Pieter Rossi has represented his son throughout his racing career that took him to Formula One and eventually the NTT IndyCar Series with Andretti Autosport. He negotiated Alexander’s contract extension with Andretti Autosport that will keep the talented driver with the team for at least the next three seasons following 2019 with an option year on a fourth.

“I have a very good team away from the race track in terms of my management and support and my complete and total confidence in what they do,” Alexander Rossi told NTT INDYCAR Mobile. “It always helps when it is your father and they always have your back.”

Having his father as his professional agent also gives Rossi tremendous confidence that his agent has the driver’s best interests in mind. There is no questioning or second-guessing the motives of the agent when it comes to investment opportunities or endorsement possibilities.

He has complete, total trust in his agent.

“It’s critical,” Alexander told NTT INDYCAR Mobile. “At the end of the day, I never have to question the motives. I can have a candid conversation with him; I know it will stay between us and I know that on my behalf there will be negotiations made to make that happen.

“He’s my Dad. I’m his only son. We’ve been doing this together for a really long time. We know each other and how to get the most out of each other. I wouldn’t have this deal without him. I wouldn’t be in IndyCar without him. I wouldn’t have accomplished anything in my career without him.”

Rossi believes his father is one of the most intelligent people he has ever met and that makes him an effective negotiator.

“He started a business from a very young age and learned it all himself and transitioned into motorsports once I had a passion for it,” Alexander continued. “From Formula One teams to IndyCar teams to investors to partners, he has been at the forefront of it all and can handle any situation.

“We’re attached by business and by blood. It’s a pretty cool thing to have this relationship and for his passion for the business side of motorsports. He also has other drivers in the “Road to Indy” program and he is very good at what he does.”

Team owner Michael Andretti has dealt with many agents in his career, first as a driver and later as a team owner. He has very high praise and respect for Pieter Rossi.

“Pieter is good,” Andretti told NTT INDYCAR Mobile. “He knows the business very well. He was in the ‘Shark Tank’ over there in Europe and he survived all of that. He learned a lot over there and knows what is going on.

“Some agents do it for themselves and that is one positive dealing with a Dad that they have their driver’s best interest at heart.”

How Pieter Rossi got to this point is an interesting story. He began as a building and landscaping contractor in the Sierra Nevada Mountain area of Northern California for 20 years. He sold his company to his partner.

“Meanwhile, Alexander had already won a world championship for BMW and moved to Europe,” Pieter told NTT INDYCAR Mobile. “It allowed me the freedom and time to pursue working with him on a regular basis. We were helping support him in Europe.

“Though that, I made about 200 trips to Europe from North America in seven years and built a lot of relationships and contacts. I built a business platform from that, multiple businesses.

“As his career grew, so did mine.”

Pieter has been an agent since 2002. He describes his negotiation style as “fair but intense” and weighs his options carefully.

“I allow Alexander to be involved in each decision,” Pieter said. “We don’t really back down on our terms and what we need. We want to make sure we get what we need, and we make that very clear from the beginning.

“The one thing I can tell you in all of the negotiations we have done is the ability to be very transparent with people. A lot of people in this industry are not, but we were very upfront in each discussion.

“I’ve always got his back and we always do this together. We know what each other is thinking, we work well together, there is a lot of respect and trust.”

The elder Rossi said Plans B, C and D were all very appealing.

“There were four really good ones,” Pieter Rossi revealed. “Simon Pagenaud solidified his place at Team Penske very well during the Month of May at Indy. Some drivers do better in a contract year, and he showed his ability to do that better than anybody I’ve seen in a long time. We’re proud of what Simon did. He has accomplished a lot and that was great for him. You can’t go wrong being in the Penske organization.

“That did change some of our discussions and how things moved in the month of May and into June. It was a very complicated puzzle, but we knew in May if it all fell into place, Alex would probably stay with Andretti Autosport.

“We knew we could win races and championships here. If that wasn’t true, we wouldn’t be standing here. But it has taken three years to build this.”

The Rossi family has proven to be quite a team. By using a formula that includes trust, relations and an environment where he can win races, Alexander Rossi is once again in the midst of another run at an NTT IndyCar Series championship.

“Relationships are something you can’t put a price tag on,” Alexander said. “Loyalty is fine and well, but you have to like the people you are working with and their talent and mind-sets. This is, in my mind, the best team in the paddock and the best opportunity I have to win races and championships. I had conversations with a lot of people. It wouldn’t be intelligent to not do that.

“But at the end, this is where I wanted to be.”