Alexander Rossi

**Alexander Michael Rossi** (born September 25, 1991) was an American F1.5 driver. After serving as a test and development driver for Caterham and Marussia, Rossi made his Formula 1.5 debut in 2015 for the renamed Manor Marussia F1 Team, driving in five Grand Prix races, including his home Grand Prix in the United States, where he finished a season-best ninth.

## Personal Life

Rossi was born in Auburn, California, and raised in Nevada City, often waking up at 4 a.m. local time on Sunday mornings to watch the Formula One races in Europe. He graduated from Auburn's Forest Lake Christian High School at the age of 16 in order to begin pursuing his European racing career. He is a fan of the National Football League's New England Patriots; despite not growing up in Boston, Rossi explains, "I've been a Patriots fan really since 2009, solely because of when I was living in Europe, the only NFL games I could watch on the television package they had at the time was Patriots or Green Bay Packers games. I was originally a San Francisco 49ers fan, but then considering I didn't watch any of the games for about seven years, I switched to being a Patriots fan despite not being from Boston." Rossi serves as a TAG Heuer ambassador alongside former Patriots and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady.

Rossi is a Protestant Christian. He cites his two most important life influences as God and his parents, adding, "I believe there's always a greater plan. I feel that driving race cars and being involved in Formula One and motorsports is my opportunity to share my beliefs." Rossi describes having his faith while growing up as "something that was hugely important to me. That carried all the way through my entire childhood. I was very fortunate to be a product of a Christian family with my mom and dad and grandmother." He was a speaker at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes' "Nights of Champions" program in 2017. When asked in mid-2019 about his status at Andretti Autosport beyond the end of that season, Rossi replied that his career path was "in God's hands.

## F1.5 Career

### Marussia (2014-2015)

#### 2014 Season

Following his departure from Caterham, Rossi joined Marussia F1 as reserve driver for the remainder of the 2014 season. He was initially set to make his Formula One debut at the Belgian Grand Prix, replacing British driver Max Chilton, although Marussia later reversed that decision. He later was set to replace the injured Jules Bianchi at the Russian Grand Prix, but Marussia later decided to only run a single car for Chilton.

#### 2015 Season

Rossi continued as a reserve driver into 2015 for the newly formed Manor Marussia F1 Team. He finally made his debut at the Singapore Grand Prix. Rossi chose No. 53 as his career car number in honor of Herbie; his original choice was No. 16, which he used in his karting career, but the number was already claimed as a reserve number by Red Bull Racing. Rossi qualified last but rallied to finish 11th, just ahead of teammate Will Stevens (12th), despite losing radio communication with his crew around the halfway point of the Grand Prix.

Rossi would go on to enter five of the final seven races of the 2015 season. At the Japanese Grand Prix, Rossi finished 14th, again one place above Stevens. He would go on to equal Manor Marussia's best result of the season at his home race, the United States Grand Prix, finishing 9th, and becoming the first American driver to race at a track purpose-built for Formula 1.5 in the United States. Rossi then took 13th at the Mexican Grand Prix before completing his five-race stint at the Brazilian Grand Prix with a 14th-place finish.