The seven-time IndyCar race-winner and two-time title contender was confirmed on Thursday as an Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet driver for 2023 and beyond, his departure from Andretti Autosport-Honda having been confirmed on Wednesday.
“I think it's been very obvious what Zak Brown [McLaren Racing CEO] and Taylor [Kiel, AMSP team president] have done over the last couple of years,” said Rossi, explaining his decision to switch. “Arrow McLaren SP's competitive. The overall performance of the team has exponentially increased every event we go to.
“That was a pretty easy decision for me to see them as a championship contender. Going forward into the future, I think it's only going to get better.
He then added: “Taylor and Zak got control and got to have the direction of the team not too long ago. What they've accomplished in a short period of time speaks for itself. The results they had last year. [I have] a huge amount of respect for Pato obviously, but he's still new to the championship, relatively young [so] the results he had were phenomenal.
“I think the inherent performance is there, it exists. I think if you look at what the team did at Indy this year, they were the second strongest team. I think what Ganassi was able to do was phenomenal. We've all touched on that. I think Arrow McLaren SP was certainly the next best shot.
“Yeah, I think this is a team that is going to be a championship challenger. They already were last year, they will be this year, I certainly think it will be the case going forward.”
Rossi said that the decision to depart Andretti Autosport, his home since switching from Formula 1 in 2016, was made last summer, but it wasn’t immediately obvious which team he would join.
“There's a lot of other things that had to happen,” he said. “Yes, I can want a horse, but that doesn't mean I'm going to get one. I had to, from a personal standpoint, look at what options were available, what was actually out there, right?
“I think this all started very, very early. We're talking about 2021 when we're discussing a thing for 2023. I think this is a record for an announcement in a lot of respects! I would say around January time is when it started to become clear what the options were actually going to be. From there it was just about from an organizational standpoint figuring out how all those pieces could fall together. I’ve got to tip my hat to Zak and Taylor, the whole McLaren organization, for making it a pretty seamless process.”
The 2016 Indy 500 winner said he’s looking forward to the intra-team rivalry with Pato O’Ward.
“I think it's fantastic,” he said. “Obviously Pato is one of the guys that's come on the scene in the past couple of years, someone that's properly a championship contender, someone you have to beat every weekend. From day one we're going to push each other really hard. Naturally that's just going to elevate the team, to have that kind of dynamic.
“He's someone that I've gotten to know a little bit over the past couple of years. We've had some jokes together. I don't really know him that well. I look forward to getting to know him and obviously everyone at the team.
“Yes, I think there's going to be a competitive drive inside the organization.”
