Even the Abu Dhabi Auto Racing League
Arrow McLaren has continued its driver recruitment and firing process by adding former Formula 1 driver and IndyCar race winner Christian Lundgaard to its line-up in place of Alexander Rossi for 2025.
McLaren have had an eventful 2024 season, which began with David Malukas suffering an injury that required a replacement before he could race for the team and Theo Bourchier and Callum Ilott entering multiple races.
Bourchier was announced as the permanent replacement for Malukas – who has since returned to IndyCar with the Meyer Shank team – for the rest of the season after the Indianapolis 500, only for Indy NXT driver Nolan Siegel to be installed in Bourchier's place before the final race at Laguna Seca.
Now, despite Rossi's strong performances in his second season with the team, his contract will not be renewed and Lundgaard has been hired from the Rahal Letterman Lanigan team to drive the #7 car.
Lundgaard's IndyCar Road to McLaren
Lundgaard impressed in a unique race for Rahal at the Indianapolis road race in August 2021 while still part of the Alpine team, and joined the RLL team full-time the following year.
He scored his first IndyCar podium at the same track in his first year before becoming the team's top scorer with an eighth-place finish in the championship in 2023.
This was reinforced by his stunning win in Toronto, along with three other top-five finishes in a year that saw him emerge as one of the best young drivers in the series.
Russia's improved performance is not enough
After Josef Newgarden signed a contract extension with Team Penske, Lungard was always expected to remain the hottest property on the market.
It looked as though he would stay put as McLaren looked set to retain Rossi.
But there has been a clear shift in the last month or so – Rossi has claimed a podium and three top-five finishes in four races, the one exception being the exhaust gate problem at Road America that was beyond his control – and McLaren has now decided to go in a different direction.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown is believed to be a big fan of Lundgaard, although he said of Rossi before the Indy 500 – which started the aforementioned top-five streak – that he was “doing a great job” and “I really appreciate Alex Rossi”.
Rossi won the 2016 Indianapolis 500 as a rookie and was a seven-time winner of the race (and has added another since) when he became IndyCar's hottest property in the silly offseason market in 2019, with Penske showing interest.
He ultimately stayed with Andretti, until the end of 2022 when he announced he had signed with McLaren.
He finished ninth in points in his first season there with six top-five finishes, and is seventh in the standings this year – 10 points behind team leader Pato O'Ward.
Rossi has had two major race problems in 2024 – a wastegate at Road America and a wheel falling off after a pit stop at Barber – but apart from that his worst finish this year is 10th at Long Beach, where he recovered from being hit from behind by Oward.
Direct swap?
It is not yet clear whether Rahal would be interested in signing Rossi.
Bobby Rahal would love to have an Indy 500 winner on his team after a difficult few years on the track, but Yuri Vips impressed in his last year and is likely to be a more cost-effective option.
Bourchier could also be an option for Rahal, as could Ilott and Indy NXT leader Lewis Foster – if he keeps it up and wins the championship – to name a few.
With no other potential vacancies at Penske, Andretti, Ganassi or McLaren, Rahal's seat becomes the best available seat for the 2025 season.
