McLaren Racing Tag

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Defending NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou will have a new home for 2023 as McLaren Racing announced it signed the Spanish-born driver to the team for next season. The move comes the same day that Palou’s current team, Chip Ganassi Racing, sent out a preemptive announcement that he would be back with the organization next season, but that was shot down by Palou in a series of tweets before the McLaren announcement dropped. McLaren’s IndyCar arm, Arrow McLaren SP, currently has Pato O’Ward and FelixRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer NASHVILLE – The quest for an NTT IndyCar Series championship is further paramount for ARROW McLaren SP as McLaren Racing acquired 75 percent majority stake that’ll be finalized at the end of the season. Right after confirming their announcement Sunday morning, Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson affirmed they’ll still be around the IndyCar program with zero intentions of ever putting their efforts up for sale. “We thought the only way we can make it better is to align with a Formula One team. We’re the onlyRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief INDIANAPOLIS – Fernando Alonso endured a turbulent qualifying bout during the first day of qualifying for the 103rd Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. The two-time Formula One champion was part of the juggling act of drivers that rotated from in and out of the locked top 30 positions. The first of an eventual five attempts was thwarted by a right rear tire puncture, with his best four-lap average of 227.224 mph coming on his final run of the day. The result wasn’t enough to fend offRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Farewell Honda, and hello Chevrolet as Fernando Alonso’s second Indianapolis 500 start will be powered by 2.2 liter twin turbocharged Bowtide Brand for his McLaren Racing entry. “It will be a privilege to wear the Bowtie Brand at the 2019 Indy 500,” Alonso about the announcement. “Having Chevrolet power behind me means we’re putting ourselves in the best possible position to compete at the front.” Last week, Alonso got a glimpse of running a Chevy-powered car when he tested seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson’s Camaro ZL1Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief McLaren Racing revealed that Bob Fernley has been appointed as president of McLaren IndyCar. The former deputy team principal of Force India, Fernley will lead the Indy 500 program, which returns two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso, and will report directly to Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing. Fernley will be responsible for putting together and leading a technical team, which will stay entirely exclusive to the IndyCar operation. He will also help evaluate McLaren Racing’s potential full-time involvement in the future. “Heading back to theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Fernando Alonso and McLaren Racing confirmed plans to compete in the 2019 edition of the Indianapolis 500. With wins in both the Monaco Grand Prix and 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Spaniard needs only a victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” to achieve the Triple Crown, which has only ever been achieved by the legendary Graham Hill. Next May will mark Alonso’s second attempt at the Brickyard, having previously ran there in 2017 in a collaborated effort with McLaren, Honda and Andretti Autosport. TheRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AUSTIN, Texas – Fernando Alonso will not be participating in the full Verizon IndyCar Series schedule in 2019. However, he is still pursuing a return to the series’ iconic crown jewel race, the Indianapolis 500. The 37-year-old Spaniard shared the confirmation following Formula One qualifying for the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. “In the summertime I was thinking about it, but it was always linked with the team and McLaren. We talked a lot at the beginning of the year what wereRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief In only five months, the McLaren F1 team and CEO Jost Capito have officially split up. Formerly the head of Volkswagen’s motorsport efforts, Capito left to join the Woking-based team and worked alongside bosses Eric Boullier and Jonathan Neale – coming onboard at last year’s Italian Grand Prix. However, with former chairman Ron Dennis out and McLaren bringing in a new executive director in Zak Brown, the team elected to part ways with Capito. “Regrettably, we have not been able to find common ground with JostRead More