Conditions at Sebring “too good to learn much” says Rossi

The Andretti Autosport-Honda driver, who won the 2016 Indy 500 and scored his first roadcourse IndyCar win at Watkins Glen last September, will begin his third season with the team this year, having swapped the #98 Andretti-Herta entry for Marco Andretti’s #27.

Rossi told Motorsport.com: “It's pretty much how I described our last test – the track conditions were too good to learn a lot. So how much of today will be applicable in St. Petersburg [scene of the first round in March] is a question mark in my mind.

“The track gripped up really quick because there were 10 or 11 of us out there, but that’s fine – that’s what your average street track will do on a race weekend. The issue was that the cool dense air and low track temperature helped the handling of the car, gave us more grip. It was fun, but I don't think it's what we can expect to find through the summer.”

Rossi did say he was pleased with the team’s progress since his first test of the new 2018 car earlier this month.

“We made some good steps forward compared with the last test,” he said. “But that’s all we can do right now until we understand for sure where everyone else is and where we need to be.”

Rossi's next seat time will be in IndyCar's Open Test at Phoenix on February 9-10.