Can AlexanderRossi recapture his IndyCar title-contending form at ArrowMcLarenSP ?
There’s something about Alexander Rossi that suggests that moving to Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet is already doing him good. His once languid air and occasionally insouciant replies have all but disappeared. It’s like he’s gained a couple of tenths through sheer enthusiasm for his new role: he looks and sounds genuinely eager.
The 2016 Indy 500 winner finished fifth at the Speedway that weekend, and the three cars immediately ahead of him were the Arrow McLaren SPs of his new teammates Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist, split by the Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda of Tony Kanaan, who will be joining the team for his 22“I don’t honestly think my chances in the Indy 500 each year was in my decision-making process,” he says.
“I got to know him a little through his friendship with Michael Andretti and the V8 Supercars stuff, but when he called and expressed interest, he also explained what they were doing in terms of hiring – Gavin Ward [ex-Penske race engineer] was coming onboard.
“On the other side, the direction that HPD is going in, in terms of what they do with drivers, is different under David’s leadership. He’s very much from an engineering background, not from the corporate management side of things, so his whole thing is making sure that all the dollars are directed toward the performance of HPD and what they can deliver. The driver support that I’d had from there in the past wasn’t going to be available any more, so that became a non-factor in my decision.
Rossi's Indianapolis road course win this year was his eighth IndyCar triumph but his first in more than three years.“Regarding the teammate dynamic, you can’t be intimidated by anyone in this sport… although maybe it would be a little different if my teammate was Scott Dixon who’s won six championships! Otherwise, Pato is just another race winner but also someone who has matured a lot. I mean, I learned a lot from Colton, even though he is seven years younger than me.
“And I think a huge amount of the progress that Felix saw and the team saw in 2022 was down to Chevrolet. Chevy made a really big step forward last season, and if you were to say that an Arrow McLaren car was pretty pointy and hard on its tires in 2021, it might still be that way but the driveability of the engine was so much improved in ’22 that it’s not as big a detriment.
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