Back in 2019, Alexander Rossi was IndyCar’s brightest new star. He won the 100th Indianapolis 500 as a rookie in 2016 and drove with a combination of speed and fearlessness that made him the hardest of the hard chargers.
He could drive an Indy car on parts of the race track where others feared to tread. The moves he made, especially at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, were legendary.
Rossi was IndyCar’s “Can’t Miss Kid.”
His contract was up at the end of 2019 and most of the season was spent chasing down where the talented driver was going to end up. Was he going to stay with Andretti Autosport or switch teams?
When Rossi made the announcement on July 27, 2019, he was re-signing with Andretti Autosport, it was hailed as a popular move that would potentially allow the driver and team to reach even greater heights such as another Indianapolis 500 victory and maybe his first NTT IndyCar Series championship.
Three years later, Rossi announced that he would leave Andretti Autosport for Arrow McLaren SP. The last three years have been a combination of bad luck and poor results.
In 2018 and 2019, Rossi finished second and third in the championship. He won seven races from 2016 but has not won a race since Road America on June 23, 2019.
In 2020, Rossi was winless, but managed five podium finishes and ended the season ninth in the standings. In 2021, Rossi was winless for the second-straight year and had one podium finish. He dropped to 10th in the standings.
In the first six races of 2022, Rossi has not won a race, has not scored a podium and is currently 11th in points.
The 30-year-old seemed to have lost the support of Andretti Autosport senior management including team owner Michael Andretti who informed him last summer he was free to pursue other options.
Rossi was linked to a potential move to Arrow McLaren SP earlier this year, and that was expected to play itself out during the summer.
When Andretti Autosport announced on Wednesday that rookie driver Kyle Kirkwood would be taking over the No. 27 Honda from Rossi, it was time to make it official.
On Thursday, Arrow McLaren SP confirmed it had signed the driver to a multi-year contract to be part of a three-driver team in 2023. Last week on Carb Day at the Indianapolis 500, Pato O’Ward and Arrow McLaren announced that he re-signed a multi-year deal.
“This decision was made for me last summer,” Rossi admitted. “It was clear that I “was going to look at different options and explore what was out there.
I've driven for Andretti Autosport for a long time. Sometimes you need to change things, whether that's on a personal side, a professional side or both combined. I think it was time for a change.
“There were a lot of things that we accomplished that were very special, that I'll have memories of forever. They essentially gave me a base and established me in IndyCar to have a future in the NTT IndyCar Series. I owe a lot to the organization.
“Ultimately for me it was time to do something different. I don't think there's a better pairing out there for who I am as a person and a competitor than Arrow McLaren SP.”
What remains to be determined is if Felix Rosenqvist is back with the team in 2023 or if another driver is lured to Arrow McLaren SP.
On Friday before the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, Rossi explained why it was time for a change of scenery to help jump-start his career.
“I've driven for Andretti for quite some time,” Rossi said. “There's been a lot of success that we've had there. I'm forever appreciative to Michael Andretti and Bryan Herta for the opportunity back in 2016.
“Life ebbs and flows. I think it was time for a change. I’m looking forward to getting started. There's a lot left to do in the 2022 season. That's the main focus right now.
“Come the end of this September, the 2023 season will be a very exciting time for me.
“I think it's been very obvious what Zak Brown (McLaren CEO) and Taylor Kiel (team president) have done over the last couple of years. Arrow McLaren SP is competitive. The overall performance of the team has exponentially increased every event we go to. That was a pretty easy decision for me to see them as a championship contender.
“Going forward into the future, I think it's only going to get better.”
Taylor Kiel of the president of Arrow McLaren SP and has put together a team that includes talented 23-year-old driver O’Ward from Mexico. Last Sunday, that driver finished second in the Indianapolis 500 to race winner Marcus Ericsson.
“The addition of Rossi could potentially strengthen the foundation of this team that shares a relationship with the McLaren F1 team.
“It's been a goal of ours to expand to three entries,” Kiel said. “Bringing Alex onboard automatically makes that a contender.
“The goal for us is certainly not to detract from the other two. Bringing Alex in, the team we're going to build around him, is very exciting for me. It gives us three great opportunities every week. We're confident that Alex will help push our program forward with the experience and knowledge he has.
