McLaren Confirm Full 2020 IndyCar Assault

[Paul Jeffrey]

British F1 team McLaren Racing have confirmed their presence as a full time entry in the NTT IndyCar Series from next season.

Having long made their desire known to compete on a more full time basis across the pond, the Woking based McLaren team have today confirmed a partnership with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to run a full season campaign in the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series - returning the famous racing team to top flight US competition for the first time since 1979.

Set to be branded as Arrow McLaren Racing SP, the new partnership looks set to field two Chevrolet powered cars for the full racing season, including the prestigious Indy 500 in May next year, with the project to be headed up by McLaren man and former IndyCar star Gill de Ferran.

“IndyCar has been part of McLaren since our early years of racing, and the series today provides not only a commercial platform to continue to grow our brand in North America, but competition with some of the best teams in international motorsport" said McLaren Racing CEO, Zak Brown.​

With the racing expertise of Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports behind them, a team who have already proven themselves more than capable with James Hinchcliffe and Marcus Ericsson this season, the base McLaren are building for this new adventure should provide a solid platform for the outfit to come out fighting in the new season - going a long way towards papering over the obvious cracks that appeared during the disastrous qualification attempts for the jewel in the crown Indy 500 event last May.

“IndyCar is a natural fit for McLaren, given our legacy and determination to succeed at the top levels of international motorsport. Our ambition, over time, is to consistently compete for wins and championships. We acknowledge the challenge ahead of us but McLaren is committed to this partnership and to supporting the team as a whole.” added de Ferran, himself no stranger to success in American racing.​

With the start of the new season still some way off, McLaren have yet to confirm which drivers will represent the new team in 2020, or indeed how much of the Arrow Schmidt Peterson organisation will be brought into the new squad.

More news to follow.. exciting times.

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[robopirate]

Fernando Alonso likes this.

 

[Nick Hill]

Pretty exciting stuff! IndyCar has been a lot of fun lately - great racing, cool looking cars, hitting some classic tracks (I'm headed out to take in Laguna Seca in person this year!)

They also have some pretty cool stuff in the works for the next spec. Should be a lot of fun!

 

[RobJLee]

Don't blame them. They're still middling in F1 with no end to it and the domination of Merc, Fez, and Bull in sight. McLaren may as well look to other pastures.

 

[farjam]

In another and surprising news, James Hinchcliffe_despite the strong Honda ties and all those TV commercial for them_will stay in the team to work with Chevy.

Also about Robert Wickens,i'll copy the tweet here :
Been asked a bunch if the Schmidt promise of a car when @robertwickens is ready still stands under new McLaren deal. "Yes, definitely," says @ZBrownCEO

 

[falster]

surely this is enough for a decent studio to think about putting out a new IndyCar sim of some sort. like a papyrus IndyCar for the modern age.

id get it in an instant to be honest.

 

[MetalMania]

I think this will be good for the team and IndyCar. SPM is already kind of like the Red Bull of IndyCar, able to take a few wins from Penske and Andretti when it all comes together but not quite enough to really challenge for the championship. McLaren is still a midfield F1 team but they're running a hell of a lot better this year than they have in some time. One wonders how they'd look had they stayed with Honda - and would have made entry into IndyCar easier.

McLaren should be strong with the same car as the top teams and SPM will be stronger with what McLaren brings to the table. Will this will grow the team to 4 cars? Or will it be an "affiliate" separate team? If Marcus Ericsson stays, there's a guy with relevant recent F1 experience to advise the new engineering people on the differences in setting up an Indy Car. His presence probably had nothing to do with the partnership, but it can't hurt having someone who recently made the same switch.

 

[BoogerMac]

Unless I missed it in the article (likely), I didn't see which engine company they were going with. Are they going to go with the Honda HI19TT Indy-V6, Chevy IndyCar V6, or a new Indy-approved Mclaren V6? I assume it'll be an Honda unit since that is what Arrow Schmidt Peterson runs. Any word on this?

For my own amusement, I'd love to see another engine maker enter that scene.

EDIT: Never mind. The announcement on ASP's website mentions the new partnership including Chevy.

 

[Nick Hill]

Unless I missed it in the article (likely), I didn't see which engine company they were going with. Are they going to go with the Honda HI19TT Indy-V6, Chevy IndyCar V6, or a new Indy-approved Mclaren V6? I assume it'll be an Honda unit since that is what Arrow Schmidt Peterson runs. Any word on this?

For my own amusement, I'd love to see another engine maker enter that scene.

EDIT: Never mind. The announcement on ASP's website mentions the new partnership including Chevy.

Still thrilled with the move, but a Chevy powered McLaren is sort of like putting ketchup on a ribeye steak!

 

[boomn]

Still thrilled with the move, but a Chevy powered McLaren is sort of like putting ketchup on a ribeye steak!

McLaren's CanAm winning cars were all Chevy powered!

 

[wombat999]

Interesting comment re Fernando: "He won't be doing a full Indy season as he has other commitments" or words to that effect.
Curious.

 

[Mike Kadlcak]

they will only have a 3rd car Indy entry for Alonso and do 2 cars full season. Only Hinch is staying and Marcus has to look elsewhere now.

 

[Jonathan Young]

Exciting ! I’ve never really committed to watching IndyCar but as a Mclaren fan of old, this might change that

 

[Andrew Harper]

Good news but they need to make sure that the right elements are in place.

