Perusing the IndyCar points standings after the most recent round at Road America triggered an interesting thought.
Meyer Shank's Felix Rosenqvist is fourth in the championship. He's ahead - on countback - of Scott Dixon, who some felt Rosenqvist was never going to beat during their time shared at Ganassi (which they in turn felt was one of the key reasons he left). He's one spot behind another former team-mate, Pato O'Ward, when some thought Rosenqvist leaving McLaren spelled the end of his time at the top table.
It was never likely that Rosenqvist would care what others made of his decisions. But as he's one of the most interesting talkers in the IndyCar field, The Race thought it best to ask him what he makes of the above observations, interpretations of his career moves, and how he's matching (if not bettering) what he was doing with those top teams at a new one that he's determined to thrust into the upper echelon.
"Everything happens for a reason, right?" he says. "Me being at Ganassi and then leaving then was probably the wrong choice. I'm definitely willing to admit that with hindsight.
"But I had my years at McLaren which I think I learned a lot [during] as well. I had one really tough year that just getting through was very important as well for building character basically.
"I got to work with Pato. He was an extremely quick driver. He pushed me very hard. And then things led me to Meyer Shank and I honestly couldn't ask for anything different at this point.
"I love working with the team. I feel like Mike [Shank] and Jim [Meyer] and everyone there is just fully trusting my abilities. They're behind me. They believe in me.
"There hasn't been a thing that I've asked of them that they haven't been willing to organise or sort for me just to make me feel more comfortable or competitive or whatever.
"So I love the situation I'm in and I really wouldn't want it any other way.
"Even if the road there you can always take different steps on the way and some of those steps were probably wrong, it doesn't matter today because I'm where I want to be."
It's safe to say all parties are very happy with the situation and that's set to continue for a long time into the future.
Rosenqvist has been given the chance to be the main focus in a team for the first time, no longer trying to wrestle with an established superstar for the spotlight.
Finishing second at Road America was a big boost to Rosenqvist's points, but being taken out when Louis Foster's suspension failed in Detroit and an unsafe release penalty at Gateway that he still doesn't agree with have hurt. Beyond that, Rosenqvist's been in the top 10 at every other race bar Barber, where, in his words, "I was just very slow all weekend". Typically brutally honest.
Meyer Shank has worked hard to improve its pitstops (which is a project years in the making), and its new technical tie-up with Ganassi - replacing a previous link-up with Andretti - has obviously helped because Ganassi is in scintillating form with Alex Palou this year.
A lack of DNFs and executing race strategy and pitstops well is what brings consistent results in IndyCar, and MSR is certainly doing that. It looks better than ever before, personally speaking.
Rosenqvist's big targets for the rest of the season are to claim the team's second ever race win - after the 2021 Indianapolis 500 with Helio Castroneves - and to try to avoid DNFs. He's picked out Iowa - as the sole double-header remaining - as a crucial weekend later this month and was encouraged by a test there on June 25.
One of the unsung heroes behind Rosenqvist's form is Ross Bunnell, Dixon's former engineer who came over from Dale Coyne Racing with a lot of people singing his praises.
He joined Shank this year and has built a good working relationship with Rosenqvist.
"He's actually younger than I am, I like to give him s*** for that," laughs 33-year-old Rosenqvist, who's keen to talk seriously about Bunnell too.
"He's extremely intelligent and I feel like he's one of the engineers that really tries to think outside the box and try new things.
"I think there's a lot of really, really good engineers that can do a great job with the tools they have in their toolbox and Ross is more of a guy that always tries to [think], 'How can we push things further, how can we invent the next dominant set-up?' or whatever.
"And it's pretty cool to work with someone like that who's always looking for more, basically, not just trying to tune the car. Where can we really find new performance? More like a Formula 1 kind of thinking, I guess."
Speak to basically anyone working at Shank and it's clear that the team is happy with this form. But you get the feeling that, while some other teams would indulge in this, everyone at Shank is already laser-focused on the next goal. Finished second? Great, go and win now! You get the picture.
It had a similarly strong start to last season although it fell apart quickly with a lot of mechanical issues and suchlike from the Indy 500 onwards. This year, the form has stood up for longer.
"I think the speed is always there," adds Rosenqvist about his chances for the rest of the year.
"We're always up there, around the top 10, most of the sessions. So just keep driving like we're doing and focus on those little details and that should lead to more podiums and hopefully a win as well."
