Alexander Rossi back in a big way with new team, strong season-opening finish

After three consecutive dismal seasons that were far from what he’s capable of, and which ultimately led to parting ways with the only IndyCar team he has known, Andretti Autosport, Alexander Rossi made the most of the cards he was dealt with Sunday in the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season opener.

Making the debut with his new team, Arrow McLaren, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner had a strong outing, finishing fourth, just barely missing out on a podium finish.

It was an outstanding showing for a guy who had very few outstanding showings the previous three years. During that time, he managed just one win (in 2022), and had season finishes of ninth in 2020, 10^th in 2021 and eighth in 2022.

Admittedly, those three seasons were a tough time for both Rossi and the Andretti organization. While both sides tried several times to salvage their working relationship, with each passing season and the mediocrity that came with it, it finally got to a point where Rossi and Andretti both decided last year that it would be in their respective best interests to ultimately part ways.

It was an unfortunate ending, as Rossi at one point had been looked upon as the present and future of Andretti Autosport. There was plenty of talk about him being a multi-season champion, he’d win numerous races and would etch his name in IndyCar infamy.

Unfortunately, none of that happened. Sure, he managed eight wins in seven seasons driving for team owner Michael Andretti, including three triumphs in 2018 and two in 2019, but Rossi simply couldn’t bring AA out of some of its overall doldrums.

Instead of being its driver of its present and future, ultimately Andretti became its driver of the past, leading to his move to Arrow McLaren.

And in an ironic twist, as Rossi shined once again on Sunday, the overall four-driver performance of the Andretti camp essentially picked up where it left off: mired in misfortune and poor results, enough to make Michael Andretti seen on TV visibly shaking his head in a lament of his overall frustration.

To be precise, sophomore driver Kyle Kirkwood, who spent his rookie IndyCar season with A.J. Foyt in 2022, was the highest-finishing Andretti Autosport driver, in 15^th position.

As for the other Andretti drivers, after appearing as if he might win before being involved in a late crash, Romain Grosjean finished 18th, Colton Herta ended up 20^th (also after a wreck), and Devlin DeFrancesco finished 25^th.

And then there was Rossi, who finished behind race runner-up and new teammate, Pato O’Ward.

“Yeah, I’m real happy with that,” said fourth-place finisher Rossi, who started 12th. “Days like today are about maximizing what you have. I think the car was good, it missed a little bit in ultimate pace, but where we came from on Friday, the whole Arrow McLaren organization did an amazing job bouncing back from that.

“Pato (O’Ward) was in contention to win. Obviously, Felix (Rosenqvist) had a strong car and it was unfortunate what happened to him. So really a good start to the season and I think we’re only going to get even stronger from here.

“Today was really only our fifth day of working together, so it’s only going to continue to evolve. I’m really proud of this organization and can’t wait to improve upon our weaknesses.”

Rossi leaves St. Pete in fourth position in the IndyCar standings, 19 points behind first-place ranked and Sunday’s race winner, Marcus Ericsson.

He now prepares for the next race, nearly a month from now in Texas, where he hopes to pick up where he left off Sunday at St. Petersburg.

“All in all, a really strong start, and we’ll take this positive momentum to Texas,” Rossi said.

Follow Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski

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