Alexander Michael Rossi (born September 25, 1991) is an American professional racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 27 Honda for Andretti Autosport. Rossi is best known for winning the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie in 2016.
Rossi began his career in the United States before moving to Europe as a teenager to pursue a career in Formula One. He won four races in the developmental GP2 Series, one for EQ8 Caterham Racing in 2013 and three more for Racing Engineering in 2015. After serving as a test and development driver for Caterham F1 and Marussia F1, Rossi made his Formula One debut in 2015 for the renamed Manor Marussia F1 Team, driving in five Grands Prix including his home Grand Prix in the United States, where he finished a season-best twelfth.
After failing to secure a full-time drive in Formula One for the 2016 season, Rossi returned to the U.S. to compete in the IndyCar Series for a team with combined resources from Andretti Autosport and Bryan Herta Autosport. Rossi won the 2016 Indianapolis 500 and finished eleventh in series points. Rossi returned to Andretti in 2017 and added a second career win at Watkins Glen International for his first road course win in IndyCar.
Video Alexander Rossi
Career
Skip Barber
In 2005, after becoming IKF Grand National Champion in the 100cc Yamaha class, Auburn-born Rossi was semi-finalist in the Red Bull Formula One American Drivers search with a top 5 finish overall out of over 2,000 nationwide candidates.
In 2006 he was awarded the Skip Barber National Scholarship from Skip Barber Racing School to compete in the 2006 Skip Barber National Championship, where he finished third overall and became the youngest winner in Skip Barber National Championship history, at age 14.
Formula BMW
Rossi competed in the Formula BMW USA series in 2007, finishing third overall in the championship, with three wins and five podiums while driving for Team Apex Racing, USA.
For 2008, Rossi returned for his second year with the two-time Formula BMW championship-winning team EuroInternational. He won the overall championship, becoming the first American Formula BMW Champion in the Americas Championship, with ten wins from the fifteen races run.
Rossi completed the season as World Champion, winning the 2008 Formula BMW World Final at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit in Mexico City, beating the rookie Michael Christensen. Rossi was awarded a Formula One test with BMW Sauber F1 Team, along with European champion Esteban Gutiérrez.
International Formula Master
Rossi decided to move to compete in Europe in 2009. He chose to compete in the International Formula Master with Hitech Racing. After two rounds, Rossi moved over to ISR Racing for the remainder of the season. Rossi won three races over the course of the season, all coming during reverse-grid races. The wins at Brno, Spa and Imola gave Rossi the second-highest tally of victories during the 2009 season, with Fabio Leimer (seven) winning more. Coupled with Pål Varhaug's sixth place in the final race at Imola, Rossi moved up to fourth overall in the championship, and the highest-placed rookie driver.
GP3 Series
In 2010, Rossi made the move to the new GP3 Series, competing for multiple-championship-winning team ART Grand Prix. He joined Pedro Nunes and Esteban Gutiérrez at the team, winning twice and finishing fourth in the series.
World Series by Renault
After a season in GP3, Rossi moved on to compete in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with Fortec Motorsport. He was joined at the team by Brazilian driver and Italian Formula Three Champion César Ramos. He won the opening race of the season in Aragón and the second race at Le Castellet, and eventually finished third in the championship- and top rookie driver- behind Carlin drivers Robert Wickens and Jean-Éric Vergne.
Rossi stayed in the series for the 2012 season, but switched to newcomers Arden Caterham Motorsport, partnering Red Bull-backed driver Lewis Williamson.
GP2 Series
Rossi competed in the 2009-10 GP2 Asia Series. Having competed for Ocean Racing Technology at the first Abu Dhabi round, Rossi moved to Team Meritus for the remaining rounds. Rossi made a strong impression immediately finishing fourth in his début race, from thirteenth on the grid. Rossi was only the second American to compete at GP2 level, preceded by Scott Speed who raced in Formula One with Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2006 and 2007. Rossi finished ninth in the championship standings.
After his stint at the Formula Renault 3.5, Rossi made his GP2 Series debut in the Bahrain round in 2013 after replacing Chinese driver Ma Qinghua, he finished 3rd in his debut race. On July 16, 2014, Rossi announced he had departed Caterham's GP2 team, and later joined Campos Racing at the Hockenheimring, replacing Kimiya Sato. He joined Racing Engineering for the 2015 season opposite British rookie Jordan King, finishing second in the championship.
