IndyCar: Tim Cindric says Alexander Rossi 'not interested in being part of four cars'

Team Penske president Tim Cindric stated that Alexander Rossi was “not interested in being a part of four cars” for the 2020 IndyCar season.

Alexander Rossi recently re-signed with Andretti Autosport for the 2020 IndyCar seasons after the two sides agreed upon a multi-year contract extension to keep the 27-year-old Nevada City, California native behind the wheel of the #27 Honda.

But Rossi signed this contract amid rumors that he may sign with Team Penske to become their fourth driver for the 2020 season.

Team Penske president Tim Cindric has been against the idea of Team Penske running four cars on a full-time basis. They were a four-car team from the 2015 season through the 2017 season, but they became a three-car team ahead of the 2018 season.

But Cindric stated that Rossi and his father Pieter, who is also his agent, were the ones who were not interested in being a part of a four-car operation at Team Penske next year.

Here is what Cindric had to say about the matter, according to NBC Sports.

"“We told him to reconnect with us after May. When we told them it would be in a fourth car, they weren’t interested in being part of four cars.”"

Cindric went on to confirm that the team will only field three cars on a full-time basis next season amid rumors that they may be interested in signing Colton Herta. All three of their drivers, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power, are set to return to the team next year.

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But what is notable about what Cindric stated is that Rossi already drives for a four-car team and has done so since he began driving in IndyCar in the 2016 season.

However, while Rossi does currently drive for a four-car team at Andretti Autosport, what Cindric is saying makes sense. Aside of Rossi in second place, there is only one Andretti Autosport driver in the top 15 in the championship standings, and that driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay, is not a championship contender in sixth in the standings.

Marco Andretti and Zach Veach, meanwhile, sit in 16th and 17th place in the championship standings, respectively, in a season that features only 19 full-time drivers. Only the two A.J. Foyt Enterprises drivers, Tony Kanaan and Matheus Leist, are lower in the standings than Andretti and Veach are.

Additionally, Andretti’s #98 Honda entry is fielded via a partnership involving multiple parties, namely Andretti Autosport and Bryan Herta Autosport. In fact, Rossi drove this car in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Marco himself is now a partner in his entry, and the official name of Andretti’s #98 entry is the #98 Andretti Herta Autosport with Marco Andretti and Curb Agajanian Honda.

Say that one time fast.

Meanwhile, on the Team Penske side, all three of their drivers sit in the top five in the championship standings, with Newgarden leading ahead of Pagenaud in third place and Power in fifth.

Newgarden has won four races this season while Pagenaud has won three, including the Indianapolis 500. Power sits in fifth despite the fact that he is in the midst of his worst season as a full-time Team Penske driver. He began driving for the team on a full-time basis back in 2010.

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With everything between Alexander Rossi and Andretti Autosport settled for the 2020 IndyCar season and beyond, it appears as though the team will return the same four-car driver lineup for the third consecutive season next year and that Team Penske will return the same three-car driver lineup for the third consecutive season next year as well.

IndyCar: Tim Cindric says Alexander Rossi ‘not interested in being part of four cars’

By Asher Fair | Aug 1, 2019

Team Penske president Tim Cindric stated that Alexander Rossi was “not interested in being a part of four cars” for the 2020 IndyCar season.