Rossi jokes he "needs to see a psychiatrist" after rollercoaster Indy 500

Rossi's first definition of an oval was Phoenix, earlier this year. His second? The behemoth that is Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He took to it like he had done it his entire life, starting 11th, keeping the nose clean and coming out on the other side with the Borg Warner trophy. 

"I still don't (know what happened). I'm still on the last lap actually with Bryan (Herta) yelling at me. He is like, pull the clutch in and coast. I'm like, What? Okay."

The 24-year-old sputtered across the line, coming to a halt soon after, completing 36 laps on a single tank of fuel. "It was close obviously, too close for comfort," Rossi admitted. "But obviously the people on the timing stand knew what was going on and we made it work.

"It's an unbelievable result for the team. Just is a testament to how hard everyone has worked this entire month. We've been strong from day one, on Monday. It's made my life that much easier."

Adapting to American open-wheel racing

Rossi was chasing a career in Formula 1, climbing the European open-wheel ladder and winning races in both GP3 and GP2. Eventually, he got the chance to compete for the Manor F1 Team in five Grand Prix. He posted a career-best result of 12th in the United States GP at Circuit of the Americas.

Three months ago, he came to IndyCar with one eye still on F1 and filled with uncertainty. But he's quickly settled into his new environment.

"I'm ecstatic to be here.

"From the first race in St. Pete, I felt immediately at home in this championship. There's been some struggling with some difficult weekends, we've had our struggles. It's been a new experience for me. It's been a new experience for the merger of Bryan Herta Autosport and Andretti Autosport. We've worked very hard every day to try to improve and get things better."

"Really the Indy GP for us was a big step forward in terms of confidence, kind of a general understanding of where we were at. To carry that forward into all the practice, qualifying, and now this, it's phenomenal. It's just a huge testament to the great people I have around me."

Being an Indy 500 winner

And forevermore, no matter what he does, he will always be referred to as an Indianapolis 500 champion.

"It won't sink in for a while. I don't want it to. I want to enjoy this moment, enjoy it with the people around me. It's obviously a huge honor and privilege, something I'm going to carry with a great sense of responsibility.

The race itself was unpredictable. A near-record amount of lead changes with 13 different drivers spending time out front. Rossi was all over the field from the front to the middle and the back. 

"The emotional rollercoaster of this race is ridiculous," he noted. "There were moments where I was stoked, moments where were heartbroken, moments where I was stoked again. I need to see a psychiatrist after this (laughter).

"It was tough. But I just really focused on doing the job I could. Bryan has a calming demeanor on the radio. The spotters were fantastic. I knew everything that was going on. I focused on my job: making sure the car was in the right spot all the time."

Eyes forward

But Rossi, despite being a 'rookie' driver, is already looking forward and thinking about the remainder of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar season.

"We need to really push this forward. It was an incredible event for the hundredth running of the Indy 500. We need to do everything in our power to continue the momentum forward, make it even bigger next year."