Ahead of his F1 debut, Alexander Rossi admits he is still coming to terms with the reality.

Though he has dreamed of lining up on the F1 grid for as long as he can remember, now it is about to happen, the American youngster is having difficulty taking it all in.

For a while, in the wake of Jules Bianchi's crash at Suzuka, it looked as though Rossi might make his debut at Sochi, but instead, in tribute to the French youngster, Marussia opted not to run his car. Previously, at Spa, amidst a 'dispute' with Max Chilton, Rossi, who had just left Caterham, was in line to replace the Briton.

Now, almost a year later, Rossi's debut is for real, and it's proving hard for the youngster to accept.

"It's very surreal now that it's about to happen," he told reporters in Singapore.

"It was quite a last-minute thing," he continued. "The discussions started taking place shortly after Monza. I was on a plane Tuesday evening, and I booked the flight Tuesday morning."

"This is a major step in putting myself on the Formula One map and the radar," he added, days after Haas team boss Guenther Steiner appeared to rule him out of a drive, "and I'm just focussing on doing a really good job in these five races, and showing that I am capable of being in Formula One and doing a good job.

"My goal is to race full-time in Formula One, in whatever situation that may present itself I'm going to jump at that with open arms. What this may lead to, I don't know. I'm hopeful that doing a good job in these five races will prove I belong here, and that I'm capable of doing it just as much as anyone else."

Looking ahead to his home race, the first time an American has participated in an F1 race on home soil since Scott Speed at Indianapolis in 2007, he said: "It's a massive boost, I think it's going to be really special in Austin in a couple of weeks."

And refusing to rule out the Haas drive, despite Steiner's comments, added: "Having Austin come back on to the calendar, we've already seen the progress that that has given, having an American team come is going to take that a bit farther, and having an American driver, I think, is the final step in the puzzle."

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