While Takuma Sato’s P4 finish Sunday at Road America should have been cause for celebration as his top finish with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, frustrations remained after contact with Alexander Rossi.
Sato was building off of a strong pace that saw him pass Robert Wickens and immediately put pressure on Rossi. As he made a daring move to the outside of Rossi for position, Rossi pushed back on the inside and bumped Sato off of the track. Sato lost position to Rossi and Wickens in the incident.
Though he recovered and finished ahead of both as Rossi suffered a tire puncture, he was unimpressed with the Andretti Autosport driver’s conduct. It was the second incident in which race control reviewed contact by Rossi, the first being with Wickens, and no penalties were given in either case.
“You shouldn’t be really bumping each other,” Sato told NBCSN. “Obviously, I gave him room enough… He did exactly the same thing to Wickens at the start. I’m surprised the stewards didn’t take any action.”
“I’m okay with side-by-side, by all means, just don’t touch me.”
Wickens agreed with Sato’s assessment and referred to Rossi’s contact as “a little rude.”
Watching the incidents back again, Rossi did not agree.
“[I see] no issue whatsoever,” he told NBCSN. “That’s why I did it again. Obviously, the race stewards didn’t see any issue with it.”
“It’s IndyCar racing, man. This is hard stuff, this is wheel-to-wheel. We talk about a lot in the drivers meetings that the primary responsibility is the overtaking car, but once you’re alongside it’s your corner. It’s their decision to stay on the outside.”
