F1
For Alexander Rossi, McLaren's presence in F1 and IndyCar gives drivers hope
Alexander Rossi (left) has already tasted F1, Colton Herta dreams of it. ©IndyCar Media
Among the 10 teams in the grid F1, McLaren is currently the only one to also be engaged in IndyCar. In 2021, the Woking-based firm took over 75% of the shares of Sam Schmidt Motorsports to become Arrow McLaren with 3 full-time cars in the North American championship.
Since then, the links between the F1 and IndyCar branches have strengthened considerably. In recent times, it has not been uncommon to see drivers from across the Atlantic trying out old McLaren cars. This was the case of Patricio O'Ward (representative of Arrow McLaren), Colton Herta and Alex Palou, who was even named reserve driver for the Formula 1 team for 2023.
Rossi a fervent supporter of McLaren
New member of the McLaren universe after leaving Andretti Autosport, Alexander Red sees only good things in this double commitment. For the last American to have started an F1 Grand Prix (Brazil 2015 with Manor), the presence of a team like Woking in both tables will help IndyCar drivers get closer to the premier category , or at least to have better visibility.
« They are well established in this championship (IndyCar), believes Alexander Rossi from RACER. They will have a clear idea of people's performance (pilots). They know the equipment they have, know when they have a good or bad race and how to analyze a qualifying session because they are directly involved.
It's much more difficult with Sauber who when watching an IndyCar race won't really be able to know if the season they achieved (the pilots) is the result of an incredible performance or that of luck which put them in a good position to fight for the championship. It's much harder when you're not involved.
So I think having McLaren, knowing how close the two branches are, will help close the gap and most likely give the drivers a chance, if it is deserved, without it coming from the organizers."
Alexander Rossi will have to wait a little longer. For the moment, no arrival of an IndyCar driver in F1 is planned. Colton Herta almost joined Alpha Tauri for the 2023 season but he did not have enough points to obtain the Super License, mandatory to compete in the championship. See you perhaps for the 2024 campaign…
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Gonzalo Forbes
In charge of promotion formulas (F2, F3, FRECA, F4...). Carried by the grace of Franco Colapinto.
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12/01/2023 at 05:45 a.m.
Perhaps with the arrival of the Andretti / Cadillac duo, IndyCar drivers are starting to dream of F1, but Haas (American team...) has never called a Yankee driver when Williams, historic team of F1, but with US capital, uses a US driver from the European single-seater sector!