During the Sonsio Grand Prix at the road course-configured Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Rossi’s car ground to a halt on Lap 21 with a hybrid-related issue.
The Ed Carpenter Racing driver was left sitting on the track for the best part of minute with the scene covered by a local yellow.
IndyCar commentators were left bemused, thinking that the full course caution had come out.
The broadcast seemed to reflect that as it displayed the full course caution graphic.
“Oh, it’s not a full caution, it’s just a local yellow,” said Will Buxton, having noticed drivers were still jockeying for position.
James Hinchcliffe theorised that IndyCar elected not to throw the caution to allow cars to complete their mandatory pit stops.
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“This is IndyCar trying to leave the pits open long enough for everyone to get through on a pit cycle,” he explained.
“I’ve got to say, you’ve got a driver exiting the race car at the fastest point – cannot disagree with this enough. This is dangerous.
“He wants to get out of the race car. He’s on a hot race track.”
Townsend Bell labelled the incident “shocking” and sympathised with Rossi’s fury.
Alexander Rossi stalls on the front stretch. pic.twitter.com/4k1wpYAhx8
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) May 9, 2026
Rossi offered a terse assessment, firstly taking aim at the IndyCar hybrid system and then its officials for leaving him in harm’s way.
“Well, it’s pretty annoying to have failures on the car because of a product we didn’t ask for that doesn’t improve the racing. So that’s frustrating,” said Rossi.
“Second of all, the fact that it took that long to throw a full course yellow when the cars on the front straight were going by at 170 miles an hour also seems insane when they don’t let us drive in the wet yesterday. So, I don’t really know where the priorities lie. So, I’m pretty frustrated.”
McLaren’s Christian Lungdaard won the 85-lap race ahead of Team Penske’s David Malukas.
Results: IndyCar Series Sonsio Grand Prix, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
| Pos | Num | Driver | Team | Laps/Diff | Gap |
| 1 | 7 | Christian Lundgaard | Arrow McLaren | 85 laps | |
| 2 | 12 | David Malukas | Team Penske | 4.671 | 4.671 |
| 3 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 7.914 | 3.243 |
| 4 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 10.029 | 2.115 |
| 5 | 10 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | 14.363 | 4.334 |
| 6 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 26.842 | 12.479 |
| 7 | 45 | Louis Foster | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 28.127 | 1.285 |
| 8 | 19 | Dennis Hauger | Dale Coyne Racing | 31.933 | 3.806 |
| 9 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Global | 34.194 | 2.261 |
| 10 | 6 | Nolan Siegel | Arrow McLaren | 38.844 | 4.65 |
| 11 | 66 | Marcus Armstrong | Meyer Shank Racing | 46.471 | 7.627 |
| 12 | 8 | Kyffin Simpson | Chip Ganassi Racing | 50.19 | 3.719 |
| 13 | 26 | Will Power | Andretti Global | 52.029 | 1.839 |
| 14 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 56.371 | 4.342 |
| 15 | 76 | Rinus VeeKay | Juncos Racing | 59.585 | 3.215 |
| 16 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | 59.87 | 0.285 |
| 17 | 77 | Sting Ray Robb | Juncos Racing | 1:00.1665 | 0.296 |
| 18 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | Arrow McLaren | 1:06.2857 | 6.119 |
| 19 | 4 | Caio Collet | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 1:07.6701 | 1.384 |
| 20 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 1:14.1292 | 6.459 |
| 21 | 18 | Romain Grosjean | Dale Coyne Racing | 1 lap | 1 lap |
| DNF | 28 | Marcus Ericsson | Andretti Global | Lap 61 | 23 laps |
| DNF | 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank Racing | Lap 28 | 33 laps |
| DNF | 21 | Christian Rasmussen | Ed Carpenter Racing | Lap 28 | 40:57.6335 |
| DNF | 20 | Alexander Rossi | Ed Carpenter Racing | Lap 20 | 8 laps |
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