Alexander Rossi chases after his second Indianapolis 500 victory. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Long before Alexander Rossi became one of the household names of the NTT IndyCar Series, he pursued his competitive dreams in Formula 1. Previously, the Nevada City, California native was a test and development racer for Catherham F1 and Marussia F1 before making five Grand Prix starts for the latter in 2015.
While Rossi’s hopes to compete in Formula 1 did not pan out, he made his way to the NTT IndyCar Series, racing for Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian in 2016. By all means, the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 was a seminal moment for the talented driver.
Qualifying in the middle of Row 4, Rossi showcased his ability to adapt to an INDYCAR in fine fashion. In a race that provided 54 lead changes among 13 different drivers, Rossi snatched the number one spot with four laps remaining in the race.
By and large, Rossi understands the surprise and stresses of vying for a win in one of the most prestigious races around the world. Given his maiden Indy victory in the race’s 100th running, he knows a thing or two about putting all the pressure behind and purely pursuing the win.
“I think I was as surprised as everyone else was in 2016,” Rossi said. “I think you have to you have two types of people. You have the guys that haven’t won it that are motivated because they want to get a taste of what it’s like. And then you have the guys who have won it who know what a cool experience that is.
“I would say that the people that have have gotten the taste of a win probably are a little bit more motivated because they just they know how special it is. But the 33 drivers that are more than capable of winning this race, there’s 33 drivers who are hungry for it. And it’ll be very interesting to see who ends up winning on Sunday.”
Other than an accident in the 2020 race and a subpar 29th in 2021, Rossi has finished seventh of better in five of the last seven Indianapolis 500 races. Fittingly, the driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team Chevrolet qualified seventh or on the inside of Row 3.
Despite posting the 20th fastest time in the final two practice rounds, Rossi sang his team’s praises in terms of his car and chances ahead of the 200-lap, 500-mile race.
Rossi searches for the optimum line at Indianapolis. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
“The racecar is great and the team has had an amazing month so far,” he said. “I’m excited about Sunday. I don’t know if you can predict anything at IMS and the Indy 500, but certainly, I think we have an amazing shot with four very good racecars. We’ll just have to go through the process and see if Sunday is our day.”
One of Rossi’s teammates is the soon-to-be retiring Tony Kanaan, the 2013 winner of the Indianapolis 500. Certainly, he has been enjoying his moments with Kanaan throughout the Month of May.
“It’s been great,” he said. “Tony is an amazing person, a fantastic racecar driver, a wonderful person and great ambassador for the sport. He’s a legend at this place. He and Helio (Castroneves) are the two that command the loudest ovations, so to share in his proverbial last 500 is pretty awesome and we’ve been enjoying it.
“He’s been ingrained with the team since St. Pete and he has really helped with everyone sort of merging together as a cohesive unit with three full-time cars.”
Perhaps the collaborative efforts of the Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team may be the trick for battling in the late moments of the race. Then again, it may come down to pure desire and drive as seen with Rossi at Indianapolis this year and throughout his career.
“Well, it’s not three words. But it’s the best race in the world, man,” Rossi said. “There’s nothing like it.”
