2025 IndyCar season outlook: Arrow McLaren
Yesterday at 03:23 PM
With the first practice session of the new IndyCar Season due to begin at St. Petersburg on Friday, February 28, it's time to start ramping up for the launch with a look inside each of the 11 teams.
What's new, what's different, and what has stayed the same? We'll find out from each team, continuing after Andretti Global with Arrow McLaren.
2024 ACHIEVEMENTS
To understand the Arrow McLaren team's where the team is starting from in 2025, let's begin with a look back to where it ended in 2024.
• Drivers' Championship: Pato O'Ward, No. 5 Chevy, fifth place. Three wins, zero pole positions, six top threes, six top fives, 10 top 10s, four races led for 189 laps, running at the finish of 14 out of 16 races. Average starting position of 8.5, average finish of 10.1.
• Drivers' Championship: n/a, various drivers, No. 6 Chevy.
• Drivers' Championship: Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Chevy, 10th place. Zero wins/poles, one top three, three top fives, 10 top 10s, six races led for 109 laps, running at the finish of 13 out of 16 races. Average starting position of 10.6, average finish of 10.4.
• Entrants' Championship: No. 5, fifth (earned a Leaders Circle contract), No. 6, 17th (earned a Leaders Circle contract), No. 7, ninth (earned a Leaders Circle contract).
2025 DRIVERS
• No. 5 Chevy: Pato O'Ward.
• No. 6 Chevy: Nolan Siegel (first full season after partial spread across three teams in 2024).
• No. 7 Chevy: Christian Lundgaard (joining from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 11th in the championship. Zero wins/poles, one top three, one top five, five top 10s, four races led for 53 laps, running at the finish of 16 out of 17 races. Average starting position of 14.5, average finish of 13.0).
2025 KEY POSITIONS
• Team Owner: McLaren Racing
• Team Principal: Tony Kanaan
• General Manager: Brian Barnhart
• Technical Director: Nick Snyder
• Director of Race Operations: Scott Harner
• No. 5 Race Engineer: Will Anderson
• No. 5 Race Strategist: Nick Snyder
• No. 5 Chief Mechanic: Chris Nash
• No. 6 Race Engineer: Kate Gundlach
• No. 6 Race Strategist: Scott Harner
• No. 6 Chief Mechanic: Heath Kosik
• No. 7 Race Engineer: Chris Lawrence
• No. 7 Race Strategist: Brian Barnhart
• No. 7 Chief Mechanic: Todd Phillips
MAJOR CHANGES
Like Andretti Global, where do we start? From this point in February of 2024, Arrow McLaren has undergone more top-to-bottom changes than any other IndyCar team.
• Team principal Gavin Ward was released, replaced by assistant team principal Tony Kanaan, who embarks on his first season of running a racing team.
• Team founder Sam Schmidt and co-owner Ric Peterson were bought out, with McLaren Racing taking complete ownership of the team.
• The team parted with Alexander Rossi after two season when an impasse over the financial terms of a contract extension was experienced. Rossi signed with Ed Carpenter Racing, replacing Rinus VeeKay.
• The team signed Lundgaard to replace Rossi.
• The team signed Siegel to complete last season in the No. 6 car through a multi-year contract.
• Veteran engineer Robert Gue left to join PREMA Racing.
• Veteran performance engineer Kate Gundlach was moved from O'Ward's car to become a first-time race engineer with Siegel.
• Paddock veteran Scott Harner joined as director of race operations.
• Veteran crew chief Didier Francescia moved from AJ Foyt Racing to join in a shop-based support role alongside Harner.
• The team hired crew chief Heath 'Keto' Kosik from Chip Ganassi Racing to perform the same role on Siegel's car.
• The team released a few team veterans, including Brendon Cleave and Dave Higuera.
THE MISSION AHEAD IS TO…
Put the extreme turbulence of last season in the rearview mirror and jell into whatever the latest version of Arrow McLaren is destined to become.
Despite placing two of its drivers in the top 10 and nearly winning the Indianapolis 500, this team is not simply building upon its achievements from 2024 and trying to level up in 2025. It's another significant reboot for the team — its second since 2023 — and the blend of Arrow McLaren veterans and its newcomers, or those who've been promoted to bigger roles, will need time to go racing together and figure out how to get the best from each other while in competition.
Team-building exercises during the offseason are great, but as a collective, this heavily revised squad needs to get out onto the field and unite under pressure.
