IndyCar: 5 reasons Alexander Rossi’s move was completely acceptable
By Asher Fair
You race to win. Period.
No driver who shows up to an IndyCar race wants to lose. Everyone driving wants to win the race, and Alexander Rossi demonstrated that with his attempted pass on Robert Wickens with under two laps remaining.
Restarting with two laps to go, it was pretty clear that there would not be another restart in the race regardless of what happened. Rossi knew that on this particular track, passing can be a challenge, so he tried to capitalize on the opportunity that he saw.
It’s literally what any driver would have done in that situation. It’s not like Rossi’s goal was to wreck Wickens.
Sure, Rossi ended up not winning the race but still managing a solid 3rd place finish behind two drivers not named Wickens, thus meaning his move ultimately didn’t play out. And yes, Wickens did end up failing to finish the race in 18th despite the fact that he dominated the race.
However, none of this changes the fact that every single driver is there to win the race. If Wickens has the right to go for the win but Rossi doesn’t, why should Rossi bother showing up to the race or trying on the final restart? If only the leader is allowed to go for the win on a late restart, why bother even getting the race underway again after a crash with only a few laps to go?
Because every driver in the field wants to win — that’s why.