Alex Rossi disagrees with Max Verstappen

Just over a week ago, Markus Erikson managed to win the Indy 500 – the Swedish racer, who did not perform very well in Formula 1, has now become a true motorsport hero. But we also mentioned Max Verstappen, who said that IndyCar was not in his plans because it was too unsafe.

“Indy 500 is not in my plans. I respect what these riders do, for their performance, but in my opinion they are just crazy,” the reigning world champion said at the time.

Alex Rossi, a former Formula 1 driver who switched to IndyCar in 2016 and won the Indy 500 that same year, was sympathetic to Verstappen’s comment but was unwilling to agree with him.

“I think when you play in Formula 1, the whole world revolves around this championship for you, and in a way it’s sad, because other types of racing practically don’t exist for you,” Rossi reasoned on Sky Sports. – To get into F1, you have to fully focus on this, and I was in this situation too.

At that point I knew what the Indy 500 was, but I didn’t pay much attention to this race. But when you get the chance to participate in it, you understand that this is a unique, absolutely incredible event – and not just for the world of motorsport, but for the whole world in general.

In some ways, IndyCar may be more dangerous, but we’ve had four crashes in Indianapolis this year, but the cars haven’t been torn apart. You can’t say the same about the Monaco Grand Prix, agree? (referring to Mick Schumacher’s accident)

I think when Max makes such an argument as security, it’s nothing more than an excuse. I think it’s best to talk about these topics with Roman Grosjean.

Of course he had a terrible accident a few years ago in Bahrain after which he thought long and hard about what to do in the future, but when he moved to IndyCar he felt his love for racing came back to him, and with driving these cars he feels in complete safety.

I think it’s all relative. In general, Verstappen’s comments don’t surprise me, but that doesn’t mean I agree.

Rossi also shared his impressions of the current Formula 1 season. Here’s what he said when asked which car he would prefer to drive – Red Bull RB18 or Ferrari F1-75.

“Neither the one nor the other! I’m happy with everything in IndyCar,” Alex said with a smile. “But both teams seem to be doing well. Maybe the Ferrari car is faster in qualifying, but for some reason this team in races does not show the desired results, mistakes in choosing tactics or something else. It seems strange decisions are being made in Ferrari over the course of the Grand Prix.

Still, as usual, Max is performing incredibly well and thanks to his efforts, Red Bull was probably able to rise to higher positions than it deserves. However, Sergio won the race in Monaco.

So in my opinion both teams are showing good results, and so are all four riders. It’s interesting to watch, so I like to play the role of a spectator.”