Alexander Rossi has confirmed that he turned down an offer to take over Rio Haryanto's Manor seat from the Hungarian Grand Prix until the end of the current season, as the Indonesian is struggling to finance his drive.
Rossi completed five races for Manor last year and impressed team management, but chose to focus on IndyCar in 2016 after securing a joint Andretti Autosport/Bryan Herta Autosport entry. He went on to take a shock Indy 500 victory.
With Haryanto's money only securing his seat up until the British GP, Rossi was offered the chance to replace him for the remainder of the season, but turned down the offer as several races clash with IndyCar's calendar.
"My management and I are in constant communications with Manor and we knew there might be an opportunity to race for the last half of the 2016 season," he told Autosport.
"We gave it careful thought but declined the race seat due to my IndyCar contract."
"I have a lot of respect for Manor giving us first right on the seat as we agreed," he continued. "They understand an F1 deal has to be right for my future and my career has taken some good steps forward."
Rossi also confirmed that a return to Formula 1 next season is on the cards with both Manor and an unnamed team showing interest.
"I have options both in IndyCar and Formula 1 for 2017," he added.
"There have been talks with Manor for a race seat and we've also been approached by another F1 team that's quite interesting."
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