NTT IndyCar Series News Conference
Sunday September 1, 2019
Post-Race Press Conference
Felix Rosenqvist
Chip Ganassi Racing
Alexander Rossi
Andretti Autosport
THE MODERATOR: We'll bring in second-place finisher Felix Rosenqvist of Chip Ganassi Racing and Alex Rossi of Andretti Autosport. Felix, strong finish, tied your best finish in INDYCAR. What were your thoughts on this one, and did you feel like you had a chance on Will (Power) at the last restart?
FELIX ROSENQVIST: Yeah, I thought it was a pretty good race. We had good fuel mileage, kind of hoped for a little bit less safety car because Honda, in general, has been stronger than Chevy on fuel mileage. But it was a flat-out race from quite many laps in the end. I was really strong on the reds. I thought that's where we made our race, really good, almost no degradation, could just keep doing really good laps, good fuel mileage. So I definitely felt like we had a chance when we put on the blacks today. But I thought Will and Penske were a bit better on the blacks, and we couldn't really do much there. I sort of closed the gap and then I thought I used my tires a bit too much and then I kind of struggled in the end with a loose car.
So yeah, it was good starting P5, finishing second, I'll definitely take it. Good to show the NTT DATA car up there two times at the end of the year, so try to go for the win in Laguna.
THE MODERATOR: Alex, it probably feels like it is what it is today, a podium finish. It normally is a pretty good finish, but Josef comes home fifth; you're 41 back going into the last race of the season. Sum up today, look forward to tomorrow?
ALEXANDER ROSSI: Yeah, I think it was kind of the best we could do today. I think that we didn't have the pace of the two leaders, which is the most disappointing part. We were kind of just stuck in third, and I felt like we had Colton covered, but couldn't really challenge Will and Felix. So good job to them. But yeah, as you said, Josef came from a pretty disappointing -- or bad first lap for him and still finished fifth.
It's going to be interesting at Laguna. Obviously double points creates a lot of opportunity. We saw what happened in 2015 with (Juan Pablo Montoya) and Scott (Dixon), so we'll just go try and win, and hopefully the rest takes care of itself.
Q. Did you anticipate your teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay with his move on Jack Harvey? It looks like you probably recognized the situation pretty early and backed out approaching Turn 1 and were able to avoid contact.
ALEXANDER ROSSI: Yeah, yeah, I think Ryan just missed it for whatever reason. I think he was defending against me and maybe got caught up in that, but it's unfortunate because I think he was a strong car and that would have ultimately taken points away from Josef. But neither here nor there, it was a spot for us at the time, so yeah.
Q. Did testing here earlier help you out any?
ALEXANDER ROSSI: Yes and no. I think we rolled off okay, and there's so many good teams and drivers here that most everyone figures it out by Friday evening and going into practice three on Saturday morning. When we tested here, it was like 55 degrees, and these Firestone tires are very sensitive to ambient and track conditions, so it was unfortunate because we came in a hot part of the year, it was just a really cold day. I don't think that what we had was super relevant. It wasn't bad, it's just not like we had an advantage on other teams.
Q. Felix, you had a good run here. Where did you stand with the circuit before you came here and where are you at now after finishing second? And have you felt anything similar from Mid-Ohio? Of course the tires had some similarities.
FELIX ROSENQVIST: You said how I feel about the track?
Q. Yeah, compared to Friday when you came here the first time?
FELIX ROSENQVIST: I mean, I felt we started off really well. Our car felt spot on first practice, and then it kind of went away from us towards qualifying. As Alex said, the track is really sensitive to temperature and the balance of the car changes, not even between sessions but also during a run, it changes massively. That's why at the end of the race we had massive oversteer and it kind of came out of nowhere. It's a tricky place for sure, it's a tricky surface to try to figure it out. But yeah, I thought it was good fun, this track. Definitely a good race.
Q. Alex, I doubt that you are any of the type of guy that's going to get nervous or stressed about the championship situation, but what do you do for the next few weeks here waiting for this? You guys haven't been there yet, so you've got to wait for the test day. Is it just a waiting game for you? How do you handle it mentally?
ALEXANDER ROSSI: Yeah, I mean, you just go through it as usual. It's nice to get a break for the guys. These three in a row stretches are tough for everyone, so everyone will get a break, go home, reset. It's my girlfriend's birthday next weekend, so we're going to go to Maine, so I'm just chilling and having a good time. We'll show up at Laguna ready and do everything we can to win. There's no point getting nervous. You have to go into it trying to win a race like you would every other weekend, and if we can do that, then the rest is out of our control.
Q. Felix, I think you're ahead in the Rookie of the Year ahead. I'm wondering how much if at all that matters to you, or are you just thinking about wanting to get the best result in the last race?
FELIX ROSENQVIST: I mean, I'm pretty hungry for a win. You know, we've been kind of close two times. I thought Mid-Ohio was definitely closer, but we've definitely been there, and we've been there on merit, as well. It hasn't been like a fluke result.
I'm definitely aiming for a win in Laguna, and when we tested there in January, I thought our car felt good. Obviously, it was really cold, so probably not much to read into it, but it's an awesome track, and I think it suits my style, and also it's new for everyone, which probably benefits me because many drivers here have done a bunch of most tracks. So yeah, all in for Laguna.
And Rookie of the Year? Yeah, I mean, normally we would care more about the real championship, but we're not fighting for it, so the Rookie of the Year is definitely a fun bonus championship, and it's been pretty good. There have been a lot of good drivers, Santino (Ferrucci) and Marcus (Ericsson) and Colton (Herta), and every one of them have been very quick, so it's going to be hard, but I think we took a good leap today, so I'm not sure how the points are looking, but yeah.
Q. Many years ago your countryman Stefan Johansson, now living here in America, raced in Champ Car. Is he giving you some advice when you go into circuits which are unknown for you, never raced before?
FELIX ROSENQVIST: Well, I think Stefan and I are probably working more outside of technical stuff. I mean, Stefan is definitely an awesome driver. He's done really good things. But yeah, he's not really giving me any advice on track anymore. I think we're past that point. It's more Dario (Franchitti) looking after that bit.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Rev #2 by #392 at 2019-09-01 23:55:00 GMT
