At a press conference hosted in the presence of Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA Vice President and President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE Malaysian motorsports ambassadorsʼ Malaysia.QI-Meritus.Mahara.com appointed US rising star Alexander Rossi as a driver who will become Luca Filippi’s team-mate, supporting the teamʼs participation at the second race of the third GP2 Asia season at the newly built Yas Marina Circuit.
Alexander Rossi
"I want to thank Peter Thompson, President and team founder of MalaysiaQI-MeritusMaharaGP.com and its chairman Raad S. Abduljawad for giving me the chance to compete for the rest of the season. I am very confident in the teams abilities to prepare a race winning car and I am very much looking forward to getting back to work in Abu Dhabi. My goals are simple - ’to win’ and I feel that I can deliver on this ambition as this team is one of continual strength and determination."
Peter Thompson, President and team founder
"I am delighted that Luca Filippi will partner with such a talented new team-mate for the second race of the season. Alexander Rossi already knows the track because he competed there in the first race of the season when he collected a fourth and fifth place. He also won the Formula BMW America championship and Formula BMW World in 2008, something he followed up by becoming the best rookie in Formula Masters last season.
"Luca knows the team very well and has already done a fantastic job in the first race of the season giving the team a second place on the podium. Alexander is an extremely promising young talent and we hope that he will be able to convert his determination and eagerness to race very quickly, into points and honours. I am really confident that with these two drivers we will be able to fight for podiums and wins."
Chairman Raad S. Abduljawad
"As an 18-year-old Alexander Rossi has entered 91 professional races to date in his young career. In that he has been on the podium 42 times and won 32 races, amongst other statistics. We hope that this winning trend will continue with us this season."