Formula One
Rossi was one of three drivers linked to US-based Formula One team US F1 along with José María López and Jonathan Summerton. Rossi was contracted to be the reserve and test driver before the team folded. He has also tested the 2009-spec BMW Sauber F1.09 Formula One car as part of Formula One's young driver test in Jerez. This was earned for winning the Formula BMW World Final. This test earned Rossi his FIA Super License; at the time, he was the only American to hold one.
Caterham (2012-14)
For the 2012 Formula One season, he joined Caterham F1 as a test driver alongside reserve driver Giedo van der Garde. At the Spanish round he drove Heikki Kovalainen's car in the first practice session, becoming the first American to drive in a Formula One session (during a race weekend) since Scott Speed at the 2007 European Grand Prix. In 2013, he drove for Caterham in the first practice session of the Canadian Grand Prix and at Silverstone in July for the young driver test. Later in the season, he again participated in the first practice session at the United States Grand Prix, his home race. In 2014, he drove the Caterham in the first practice session of the Canadian Grand Prix. Rossi departed Caterham following the departure of Tony Fernandes and the entrance of new Swiss and Middle Eastern investors in July 2014.
Marussia/Manor (2014-16)
Following his departure from Caterham, Rossi joined Marussia F1 as reserve driver for the remainder of the 2014 season. He was initially set to make his Formula One debut at the Belgian Grand Prix, replacing British driver Max Chilton, although Marussia later reversed that decision. He later was set to replace the injured Jules Bianchi at the Russian Grand Prix, but Marussia later decided to only run a single car for Chilton.
Continuing as a reserve driver into 2015, he finally made his debut at the Singapore Grand Prix. Rossi qualified 20th and last for his debut, but rallied to finish 14th, just ahead of teammate Will Stevens (15th), despite losing radio communication with his crew around the halfway point of the Grand Prix. Rossi would go on to enter five of the final seven races of the 2015 season. At the Japanese Grand Prix, Rossi finished 18th, again one place above Stevens. He would go on to equal Manor Marussia's best result of the season at his home race, the United States Grand Prix, finishing 12th. Rossi then took 15th at the Mexican Grand Prix before completing his five-race stint at the Brazilian Grand Prix with a 19th-place finish.
Despite signing for Andretti Autosport in the IndyCar Series, Rossi returned as a reserve driver for the reformed Manor Racing for the 2016 season. After Rio Haryanto lost his ride at Manor following the German Grand Prix, Rossi was offered the opportunity to take his place as a full-time driver; however, he declined the offer, stating: "My management and I are in constant communications with Manor and we knew there might be an opportunity to race for the last half of the 2016 season. We gave it careful thought but declined the race seat due to my IndyCar contract." On October 3, 2016, Rossi confirmed he would give up his reserve driver role at Manor following the 2016 season to focus on the IndyCar Series full-time.
Sports Car Racing (2014)
Rossi competed in the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona for the DeltaWing team, joining full-time drivers Andy Meyrick and Katherine Legge, along with eventual 2014 Indy Lights champion Gabby Chaves.
IndyCar Series (2016-present)
While Rossi grew up watching the IndyCar Series as his favorite form of racing, he had previously claimed to having little interest in racing in it himself, particularly because of hesitance to race on ovals. Nevertheless, after Manor announced Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto as the team's 2016 drivers, Rossi made the switch to the IndyCar Series with Andretti Autosport for the 2016 IndyCar Series. Rossi made his IndyCar debut at the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, qualifying in the rear of the field in 19th and finishing as the highest-placed rookie in 12th. Rossi then made his oval debut at the next race in Phoenix, running as high as seventh before brushing the wall in the final laps of the race. The highlight of Rossi's first season with the team was winning the Indianapolis 500 after starting from the 11th position on the grid. Rossi was the top rookie in qualifying for the race and led the final few laps as the cars ahead of him on track ran low on fuel and pitted. Rossi managed his fuel over the final stint to win, then ran dry after the finish and had to be towed to victory lane. Rossi would later earn a second top-five finish at the season finale at Sonoma Raceway. Rossi was named the series' 2016 Rookie of the Year on September 19.