“It ticks all the boxes in my opinion.”
One of the key changes for Rossi will be switching manufacturers. He began his IndyCar career in 2016 with Bryan Herta Autosport, which was in a shared relationship with Andretti Autosport. Rossi has been a Honda driver since the first race of his rookie season.
Beginning in 2023, Rossi will be in a Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren SP.
I asked Rossi how intriguing it will be to switch engine manufacturers in addition to IndyCar teams.
“It's no secret, the performance that Chevrolet has had at the start of this season,” Rossi said. “Obviously Arrow McLaren SP's performance in the Indianapolis 500 with the results they got showed it's a very, very competitive battle between Honda and Chevrolet, as it has been since I joined the series in 2016.
“Again, very, very grateful to Honda and the opportunities they've provided to me. I've won a lot of races in a lot of categories with them outside of IndyCar as well. That relationship has been phenomenal.
“On the Chevrolet side of things, I worked very closely with one of the engineers, Ray Gosselin, we were both at Andretti. Ray is with Chevrolet now and there is some built-in trust, knowledge in the relationship there.
“It will be a great thing to switch manufacturers, have that kind of communication lines open, right?”
Shortly after Rossi’s announcement, I tracked down Gosselin, who is the Vice President of Motorsports for Ilmor, which makes the Chevrolet engines Friday at Belle Isle Raceway, site of Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.
“I’m really excited to have Alex in the Chevy camp,” Gosselin said. “Earlier this year when I heard the rumors that maybe he was open to leaving the other guys and driving a Chevy, I spoke to him and said if there was anything I could do to help, let me know. He didn’t seek me out because he was capable of sorting all that out on his own.
“He is going to be a huge addition to our program. He will really help drive us forward. He is very technical. He has a lot of experience and will be a huge asset for Team Chevy moving forward.”
When Gosselin was part of the technical department at Andretti Autosport, he had a keen insight on Rossi’s talent.
“What he is going to bring to Team Chevy is a really good understanding of what it takes at Indy and will help us there, but as we further define what we want in our road and street course program, he will help us out a lot there,” Gosselin said. “He’s a fun guy to work with. A good friend, a good colleague and I can’t wait for him to get started.
“Starting next year, it’s a fresh start for everybody. He is capable of winning races and competing for the championship. That is what we intend to do.“Welcome aboard. I can’t wait to get started.”
In addition to a new engine manufacturer, Rossi will have new teammates, including O’Ward, a popular driver from Monterrey, Mexico.
“I think it's fantastic,” Rossi said. “Obviously Pato is one of the guys that's come on the scene in the past couple of years, someone that's properly a championship contender, someone you have to beat every weekend.
“From day one we're going to push each other really hard. Naturally that's just going to elevate the team to have that kind of dynamic.
“He is someone that I've gotten to know a little bit over the past couple of years. We've had some jokes together. I don't really know him that well. I look forward to getting to know him and obviously everyone at the team.
“I think there's going to be a competitive drive inside the organization.”
Rossi still has the rest of the 2022 season to salvage his career at Andretti Autosport before he begins the next chapter of his career.
So, what went wrong at Andretti after the 2019 season?
“If I had the answer to that, we'd probably all be in a different position right now,” Rossi said. “I don't know that there's ever an easy solution to something like that.
“Obviously in 2019 we were coming off a very successful 2018, beginning of 2019. That was the team I'd driven for, that's where my relationships were. At the time that was an easy decision.
“Ultimately, I don't think this has met anyone's expectations, myself, the team's, Honda's. I don't think it's necessarily a huge surprise for everyone.“That being said, I think there have been scenarios that have been outside of our control. But that's motorsports, life, just the way things go sometimes.
“Again, I’m very grateful for the opportunities that I was given. Very grateful for the partnerships and relationships that I've developed with AutoNationAN and Honda, NAPA. I'm still going to be close with those people, those decision makers.
“We'll be friends, I think. I've become friends with those guys. None of that's going to change.
“We're just going to be looking to beat their ass in '23.”
Follow me on Twitter. Check out my website.