Alexander Rossi Concludes Five Strong Races with Manor Marussia F1 Team

Alexander Rossi has concluded his fifth race with Manor Marussia F1 Team after the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio Petrobras do Brasil 2015 took place yesterday. A challenging weekend with balance issues throughout the race meant Alexander just missed out on making it five out of five finishes ahead of his teammate, however leaves Brazil extremely positive about his performance within the team since his debut in Singapore and very optimistic about the future and 2016.

The opening Free Practice sessions for the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2015 got underway at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, where the Manor Marussia F1 Team driver Alexander Rossi immediately set the pace during the morning to finish ahead of his team mate once more in FP1. As the day progressed, balance issues compromised FP2 and the final practice session of the weekend on Saturday morning was met with similar challenges.

It’s been a totally positive experience and now I’m ready to finalize my plans for 2016.

Alexander Rossi

However, Alexander was able to put in a fantastic performance and pulled out all the stops for the qualifying session later that day. Saturday’s qualifying results meant that Alexander would lead the Manor Marussia F1 Team into Sunday’s Formula 1 Grande Prêmio Petrobras do Brasil 2015, after a positive Q1 saw him end the day in 18th position. With grid penalties further up the order, Alexander would begin his final race with Manor Marussia F1 Team in 17th.

In yet another two-car finish for the team - the 13th of the season - Alexander had to settle for 19th place after struggling with understeer throughout the 71 lap race in today’s Formula 1 Grande Prêmio Petrobras do Brasil 2015. Despite the challenges, Alexander was able to manage the tyres and bring the car home, concluding an extremely positive five races with the Manor Marussia F1 Team.

Alexander will now return to Bahrain to compete with his GP2 Series team, Racing Engineering, for the penultimate round of competition before finishing the 2015 season in Abu Dhabi with Racing Engineering from the 27-29th November.

John Booth, Team Principal

“I think Will had a much more enjoyable day than Alexander. Alex seemed to have a really difficult balance and he was battling with the car from start to finish, so I’m sure it seemed like a very long race for him. For Abu Dhabi, Alex is back with Racing Engineering focusing on his GP2 team’s championship position, but I’d like to commend him on five very strong races with us and it has been a pleasure to have him around.”

Alexander Rossi #53

“My start was really good and the first stint the race wasn’t so bad, but in the second and third stints the balance was terrible, losing me so much time with understeer. Will getting past was inevitable and I was pretty resigned to that fact. Today wasn’t my day, but it’s another strong finish for the team. Looking back at the five races I’ve had since Singapore, I’m very happy overall. It’s been a totally positive experience and now I’m ready to finalize my plans for 2016. I want to thank everyone at Manor Marussia F1 Team and my supporters for this incredible opportunity, and I look forward to paying them back with more next year.”

Alexander Rossi