In the space of a month, Linus Lundqvist went from the sidelines with no ride to a fully paid-up member of the IndyCar team which won the championship this year.
It’s been an incredible journey, and the INDY NXT champion joins Podium Life to discuss what makes him tick.
Having scored the big seat, and now he has to deliver under the expectation of being team-mates with the likes of Alex Palou and Scott Dixon, it’s going to be a tough year, but Swede Lundqvist is ready for it.
Learn more about the rookie with this Race Weekend Essentials feature, where we learn what are his absolute must-haves to perform on and off track.
What’s the one item you can’t home leave without?
I think the other easy answer is obviously headphones and especially when travelling. I forgot my headphones once at home when travelling, man, it was the worst trip of my life. So yeah, definitely headphones.
It’s important for the noise cancelling when travelling. I have the Bose QC35 II. I’ve had them for a year or two and they’re good, because they’re great on planes, but also good if you’re in the mood to play some music before a race to get in your zone, I use it for that as well.
So is there like a particular song or playlist you use for races, then?
Yeah, it’s funny, before each weekend, I usually pick a song that’s going to be my song for the weekend. Before a race, I listen to it on repeat for like 10 minutes and it kind of gets me in the mood.
Driving to the track in the morning, I’ll have this one song playing over and over. But I can only have it for one weekend, because then I get really tired of it because I played it so much, so I have to change it up every single weekend.
Do you remember what you chose for your first IndyCar race at Nashville earlier this year?
Yeah, I did. Actually, it was the sweetest song. Loam – Medvetslös.
Would you say you are superstitious, and do you carry anything with you because of that?
Actually, no, I’m a very non-superstitious driver. I used to be when I was younger; I had a ritual before I got into the car, I had to do it in a certain way, etc. But then I remember, I lost the race, or I had a terrible race, even when I did it. I told myself ‘this isn’t working so I’m gonna stop doing this’ and I’ve never really had anything since.
It’s going to be a step up for you with the physicality this year. What do you use to help with recovery?
Yeah, one that I really like, because it just tastes really good is the Liquid IV packs that you get. Not really sure how much they actually work… And then I have one that is a little bit more proper, which is Infinit Nutrition. It’s a powder which has sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, all that good stuff that replenishes you after a race.
Obviously a big part of my recovery and just conditioning in general is my training. I train at PitFit in Indy – they do a great job and it’s a fantastic place. They’ve trained a lot of drivers over the years so it is definitely the best place for me to make sure I’m in the best shape possible for racing.
I know you mentioned your headphones, is there any other tech that’s essential for travel?
I like an iPad because then I can download movies so I have that to keep me entertained on airplanes. In terms of notes, I actually have a regular notepad, pen and paper that I use. So not a very high-tech note guy!
But I’ve seen some of some of the guys have reMarkable. I feel like I’m very outdated when I go around with my little notepad.
Any fashion brands you’re always with?
My regular style is a little bit streetwear, loose fit. So Urban Outfitters is one of my favourite brands and I have a lot of stuff from them.
Lululemon makes a lot of nice materials and then I gotta say, Abercrombie & Fitch. One of their hoodies is like basically all that I wear.
And in terms of any other things, I gotta give a shout out here to a team sponsor as well, Omologato for the watches, actually have a couple of those from Formula Regional because they were sponsored back then and you got a couple for like winning races, etc. So I still have a few watches that I use from them.
Do you have a sunglasses brand or is it just whatever you have lying around?
Yeah, I keep on losing my sunglasses. So I honestly tend to buy gas station ones because I know I’m going to lose them within a week or so, it’s basically whatever I can find!
What about helmets, team kit, what will you be using this year?
Yeah, I’ve got to give a major shout out here to Arai. I used Arai helmets for basically my whole career. They’ve been great to me. I love their helmets. I will never leave and they’re on board as well for the future, which is nice.
I just started to work with Sparco as well, together with the team, and they’ve been doing a great job so far. I love it.
For the first time ever, I had options, they asked which kind of gloves do you like, we can design it however, how many do you want, which is nice, which is exactly kind of what you want from a partner as well.
