Arrow McLaren driver Alexander Rossi says that David Malukas is a great addition to the team for the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES and speaking to Paddock Eye on content day, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner said that while he hasn’t worked on track with David Malukas yet due to the structure of pre-season testing in terms of the hybrid systems, he says that he is a great kid.
Rossi said that they have been at the shop together and have worked together in this regard and he is looking forward to working with him and Pato O’Ward at the race track this year.
First of all, we welcome him with arms wide open. It’s pretty cool to have him on the team. He’s very exuberant. He matches Pato’s personality pretty well in terms of his youthful excitement.
We haven’t — despite there being — we’ve had some hybrid testing and stuff. We haven’t, because it’s one driver per day, we haven’t really worked together much, but we’ve done some content stuff together, and we’ve been in the shop at the same time, and he’s a really lovely kid. I think he’s a great addition to the organization. I think what he’s done so far in his career is pretty good, and he’s going to be ready to take a pretty big step here in 2024.
In terms of ’24, we’re returning to Milwaukee this year. How excited are you about that?
I mean, it’s always great to add events to the calendar, right, and obviously Milwaukee has a great history in the series. I’ve never been there, so I don’t really know. But yes, it’s cool to add a new track. It’s always great for a driver to go to a place you’ve never been before and kind of experience it for the first time.
When it comes to the races this season he said that he hopes that the team can improve on their street and short oval performances and speaking to Paddock Eye about the return of the Milwaukee Mile this season, Rossi said that he is excited about the race having never raced there in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
Speaking about the series as a whole, Rossi said that there is a lot of great news coming down the line over the next three to five months and there is an evolution of the car with the introduction of the new hybrid system that can only be a good thing for the series. Rossi said that the iRacing announcement on Tuesday is great for the sport.
Speaking about the addition of Kyle Larson for the Indianapolis 500, Rossi said that it is huge for the team and that he will be a force at the front of the Greatest Spectacle In Racing on May 26 and he spent time with the NASCAR Cup Series driver during his ROP.