McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes that their IndyCar series team needs to be more consistent if they want to challenge their rivals.
The McLaren organisation has gone through a dramatic upturn in form in recent months, particularly in Formula 1.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have registered one victory each so far in 2024 as they move to just 42 points behind leaders Red Bull.
But as well as their success in F1, the team have made huge strides in IndyCar after they joined the category as a joint entry with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in 2020, officially changing the name to Arrow McLaren in 2023.
Now, Brown believes his IndyCar team can emulate their Formula 1 success as it is the ‘same concept.’
Zak Brown believes Arrow McLaren need to be more consistent to challenge their IndyCar rivals
As well as boasting an exciting driver pairing in Formula 1, McLaren have a strong lineup in IndyCar.
Their lead driver, Pato O’Ward, has claimed two victories this season, coming at the season opener at St Petersburg and Mid-Ohio.
However, the Mexican has now fallen to fifth in the standings and is 71 points behind championship leader, Alex Palou. His huge crash at the latest round in Toronto did not help O’Ward’s cause.
When asked during the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix weekend in Spa if there were any parallels between McLaren’s F1 and IndyCar operations, Brown told Motorsport.com: “[It is the] same concept.
“Get the best drivers in the world, certainly the best drivers in IndyCar, build the team the same way, empower the leadership, give them the direction and support and resources they need to be the best at what they can do.
“Be honest with ourselves, learn from our mistakes. So, I think there’s a lot of similarities.
“I think just more consistency [is what Arrow McLaren need to improve]. At the Indy 500, we were pretty awesome [and] led a lot of the race. Our weakness seems to be bumps, so if you look at where we fall short, Toronto [and] Long Beach – [tracks] of that nature.”
Arrow McLaren have fallen behind Chip Ganassi Racing in the standings
Of the six drivers in Arrow McLaren’s lineup, only O’Ward and Alexander Rossi have competed in every round of the IndyCar series championship so far.
In those 12 championship events, both drivers have registered eight top 10 finishes, with Rossi claiming one podium and O’Ward grabbing four, two of those being wins.
However, the team have struggled to keep up with their rivals Chip Ganassi Racing at the front, with the team collecting four wins so far.
Their two main drivers Palou and Scott Dixon have also showed great consistency, with the Spaniard finishing outside the top 10 only twice and Dixon three times.
The last 11 IndyCar titles have been won by either Chip Ganassi or Team Penske and Brown is hoping to break that streak in the future.