2015 F1 season: F1i's rookie review

ALEXANDER ROSSI 

Rossi Singapore debut

Chris Medland: After a number of false starts, Rossi finally made his F1 debut in Singapore - a circuit he knew from GP2 - and was immediately on the pace. A crash in practice was the only notable error of his five races for Manor, and he was even dreaming of a point in his home race in the United States as he finished 12th. Added a slight question mark at the end of his run with a difficult weekend in Brazil, but performed very well for someone dropped in so late in the year. Proved he should have a full-time seat.

Eric Silbermann: The lanky American finally got the drive everyone had expected him to land in the Marussia days, albeit for just five races from the final seven rounds. In relative terms he was impressive enough and crossed the line ahead of Manor team-mate Stevens at his first attempt in Singapore. Certainly, Stevens, despite having far more F1 cockpit time, never truly put the American in the shade. Five races is really not enough to reach a fair conclusion, but we didn’t see anything to suggest we were looking at a future great, although he might have done enough to prove he is worth another go.

Julien Billiotte: Having been flirting with Formula One for a couple of years, Rossi was finally given the opportunity to make his grand prix debut with Manor at Singapore, of all places, in lieu of Merhi. Despite crashing his MR03B on his first practice outing, the US driver’s five-race audition for 2016 went pretty smoothly, with Rossi securing a better result than his more experienced team-mate Stevens on four occasions. Running in the top 10 and equalling his squad’s season-best result of 12th during a chaotic home event in Austin did no harm to boost his chances to land a drive next year.

Phillip van Osten: Perhaps premature to judge Rossi given his limited five-race experience. Was thrown in a at the deep end at Manor and acquitted himself remarkably well. Was quick to get the upper hand over Stevens in most races and showed encouraging race pace. Alex should have been Gene Haas' de facto choice for number 2 alongside Romain Grosjean but Guttierez' financial backing prevailed. Needs to secure a seat with Manor Marussia and consistently prove his worth. He can do it.

Justin Hynes: Rossi was presented with an unenviable task – take an uncompetitive car, overcome lack of familiarity and mark a mark against a more embedded team-mate in just five short race weekends. The American seized the opportunity, however, and in his first two outings utilised his considerable GP2 experience to outrace Stevens in Singapore and in Japan, even though the Briton had outqualified him. Rossi enjoyed a good home debut in the US, dramatically hovering around the edge of the points places for a portion of the race, while Stevens failed to finish and then he outqualified and out-raced Stevens in Mexico. The Briton fought back in Brazil but Rossi had done what was asked. Was it conclusive? Five races just weren’t enough to make a proper assessment.

F1i scores: 6.5/10