OFFICIAL - Arrow McLaren Racing SP will enter the full 2020 IndyCar season

Has he dismissed this prospect?


I dunno. It depends on what he already has planned to do (or not do) next racing season.

you think they are going to keep putting as much money into F1 AND fund a fully team for a full season in IndyCar? I doubt it somehow.

 

F1 is the pinnacle of Motorsport and has a global market, IndyCar is only really a big market in the States and isn't as high standard as F1 imo.

I think you are forgetting that there are more motorsports than just F1 and IndyCar

McLaren have competed in numerous GT championships, sportscars at the same time as F1 for years and decades 

Zak Brown himself also has some shares with Andretti/united in the V8 Supercars. 

Why should it 'suck' that they are doing a full-season of IndyCar. It's great news for McLaren and IndyCar. It will have little effect on F1 and even if it does impact the McLaren F1 team (which I don't think it will) you have to respect and admire that they are doing IndyCar. 

Edited by f1paul, 09 August 2019 - 16:27.

So Hinch and Ericsson out? Hinch is a Honda man so I guess he'll be moving on... The other thing is that whilst I really like Hinch, SP have been looking to build a team capable of competing against Penske/Andretti/Ganassi over a whole season, and I don't think that Hinch is ever going to be a consistent title challenger. This tie-up with McLaren seems to be a further commitment to moving further up the Indycar pecking order and perhaps a new driver lineup is needed alongside the other background changes.

So Hinch and Ericsson out? Hinch is a Honda man so I guess he'll be moving on... The other thing is that whilst I really like Hinch, SP have been looking to build a team capable of competing against Penske/Andretti/Ganassi over a whole season, and I don't think that Hinch is ever going to be a consistent title challenger. This tie-up with McLaren seems to be a further commitment to moving further up the Indycar pecking order and perhaps a new driver lineup is needed alongside the other background changes.

Go back a page in the thread, it seems that you missed a key piece of information.

https://twitter.com/...854095399890945

The same Autosport that said McLaren was doing glory runs in testing to mask their very slow pace predicting their driver lineup?

 

Somehow I doubt they are right, but even a broken clock is right twiece a day.

 

EDIT: literally 1 minute after I posted this I was proven right

What's this referring to?

Zak Brown said earlier on that Hinchcliffe has a contract so it's no real surprise.

Hes said before he doesn't want to do a full season of Indy Car.,,shame as he's missing out on Road America, Long Beach etc

I'm pretty certain he hasn't said anything about not doing a full season of IndyCar except that he won't do 2020. 

Goddamn McLaren is unrecognizable in this post-Dennis era.

I'm saying this in the best terms possible. I am enthralled with the vibe and vision of the team - Zak B, Seidl and De Ferran seem to be what the team really needed. Also I love both of their current F1 drivers and that thing with Wickens is pure class. I'd loooooove to see Hinch drive a McLaren.

Orange is my favorite color too; dare I say ? Am I becoming a McLaren fan ? Is this the real life ?

It was all in the cards, Ov. 

Goddamn McLaren is unrecognizable in this post-Dennis era.

I'm saying this in the best terms possible. I am enthralled with the vibe and vision of the team - Zak B, Seidl and De Ferran seem to be what the team really needed. Also I love both of their current F1 drivers and that thing with Wickens is pure class. I'd loooooove to see Hinch drive a McLaren.

Orange is my favorite color too; dare I say ? Am I becoming a McLaren fan ? Is this the real life ?

Hes said before he doesn't want to do a full season of Indy Car.,,shame as he's missing out on Road America, Long Beach etc

Alonso saying he doesn't want to do a full season, does not rule out the possibility of doing selected races other than Indy. I am still hopeful that could happen, if something in F1 doesn't materialize. Love to see him at Long Beach, Road America, and a couple of others.

Go back a page in the thread, it seems that you missed a key piece of information.

 

https://twitter.com/...854095399890945

Thanks for that... makes things more interesting then in one sense but less in another.

Go back a page in the thread, it seems that you missed a key piece of information.

 

https://twitter.com/...854095399890945

It's like everyone saw he had a relationship with Honda and assumed that he sold his soul to them for a racing career or something.

I called it in the old thread and all: https://forums.autos...ycar/?p=8830969

It's like everyone saw he had a relationship with Honda and assumed that he sold his soul to them for a racing career or something.

Well sometimes drivers are contracted to the engine manufacturers as well as an individual team, its not totally out there to think that as Hinch has worked with Honda in a marketing sense for a good few years that he might be more closely aligned with them contractually. I thanked Pedro for giving me the correct information.

Given his major exposure in Honda commercials on North American television, it wasn't a stretch to assume that he would perhaps aim to maintain that relationship... no doubt they paid him a pretty penny for it.

