Alexander Rossi says that revisiting his “good and bad moments” in his IndyCar career to date has been a key focus since arriving at McLaren SP.
Rossi arrives at the squad after spending his first seven years in IndyCar at Andretti Autosport.
It was a relationship which began with great success, specifically an Indianapolis 500 victory in just their sixth race together, and genuine pushes for the title in both 2018 and 2019, when he finished the year second and then third in the standings.
However, the back end of the 2019 season was the start of what would be a three-year, 49-race winless run, which only ended last July on the Indianapolis road course when Rossi had already signed for McLaren SP.
The Californian says that he and his new team have been reviewing those ups and downs as they prepare for their first season together in 2023.
“My first trip to the AMSP [‘Arrow McLaren SP’] shop has been about meeting everyone in a semi-formal setting, and now getting to know some of the people, my engineers and mainly start putting faces with names,” explained Rossi in a Q&A published by McLaren.
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“The big thing we have been focusing on is trying to understand the good and bad moments throughout my time in IndyCar, things that the team is working on to improve for the future and simple things like sitting in the car and seeing what’s different from that standpoint.
“This off-season is going to go by fast, we have a lot of work to do.”
Despite IndyCar’s off-season lasting nearly six months, the 31-year-old has also decided to shun any other competition between now and the weekend of Sunday, March 5 at St Petersburg in order to concentrate on integrating himself with the papaya outfit.
“This will be one of the quieter off-seasons that I’ve had in a while,” stated Rossi.
“I’ve decided to not do any of the endurance sports car races and skipping the Baja 1000, only because I’m joining a new organisation and engine manufacturers [Chevrolet rather than Honda].
“There’s a lot of new things that will be coming down the pipeline here over the next couple of months, so I wanted to be in Indianapolis as much as possible to get to know the team.
“We want to hit the ground running in St Pete, and we know there won’t be a lot of testing that we will have before the first race of the year.
“Any prep we can get done, will be a benefit for us.”
McLaren SP is turning its third car into a full-time entry with Rossi joining incumbents Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist in the squad.
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