award for Chip Ganassi Racing.
The Swedish driver slowly built momentum over the season as he adjusted to IndyCar and much more pressure than in his junior career.
Lundqvist suffered a difficult start at the season opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg, finishing in 21st place and the last of the running cars.
He had some brief upturns in form, such as his third place at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama and another podium finish at Gateway.
After some difficult races in the middle of the year, Lundqvist gathered some consistency with points finishes at the Milwaukee Mile and Nashville Superspeedway.
Lundqvist explained to the IndyCar YouTube channel that one aspect of his IndyCar career was tricky to adjust to at Chip Ganassi Racing.
Linus Lundqvist found not winning races ‘incredibly hard’ in IndyCar after a successful junior career
Lundqvist had a very successful junior career, consistently winning races and fighting across various series at the front of the field.
He was competitive in England, winning races in British F4 before taking the British F3 title and moving to North America two years later.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver adjusted well to American racing. Lundqvist dominated the Formula Regional Americas Championship, taking victory in all but two races.
After winning the Indy NXT title and impressively understanding how to race on an oval, he headed into IndyCar.
This competitive junior career was different from IndyCar. He fought for top-10 finishes while struggling to match teammates Alex Palou and Scott Dixon.
Lundqvist explained that this was very difficult to understand as he lacked consistency over the IndyCar season, which was a new experience.
He said: “I think one of the hardest things that I had to go through was because you go through all the junior years, and you grow up winning races, getting poles [and] fighting for championships.
“Every championship that I’ve been in, I’ve been straight away fighting for a championship. So, for the first time ever, realising that I’m not there yet was incredibly hard. Like I said, when we pulled it together, we could be good. But consistently? No way.
“So, that was a big thing for me. And I think it took, honestly, all the year for me to realise and I think be happy if you did a good race, even if we finished 11th or 10th.”
This transition from consistently winning to battling for top-10 finishes may have been a mental struggle as it took Lundqvist a long time to adjust to his new objectives.
IndyCar seasons are much more demanding than in the junior categories
An IndyCar season is made up of 17 rounds and a very restricted schedule from March to September, as well as the demanding Month of May.
This can create a difficult situation for rookies who need to quickly adapt to added media attention and a bigger team around them.
Lundqvist had little knowledge about IndyCar’s intricacies before he began his first full season with Chip Ganassi Racing.
There is very little time to rest during the season, as the campaign continues through the Month of May and the Indy 500.
This can make it tricky for young drivers and hinder them from performing at their best on the circuit, as there is more responsibility in IndyCar.