Definitely feel for Rossi. Felt like he was the strongest driver this year, but the car wasn't always up to the task. Kind of felt the opposite about Newgarden as he made so many unforced errors. Overall a pretty good season from Indycar, but already looking forward to the next one
I was looking at it today, and if Rossi had finished 6th or better at both the Indy GP and Pocono, he would have had the title (assuming same finishing order at Laguna Seca). I bring up those two races because they were his worst finishes of the season, both due to lap one incidents that were not really within his control.
There was also the late caution at COTA that ultimately took away a win and made it a 9th place finish. Those 29 points would have been useful.
Or the Indy 500, which was a last second slipsteam battle. A win there was worth an extra 40 points. That's the championship, right there.
So many missed opportunities, any of those go a little more right, and he had the title.
That said, it seemed like the Andretti team was lost on setups coming down the home stretch. Rossi had some solid finishes, but his last win was Road America in June, and he only had 2 wins. Both dominant wins going away from the field. When they get it right, they get it REALLY right. But when the title was on the line, they could not find their way.