The good news is after rifling through endless driver changes, Arrow McLaren has turned the proverbial page with three young drivers — O'Ward's the oldest at 25 next to newcomers Lundgaard (23) and Siegel (20) — who were locked in place many months ago.
Looking to 2025, there were some great moments in recent years when whomever was signed to partner with O'Ward was able to match or exceed his performance, but those were isolated moments. With Lundgaard, that could change to some degree.
Few storylines will be as compelling as the battle between O'Ward, the team's established leader and one of IndyCar's fastest drivers, and Lundgaard, whose raw speed and output at a midfield team was remarkable. He's O'Ward's first new partner who's accurately described as being on the rise.
Both of O'Ward's most recent teammates (Felix Rosenqvist followed by Rossi), joined Arrow McLaren from better teams. But for Lundgaard, this is his first big upward shot at becoming a title contender, and if his body of work at RLL is a guide, he'll become the first teammate to bring consistent heat to O'Ward. And if that happens, it will be a great thing for the team, and for both drivers.
Lundgaard is my pick for the year's sleeper-turned-breakout performer. Arrow McLaren hasn't had as real 1-2 punch with a pair of drivers who both deliver like they're top dogs, and that possibility is very real with O'Ward and Lundgaard.
O'Ward has learned from all his teammates since landing at Arrow McLaren in 2020, but he's never been challenged on a regular basis to dig deep and find ways to beat them. If Lundgaard blossoms as expected, it will not only be a benefit for his team and personal stock value, but will force O'Ward to deal with emotions he hasn't had to process in IndyCar.
An example: Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon was the top driver at Ganassi until Dan Wheldon arrived in 2006. Dixon dealt with the uncomfortable realization that Wheldon was faster at that stage, humbled himself, observed and added some of Wheldon's methods to his own, and emerged the following year as Dixon 2.0, when he regained his top-driver status. If it wasn't for being challenged and modestly demoted by Wheldon, and all of the inner searching and reconciling that toolk place, Dixon would not have found another gear, increased his mental toughness, and responded as a faster version of himself.
For O'Ward's sake, and for his development as a professional driver, a heavy and sustained challenge from Lundgaard would be a gift like Wheldon's to Dixon. And if O'Ward kills that entire concept by outrunning his confidence-driven colleague on a regular basis, we'll watch and marvel at his talent and mourn for Lundgaard, whose stock value will plummet.
Siegel is extremely smart and experienced for his age, has tons of miles in smaller open-wheel cars and LMP2 prototypes, but he lacks sufficient time in a big and fast IndyCar. As is often the case with rookies and those who are new-ish to IndyCar, there's plenty of talent so serve as the underpinnings for whatever's to come, but there's no way to credibly predict how a driver like Siegel will fare in his first complete season.
Separate from the drivers, new team boss Tony Kanaan is tasked with building a culture within the program that will place it in true contention with Ganassi, Penske, and Andretti when it's time to settle championships. It's overstating the obvious, but like so many of his teammates, Kanaan's learning on the job; the first race of the season is also his first race as a team principal. There's no script for him to work from, and there will be mistakes and challenges to overcome while he spends the 2025 season going to school.
Another mission is to iron out the performance kinks that stymied O'Ward's charge across 17 races. His average qualifying position of 8.5 was almost three positions behind Colton Herta's 5.6. With fewer elite cars to overtake, Herta ended up second in the standings. O'Ward, with more monsters to pass, was three spots back from Herta in the championship, which isn't a coincidence. O'Ward also went without a pole last season, which is emblematic of the issue for his team to resolve. Start higher, finish higher.
Finally, Arrow McLaren came close to winning Indy last year and had a powerful combo in O'Ward and Rossi in that regard. Kyle Larson, who is returning in May, gave the team another strong entry to chase victory.
But losing Rossi hasn't made the team better at the Speedway, and this is the only significant area where Lundgaard's upcoming contributions are a question mark. Look for Kanaan, the 2014 Indy 500 winner, to be at Lundgaard's side and in his ear once Indy arrives, because they need their newest driver to be a boost to Arrow McLaren's fortunes at the Brickyard.
O'Ward's Main Task: It's to do the thing great drivers aren't wired for, and that's to be patient. If his team is ready to rock at the opening race, there will be no need for patience, but if team-wide brilliance isn't on display at St. Petersburg for all the reasons that have been mentioned, the task will be to stay calm and keep everyone focused on improving at Thermal, Long Beach, and the Indy GP in preparation for an assault on the Indy 500.
