Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi has revealed how his unsolicited offer to race for Haas in 2016, when the team first entered Formula 1, was met with a blunt rejection.
Born in California, Rossi spent most of his formative years in motorsport racing in Europe.
From GP3 in 2010 to Formula Renault in 2012 and then on to GP2 a year later, the young American driver raced through the junior ranks to eventually earn himself a seat with Manor Marussia for the last five races of the 2015 season.
Rossi's best result was a P12 finish at the US Grand Prix in Austin, but the prospect of an American team joining the grid in 2016 naturally encouraged him to introduce himself to Haas.
Unfortunately, his services were promptly rejected by the US outfit.
"There were some conversations and then, in Monza of 2015, without mincing any words, it was basically, from management, ‘We are not interested in you’," recalled Rossi, speaking on the latest 'Beyond the Grid' podcast.
"‘We don’t think any Americans are qualified to race in Formula 1 at this point and you are best to go off and go your own way’. That was the conversation.
"The Haas conversations were very short and to the point. There is no violin that I look for, it’s just a part of the sport.
"If I had to say I had a problem with something, it is purely just that there are commitments and there were things that were said and done with Haas that ultimately didn’t happen for one reason or another."
Read also:
The following year, Haas lined up on the grid in Melbourne with Romain Grosjean and former Sauber driver Esteban Gutierrez.
As for Rossi, after Manor announced Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto as its drivers for 2016, the young American followed Haas' advice and went his own way.
Rossi switched to IndyCar with Andretti Autosport and despite his hesitance to race on the series' ovals, the then 24-year-old achieved a shock win in the 2016 Indianapolis 500.
Rossi would go on to win six more times in IndyCar and he remains to this day one of the series' stalwarts, still racing with Andretti Autosport.
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Alpine protégé Abbi Pulling extended her lead in the F1 Academy championship with back-to-back wins…
Toto Wolff has dismissed Red Bull chief Oliver Mintzlaff’s criticism of the Mercedes team principal’s…
Kevin Magnussen’s defensive tactics and a clash with a mid-field rival in the Miami Grand…
Max Verstappen says he was very much aware of Sergio Perez’s looming presence behind him…
Lando Norris says he never doubted he would one day become a bona fide Grand…
The Miami Grand Prix unfolded with a twist of fate for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who…