IndyCar: 3 overreactions from the first three races of 2023

3 IndyCar overreactions: No. 3 – Alexander Rossi made a bad career move

Aside from his fourth place finish in St. Petersburg, which he earned primarily because of the fact that he stayed out of trouble (unlike just about everyone else), Alexander Rossi has had a disastrous start to his tenure with Arrow McLaren, which comes after seven seasons with Andretti Autosport.

Many felt that Rossi needed a change of scenery after winning just one race in his final three seasons with Michael Andretti’s team, three seasons in which he never finished higher than ninth place in the championship standings. The 2016 Indy 500 winner had won multiple races and finished in the top three in the standings in the two seasons prior.

So far, Andretti Autosport have been the big winner of this move, with Rossi replacement Kyle Kirkwood matching Rossi’s entire win tally from 2020 to 2022 — and his career win total in pink cars — in just three starts.

Rossi and Kirkwood were involved in a pit road incident at Texas Motor Speedway that really wasn’t either one’s fault, and it ruined both of their races. Rossi then ended up having a suspension failure on the final lap of the Long Beach race, costing him a sixth place finish. It would have been the top finish for Chevrolet in a disappointing afternoon for the bowtie.

Rossi could very well have three finishes of sixth place or better to start his stint behind the wheel of the No. 7 Chevrolet. Instead, he has finished higher than 22nd just once in three races.

Things simply haven’t gone their way so far, but the Rossi/Arrow McLaren combination is a strong one that should pay dividends in the very near future. A change was absolutely needed for the 31-year-old Californian, and this was still the best possible decision for both him and the team.