In his seventh full season, O'Ward has no interest in lowering his ambitions; conquering his rivals and standing above them as IndyCar's newest champion has become an obsession. He's ready to take that final step, and other than losing Gundlach to Siegel's car, the majority of O'Ward's No. 5 team is intact.
The most valuable present his team can deliver is to remove the mysteries of where its drivers will qualify each weekend, and specifically, to give O'Ward better shots at starting inside the top six at most events, which only happened at five races last year.
If the No. 5 program can be an outlier during Arrow McLaren's latest overhaul, IndyCar's most popular driver and his many fans will be incredibly happy. And if there are a few bumps in the early going, don't lose faith.
Siegel's Main Task: Plug his ears and commit to the process. Some over-the-top things have been said by the team to the press about Siegel's potential, and none of it has been helpful.
He landed as the first Arrow McLaren driver who was highly inexperienced and under developed, and that doesn't have to be a bad thing. It just means there's a lot of work to do to get him to someplace closer to his teammates. It also means Arrow McLaren will have two drivers in the mix among the leaders and one who isn't ready for those demands from Day 1.
Siegel is this team's equivalent of Chip Ganassi Racing's Kyffin Simpson: Lots of hours in sports cars, a decent volume of junior open-wheel racing in the books, but not an F2 or Indy NXT champion, and nowhere near being ready to race alongside their teammates. As a rookie, Simpson was hammered for being a small name in a big team where small names aren't usually found along with being panned for having the opportunity due to family wealth.
Siegel's facing the same situation, and if he's wise, he'll tune out any of the flowery things said about him by team bosses and ignore whatever criticism that comes his way. Try hard, avoid contact, and work with Kanaan and his teammates to fill in the knowledge gaps that come with leaving Indy NXT before he was a finished product.
He should deliver some pleasant surprises throughout the season, but I expect 2025 to look more like Siegel's senior year in college while waiting to get to 2026 and give us a proper feel for what he's capable of achieving in the pros.
Lundgaard's Main Task: Most of it has already been written, but it's to be at or extremely close to O'Ward's level, with an acknowledged caveat on the ovals where O'Ward is in his own league.
A quick note to reflect the other possibility here: O'Ward's always been the fastest and clear No. 1 driver, but the same was true for Lundgaard at RLL, and while O'Ward hasn't dealt with a teammate knocking him down to No. 2, we can also says the same about Lundgaard. Graham Rahal did outrun him on a number of occasions, but on average, Lundgaard was well ahead in the standings.
Lundgaard's ego is a beautiful thing; he's known for having more self-confidence than almost any other IndyCar driver. What if O'Ward does assert his dominance, holds firm to being Arrow McLaren's No. 1, and it's Lundgaard who is forced to go through that mental process of being demoted to No. 2 for the first time in his IndyCar career? Again, lots of popcorn will be needed while following this story.
GOALS
This is possibly the hardest item for Kanaan to manage. Based on the team's name and lead driver and high level of funding, Arrow McLaren should be a championship favorite from the outset. And with all of the newness and changes in mind, this is the opposite of an Andretti Global, which is almost unchanged from last season and has exceptional stability and momentum to stand on.
Yes, all of the ingredients are there for Arrow McLaren to jump to the front of the field, and that might happen. But if it stumbles during the early races, or lands in a similar P5-P10 place in the championship, it won't come as a surprise. And yet, Kanaan can't give everyone a pass. It's a Catch-22 for all involved.
And if the team achieves Kanaan's goals of winning the title and the Indy 500, we'll have one hell of a story to unpack after the season finale.
THOUGHTS FROM TEAM PRINCIPAL TONY KANAAN:
"I expect Pato to run for the championship and win the Indy 500," Kanaan told RACER. "Christian, first year with us, the opportunity of his life. I think Christian has a lot to prove himself. We believe in him, and our job is to give him the best car for him to perform. Because of his experience, I expect Pato to be fighting for the championship. Christian needs to be in the top five, and Nolan, I will say top 10 or top 12, because he’s still learning quite a bit, putting a lot of effort in.
"But to me, I want my three cars in the top 10. Pato can win it all, for sure. And Christian, we brought him here to challenge Pato. Christian believes he can be the guy, so as I tell him, 'Go out there and prove it.' Because I'm challenging him. I say I know Pato can do it because he has been doing it. So prove me wrong. I’ll be the first one to congratulate him if he can do it. That’s my goal."
