Alexander Rossi feels low despite impressive comeback at IndyCar's Alabama GP

Ed Carpenter Racing star Alexander Rossi finished the Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsport Park in the Top 10 after starting the race in P15. The 33-year-old crossed the finish line in P8 but was disappointed with the race weekend despite the impressive recovery drive.

Rossi opted for the alternate strategy of starting in the soft tires and then putting on the same compound for the next two stints, before switching to the hard primary tires for the last stint. Most of the IndyCar drivers struggled to find grip and pace on the hard tires, and the same was the case with the ECR driver.

Nonetheless, Rossi was able to fend off Nolan Siegel in P9 and Josef Newgarden in P10 as he brought home the P8 result. The ECR driver explained his strategy as he spoke with FOX Sports after the race. When asked about finishing the race on the hard tires, he said:

“It's horrible. We knew it was going to be bad at some point, but with where we started, we were just trying to get as much track position as we could on the alternate tire and build a big enough gap to the cars that were racing to be able to put them on.”

Alexander Rossi detailed how he built a gap to the ones behind him on his alternate stints, which helped him to keep Siegel and Newgarden behind. He added:

“At the end, it was a lot of work to keep Nolan and Josef behind there, but the team called a great race, and they were great in pit lane. So I think that was the most we could do on the day. Still a little bit disappointed about our performance yesterday. I thought we had a quicker car than that, but ultimately. It was a decent recovery today.”

Nolan Siegel caught up to Alexander Rossi with 20 laps to go. The experienced ECR driver was able to keep the youngster at bay. The battle on track invited Newgarden in P10 into the fight. However, neither of the two drivers were able to get past Rossi's defense.

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Alexander Rossi critical about his start to the 2025 IndyCar campaign

Alexander Rossi featured on the Pit Pass Indy podcast following the Indy 500 open test. As the Ed Carpenter Racing driver reflected on his start to the 2025 IndyCar campaign, Rossi gave a critical “B minus” to his performance. Speaking about the same, he said:

“I would say it's been generally positive. I mean, I would say it's a B-minus maybe. I think we have certainly been quick on Saturdays and haven't quite executed on Sundays yet. But a lot of the pieces are there and we'll continue to get better every weekend.”

Rossi finished the season opener at St Pete in P10 after starting the race in P20. The 33-year-old started inside the Top 6 at Thermal Club but finished in P9. Long Beach was also a disappointment as Rossi started P8, but ended up in P15.