Edited by maximilian, 09 August 2019 - 17:25.

Given his major exposure in Honda commercials on North American television, it wasn't a stretch to assume that he would perhaps aim to maintain that relationship... no doubt they paid him a pretty penny for it.

If he becomes a Chevy driver and they replace all those annoying "real people" commercials with Hinch, then that might be even better reward to the US than getting McLaren in Indycar!

(It might be confusing for people to see him switch from Honda commercials to Chevy ones, so he should probably start with a large fake mustache and introduce himself as Jimmy)

Little interview with Zak where he clarifies some things:

https://www.skysport...back-in-indycar

And it’s good for us to have more eyes on the IndyCar threads, of course After all, we have been dubbed a “mafia” and a good mafia needs new blood to extort

Can you say, "projection?"

If he becomes a Chevy driver and they replace all those annoying "real people" commercials with Hinch, then that might be even better reward to the US than getting McLaren in Indycar!

Someone.....Please forward this to McSchmidt



Jp

They shouldn't worry. Britain will soon get around to abandoning the metric system. 

Nasr and Latifi as drivers, or at least as options according to Autosport... That would be a weird way to launch a full time Indycar effort in my view... did they learn nothing form this years debacle?

Given his major exposure in Honda commercials on North American television,........

....it makes him a very marketable commodity and with over a third of their car sales in the USA this move to Indycar is all about US market share. The McLaren brand want to wine and dine customers track side so having a North American driver their customers already recognize turn up and shake a few hands is a big plus for them. 

And while looking at marketing McLaren's 2018 European sales were up by 44%, UK sales up by 49% while Chinese sales were up a massive 122% (although they are only 7% of McLaren's total sales so that stat is a little misleading.) Given that Guanya Zhou isn't going to get a superlicence maybe they should think about giving him a chance in an Indycar. Not 2020 as they don't need the split focus but at some stage in the not too distant future.

Without knowing the full details, this seems like incredible news to me. I hope it works out.

What part will McLaren have in this partnership?  Turning up with the correct shade of orange paint?

Suspiciously dodgy McLaren ECU units distributed to all the other teams?

They better have Alonso in that car. What else is he doing?

They can't say it, but the only reason McLaren is back in Indy is because American Zak Brown wants it.

He was embarrassed this year and now wants to make a comeback like they did in F1 this season.

The rumours linking McLaren to WEC, IndyCar and other major series all started not long after the first serious talk of an F1 budget cap, and Zak Brown made the suggestion they would just redeploy their staff onto other series.

And sure would be great to see a couple other outfits do the same, instead of wasting all this money on the bottomless pit that is F1.  Especially looking at you, now, Ferrari... 

you think they are going to keep putting as much money into F1 AND fund a fully team for a full season in IndyCar? I doubt it somehow.

 

F1 is the pinnacle of Motorsport and has a global market, IndyCar is only really a big market in the States and isn't as high standard as F1 imo.

If McLaren are smart they'll stay out of the way and let SPM run things as they did.  SPM didn't sell any of the shares they have and McLaren has no ownership stake.  If Indycar is as high a standard why is it McLaren embarrassed themselves last time?  It's because they tired to field an Indianapolis 500 Mile Race program from Woking.  They should have been in Indianapolis or Brownsburg.   It took them two days, TWO DAYS, to rebuild a tub to a complete car.  The teams that aren't "as high standard" can do it in several hours.  It's a good call by Brown and the gang to team up with SPM and have DeFerran involved.   Let the Gomers from Marion County do what they do best.  That's how you win in Indycar.

Edited by rabbitleader, 10 August 2019 - 07:16.

I would have preferred to see McLaren more committed to WEC, more closely aligned to its super car business but I guess Zak Brown is opted for IndyCar to raise McLaren's profile in the US or simply because being American, has some affinity with IndyCar. Personally, I don't like the fact that all the cars look the same with minimal aero styling.

I'm thinking the opposite. I'm glad McLaren are doing Indycar because it shows they're still in racing for racing above marketing their road cars. Also, McLaren have a strong history at Indy.

I'm thinking the opposite. I'm glad McLaren are doing Indycar because it shows they're still in racing for racing above marketing their road cars. Also, McLaren have a strong history at Indy.

Fair enough but all the cars have identical aero. Is McLaren's history in IndyCar in times when there was more freedom on chassis design?

Yes in the past McLaren built their own chassis and won at Indy. But so what? That's the rules of the game right now. If they only cared about designing aerodynamic components they'd be in F1 and nothing else. They obviously want to expand.

They can't say it, but the only reason McLaren is back in Indy is because American Zak Brown wants it.

He was embarrassed this year and now wants to make a comeback like they did in F1 this season.

