Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi says he feels the pressure is off of him ahead of the double-points season finale at Laguna Seca.
Rossi goes into the final race in his home state with a 41-point deficit to the season-long championship leader, Josef Newgarden.
The permutations for Rossi to claim his maiden IndyCar title in the best-case scenario would be to win and Newgarden finish outside the top-six.
The Californian driver has refused to get caught up in the what is required to win the title though, ensuring he goes into the final race with
“The motivation and goal has to be to win the race. Because it’s double points, that makes overhauling Josef that much more feasible, right?” said Rossi.
“For me, I go into it with the same exact mindset that I’ve had all year.
“It’s to show up to the racetrack and try and win. I think in a way it’s almost less pressure than if you’re closer, you’re then like nitpicking over positions, right?
“If he finishes fourth, I have to finish third. If he’s fourth, I have to be fifth, something like that. For me, it’s like, I need to win, period. If we do that, then I think we can be pretty content with the challenge that we put up throughout the year.
“If it’s meant to be, great type of thing. For me, yeah, it’s disappointing, kind of the 16 races that we’ve had haven’t gotten is closer.
“Ultimately in a way it kind of takes the pressure off us going into the final race.”
