Alex Rossi has heaped praise on his Arrow McLaren SP team mate Pato O’Ward and says “everyone’s been impressed with Pato since day one.”
The American driver joined Arrow McLaren ahead of this season to partner O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist.
Rossi scored a best result of fourth place at the season opener in St. Petersburg and hailed O’Ward’s impressive performances in response to a question from Pit Debrief.
“Everyone’s been impressed with Pato since day one that he came into the series.
“His speed was obvious. He’s very exciting to watch from his in-car videos.
“He’s very good. I didn’t have to be on his team to realise that.
“The three of us are pushing each other very hard. It’s important that we have three cars kind of at the front every single weekend.”
O’Ward has performed admirably in 2023 taking two second places and only lost the victory in St. Petersburg with a late plenum fire. In spite of narrowly missing out twice, he leads the standings heading into this weekend’s event at Long Beach.
Rossi said that his team mate had the potential to kick off 2023 with two victories and is eagerly anticipating the remaining 15 rounds of the NTT IndyCar Series.
“Pato maybe should have two wins to start the year. He’s done a very, very good job. It’s going to be a fun remaining 15 races with him and everyone else.
“Everyone at this level is pretty good. I think you can pick 10 guys that are hard to beat every single weekend.”
McLaren are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year and will run a special livery series for Arrow McLaren in the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 this year, celebrating the team’s historic Triple Crown accolade as part of its 60th anniversary.
The livery series will be revealed at the Grand Prix of Long Beach and Rossi is delighted to be racing for such a historic team in the outfit’s 60th year.
“To be able to kind of be a part of that and be in history at one point a part of all of the great drivers that have gotten the opportunity to drive for this brand, it’s something very, very special.
“It’s something that I don’t take lightly. I take a lot of pride in.
“It’s an honour, but obviously there’s responsibility that comes along with it.”