On October 3, Rossi announced he would return to Andretti for the 2017 season, signing a multi-year contract. At Long Beach, Rossi was running in second place when his engine failed. Rossi started the defense of his Indy 500 Championship by qualifying on the front row for the race. He spent much of the first half of the race amongst the leaders, but finished seventh after experiencing fueling issues. Later in the season, Rossi drove to a second-place finish in the Honda Indy Toronto after starting in eighth in what he called a "breakthrough" race for his team. It was his first podium of the 2017 season. At Pocono, Rossi earned his third career podium by finishing third despite encountering a problem with his car's fuel-mixture knob. On September 1, Rossi confirmed that he would remain with Andretti through at least the 2019 season; despite having signed a multi-year extension after 2016, Rossi had been considering a move to Schmidt Peterson Motorsports due to his loyalty to Honda, but resigned with Andretti once the team confirmed they would continue using Honda engines in the future. The next day, Rossi earned his first career pole position at Watkins Glen International; he would go on to win the race as well for his second career victory.
On December 7, 2017, Andretti Autosport announced plans for Rossi to swap car numbers with teammate Marco Andretti for the 2018 season. Rossi moved to the No. 27 team while Andretti took over the No. 98.
Rossi's 2018 season began with a controversial third-place finish at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Rossi was running in second on the final restart and attempted to pass leader Robert Wickens in the first turn, but got loose and made contact with Wickens, who in turn retired from the race. Rossi argued that while he "[felt] bad" about the contact, he also believed Wickens' defense of the lead forced him into the marbles, causing his car to get loose. Wickens, however, said he "expected more" from Rossi, and proceeded to call his move "desperate." Rossi's driving was further criticized by NBC Sports' Jerry Bonkowski, who opined that he "ruined what was a near-perfect day -- make that weekend -- for another driver." Ironically, Rossi would again battle with Wickens in the closing stages of the following race at Phoenix, securing another third-place finish behind race winner Josef Newgarden and Wickens. After the podium celebration, both Wickens and Rossi made light of the St. Petersburg clash; Rossi stated that Wickens "should definitely have two podiums right now," to which the Canadian jokingly replied, "About time you said it!" The following week, Rossi qualified on pole position for the Grand Prix of Long Beach. He converted the pole position into his third career win, leading race runner-up and 2014 IndyCar Series champion Will Power to call Rossi "a standout of the field right now in every respect."
Rossi began the Indianapolis 500 from the last row on the grid, starting in 32nd place. He completed a series of impressive overtakes, leading him to a fourth-place finish. The following week in Detroit, Rossi finished third in race one. He then qualified on pole for the second race and led 46 of the first 63 laps; however, he was pressured late in the race by teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay. Rossi preceded to lock his brakes, overshooting the upcoming turn and leading to a puncture. He was forced to pit, reentering the track in 13th and finishing in 12th. Rossi rebounded later in the season to win the pole and the race at Mid-Ohio, using a two-stop strategy. The win moved Rossi into second in the Drivers' Championship standings, 46 points behind Scott Dixon.
Maps Alexander Rossi
Personal life
Rossi was born in Auburn, California and raised in Nevada City, often waking up at 4 a.m local time on Sunday mornings to watch the Formula One races in Europe. He graduated from Auburn's Forest Lake Christian High School at the age of 16 in order to begin pursuing his European racing career. He is also a fan of the National Football League's New England Patriots, serving as a TAG Heuer ambassador alongside Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Rossi is a Protestant Christian, citing his two most important life influences as God and his parents. He has described having his faith while growing up as "something that was hugely important to me. That carried all the way through my entire childhood. I was very fortunate to be a product of a Christian family with my mom and dad and grandmother." He was a speaker at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes' "Nights of Champions" program in 2017.
Media appearances
Rossi's 2016 Indianapolis 500 win earned him a nomination at the 2016 ESPY Awards for Best Driver. He attended the awards ceremony on July 13, though the award went to NASCAR's 2015 Sprint Cup Series champion, Kyle Busch.
Rossi appeared on the 30th season of CBS' The Amazing Race with fellow IndyCar driver Conor Daly as his teammate. The pair won the fourth leg of the race, though they were eventually eliminated, finishing in fourth place. On April 19, 2018, he appeared on the season four premiere of CNBC's Jay Leno's Garage alongside Tanner Foust.
Racing record
Career summary
+ - As Rossi was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
Complete GP2 Asia Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete GP3 Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
+ Did not finish, but was classified as he had completed more than 90% of the race distance.
Complete Formula One results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicates fastest lap)
Complete GP2 Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
24 Hours of Le Mans results
American open-wheel racing
IndyCar Series
(key)
* Season still in progress.
Indianapolis 500
References
External links
- Official website
- Alexander Rossi career summary at DriverDB.com
- Alexander Rossi driver statistics at Racing-Reference
Source of article : Wikipedia
0 Comments