Listening to the Marshall Pruett podcast about the independent Indy entry, it was nothing short of a disaster.

Fancy have a race car but no correct steering wheel for it, couldn't quite believe it when I heard that one!

Anyway, lessons learned the hard way and I'm sure things will be much better this time, especially as this is more of a collaboration effort and McLaren are not starting from nothing.

Both IMSA and Indycar are looking very strong at the moment (I've been watching both for about five years) and this will only increase their exposure to European viewers.

Good luck to them and a team with McLaren's history can only be good for Indycar.

 

[PoopMan]

Hope Ericsson finds a seat, still good for the sport. Sad we lost pat'o to menstruating bull, praying herta isn't next

 

[NikiGouda]

Exciting indeed, but not THAT of a surprise if someone follows IndyCar closer
in recent weeks. There were rumors about this merger since quite some time
but now it turns out it wasn't just hot air. Welcome back McLaren (full time)

Interestingly, it's somehow even good for the series that McLaren's relationship
with Honda is pretty broken so now we have a second Chevy-powered top team
besides Penske. Therefore very important for a healthy balance between both
engine suppliers in the series.

Was "only" a tweet, nothing official yet, but sure looks like Hinchcliffe stays
onboard. But who might be the second driver?
Well i think Ericsson is out, there are rumors he's already talking with other
teams inside IndyCar as well as probably outside of Indycar.
To be honest i think he has pretty much underperformed in Indycar.
He's only 4th in the "rookie" standings, as a former decent F1 driver (not
impressive but not that bad either, certainly not an "Alex Yoong").
And he is a good bit away from Hinchcliffe in the points table, Hinch is on a
solid 10th but Marcus is only 15th. OUCH
And now compare that with Robert Wickens's outstanding rookie performance
last year in the "same" car.........even more OUCH

Possible (rumored) replacements for Ericsson are:
- Felipe Nasr (BRA), former F1 driver, current IMSA driver who tested an
Indycar in Portland a week ago
- Nicholas Latifi (CAN), a current F2 driver (2nd in championship), son of a
billionaire, his father invested in McLaren (holds 10% of the group)
- Colton Herta (USA), many see him at Andretti next year but i've seen the
rumor he's in talks with "McLaren SP" as well.
There are of course a lot of other possibilities, we will see. Exciting times

 

[Nicolas Vincent]

Great News !
Do not forget Bruce McLaren began the succes story of his team in Can-Am. Racing in the U.S. is the cradle of McLaren story...

 

[Nick Hill]

McLaren's CanAm winning cars were all Chevy powered!

I stand corrected!

 

[Knoxstar]

[QUOTE="Possible (rumored) replacements for Ericsson are:
- Felipe Nasr (BRA), former F1 driver, current IMSA driver who tested an
Indycar in Portland a week ago
- Nicholas Latifi (CAN), a current F2 driver (2nd in championship), son of a
billionaire, his father invested in McLaren (holds 10% of the group)
- Colton Herta (USA), many see him at Andretti next year but i've seen the
rumor he's in talks with "McLaren SP" as well.
There are of course a lot of other possibilities, we will see. Exciting times[/QUOTE]

Herta has a contract with Andretti so it would come at a steep price. Latifi makes sense if he doesn't win the F2 title and doesn't find a Williams seat but Nasr currently appears to be a good bet. With Arrow McLaren there shouldn't be any budget issues. Also Hinchcliffe has another year on his contract so he is staying for the next year at least.

 

[farjam]

Exciting indeed, but not THAT of a surprise if someone follows IndyCar closer
in recent weeks. There were rumors about this merger since quite some time
but now it turns out it wasn't just hot air. Welcome back McLaren (full time)

Interestingly, it's somehow even good for the series that McLaren's relationship
with Honda is pretty broken so now we have a second Chevy-powered top team
besides Penske. Therefore very important for a healthy balance between both
engine suppliers in the series.

Was "only" a tweet, nothing official yet, but sure looks like Hinchcliffe stays
onboard. But who might be the second driver?
Well i think Ericsson is out, there are rumors he's already talking with other
teams inside IndyCar as well as probably outside of Indycar.
To be honest i think he has pretty much underperformed in Indycar.
He's only 4th in the "rookie" standings, as a former decent F1 driver (not
impressive but not that bad either, certainly not an "Alex Yoong").
And he is a good bit away from Hinchcliffe in the points table, Hinch is on a
solid 10th but Marcus is only 15th. OUCH
And now compare that with Robert Wickens's outstanding rookie performance
last year in the "same" car.........even more OUCH

Possible (rumored) replacements for Ericsson are:
- Felipe Nasr (BRA), former F1 driver, current IMSA driver who tested an
Indycar in Portland a week ago
- Nicholas Latifi (CAN), a current F2 driver (2nd in championship), son of a
billionaire, his father invested in McLaren (holds 10% of the group)
- Colton Herta (USA), many see him at Andretti next year but i've seen the
rumor he's in talks with "McLaren SP" as well.
There are of course a lot of other possibilities, we will see. Exciting times

Yeah, i was aware that something is up through David Land and marshal
Did you catch the little news about Robert Wickens?
And yes Eric was kind of Ok, not great not bad.
from the replacement list i have to remove Nicholas, he is kind of a "other than F1 there is nothing" guy, and this is why he is still a veteran in F2 lol
______________
Also from the lastes hint from nando, it seems he will be doing Dakar lol