I'm not sure that is true. Sure, Zak might be a part of the reason, other part is Alonso and his wish to win something while at McLaren which led to his pursuit of triple crown (I doubt he would have gone after it if he was challenging for titles with McLaren). This put the bug of IndyCar in McLaren.

But when you look at it from a commercial stand point it makes perfect sense. McLaren has a strong car division and marketing in USA is quite important. Having a good team in IndyCar would help with that. Not only that, but they have IndyCar heritage so they can frame it that way.

In the end, budgets in IndyCar are massively smaller than F1 budgets. This means that for a small amount of money (in F1 terms), McLaren can field a competitive team in IndyCar that can also help them with marketing. Win win in my opinion.

Here is an snippet from an article from 2013 about F1 vs IndyCar budgets:

If McLaren are smart they'll stay out of the way and let SPM run things as they did.  SPM didn't sell any of the shares they have and McLaren has no ownership stake.  If Indycar is as high a standard why is it McLaren embarrassed themselves last time?  It's because they tired to field an Indianapolis 500 Mile Race program from Woking.  They should have been in Indianapolis or Brownsburg.   It took them two days, TWO DAYS, to rebuild a tub to a complete car.  The teams that aren't "as high standard" can do it in several hours.  It's a good call by Brown and the gang to team up with SPM and have DeFerran involved.   Let the Gomers from Marion County do what they do best.  That's how you win in Indycar.

Yeah that was pretty much confirmed. The team will be based in the US, SPM continues as is, and McLaren team will meet with them and try to find ways in which they can help the team. One aspect I can see is perhaps using their simulation/race strategy software to improve competitiveness of the team on race day. Not sure how advanced it is in other teams, but F1 teams have dozens of people analyzing data during the race, going so far to having a test driver in a simulator try out changes during the race.

They better have Alonso in that car. What else is he doing?

Zak Brown said they will have two full time drivers and that he doesn't think Alonso will be one of them (implying Alonso isn't interested in going full time), but that they would love for him to win an indy500 with them. It's almost certain Alonso won't go full time, but will join for Indy 500.

Another aspect that occured to me is that Zak Brown can use this to improve his marketing efforts. Anyone interesting in sponsoring an F1 team can get a "free" sponsorship on an IndyCar, as he says in his interview, North America is an important market for many of their sponsors.

Fair enough but all the cars have identical aero. Is McLaren's history in IndyCar in times when there was more freedom on chassis design?

Zak Brown said they will have two full time drivers and that he doesn't think Alonso will be one of them (implying Alonso isn't interested in going full time), but that they would love for him to win an indy500 with them. It's almost certain Alonso won't go full time, but will join for Indy 500.

The insider grapevine I heard was that Alonso doesn't really like ovals. It's one thing to make an exception for Indy given the prestige of the race and nature of the track, but I suspect it'll be places like Texas and Pocono that will put him off a full season. And without scoring points at the ovals you're not going to be getting a championship. 

After all, we have been dubbed a “mafia” and a good mafia needs new blood to extort

So do we now bury nasty dudes in the backwoods of Pocono?

https://eu.indystar....son/1958582001/

Interesting background article...

Wow. I didn't realise relations between the two were that bad.

So do we now bury nasty dudes in the backwoods of Pocono?

Ok, Ov, buddy, the first rule of the alleged, oft-rumored, never confirmed IndyCar mafia is there is no IndyCar mafia.  The second rule is, always remember the first rule.  And the third rule is never tell anybody,and I mean anybody, where the bodies are buried.  Never.  Capiche?  

McLaren are just going to add some extra funds to an existing team, I don’t think this is that big of a deal for the series. 

Yeah, what's a team like SPM going to do with more money, particularly from a well-funded automaker with a long history of manufacturing its own cars and parts, with its own wind tunnel, and with an engineering staff that outnumbers the personnel on some entire IndyCar teams?  Perfect its aero?  Develop a damper program?  Find ways to massage its cars a bit better?  Improve its simulations?  Run more seven post shaker tests?  Yeah, move along people, nothing to see here . . .    

Edited by red stick, 10 August 2019 - 17:00.

Yeah, what's a team like SPM going to do with more money, particularly from a well-funded automaker with a long history of manufacturing its own cars and parts, with its own wind tunnel, and with an engineering staff that outnumbers the personnel on some entire IndyCar teams?  Perfect its aero?  Develop a damper program?  Find ways to massage its cars a bit better?  Improve its simulations?  Run more seven post shaker tests?  Yeah, move along people, nothing to see here . . .    

Just go the whole way and give the cars the full spa-day treatment with saunas and face-masks and they'll be championship contenders soon enough...

Edited by Vielleicht, 10 August 2019 - 17:31.