Alexander Rossi remained positive despite suffering the crash that overshadowed his free practice session on his first day as an official Manor F1 Team race driver in Singapore on Friday.
Rossi, the first American Formula 1 driver since Scott Speed in 2007, ended the first practice session in Singapore in the wall but showed good pace despite not having previously driven the car this season, finishing just 0.015s adrift of team-mate Will Stevens.
The GP2 Series race winner thanked the Manor mechanics for enabling him to return to the track late in the second session, but knows he will have a lot of work to do during FP3 on Saturday afternoon to catch up on the lost time.
“It’s a shame that a small mistake overshadowed what for me was a very positive first day with the team here in Singapore,” said Rossi.
“Prior to that, I was really pleased with how things were going, so I’m not too downhearted, although I have to acknowledge the supreme efforts of my car crew – both car crews in fact – in getting my car repaired so quickly.
“These are not ideal conditions to work in at the best of times, as the humidity is incredible, so I’ll try to reward their hard work over the rest of the weekend.
“I didn’t get the chance to do my option run, so it will be a busy FP3 session tomorrow, but I’m focused on the positives from today and looking forward to picking up where I left off.”
