It’s safe to say that the previous few weeks have been somewhat surprising for the Woking-based outfit McLaren or at least it has when it comes to contract negotiations with other drivers in other racing series. If we have learned anything following all the McLaren saga then it is that contracts aren’t as watertight as we think they are. We’ve also seen the good, bad and ugly side of an unfolding contract situation in the different series that teams compete in.
IndyCar:
It all started with Felix Rosenqvist being re-signed by the McLaren organisation but not necessarily for the IndyCar team but maybe for the McLaren Formula E program. Talking of the IndyCar side of McLaren then that is where everything stemmed from having signed Alexander Rossi for the 2023 season to partner Pato O’Ward, the only question left is who is going to be the third team-mate? That falls to a straight shoot-out between Rosenqvist and Alex Palou who Zak Brown signed but also didn’t sign. So let's take a look at Arrow McLaren SP contenders vying for the third seat.
Alex Palou:
The contract saga of Palou all kicked off at 8:55 pm July 12th, 2022 when his current team Chip Ganassi Racing announced they had exercised their option to extend Palou’s contract for the 2023 season and remain in the 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. This was just the start of a fascinating turn of events in the following hours.
Fast forward a couple of hours to 12:14 am July 13th, 2022, Palou released a Twitter thread stating that he was made aware by the media of a press release of him staying for a third season with the team which included a quote that he had not said. This is where the questions were starting to be asked of who at Chip Ganassi Racing released the press release?
Then 8 minutes later McLaren released a press statement announcing the arrival of Palou to the team for the 2023 season but didn’t specify what series the young Spaniard would be racing in and for people outside of the United States these announcements were done during the late night so that we would all be waking up to the news.
Things have turned even more sour in the past week with Chip Ganassi Racing filing a civil lawsuit against its driver. There is almost some sort of acceptance from CGR that Palou is leaving at the end of the current 2022 season as he has been removed from seeing data in the event they were to lose this legal dispute. Since the dispute there has been a lot more criticism of Palou’s management team, Monaco Increase Management, he has openly said that anything to do with his contract is with his team and feels that he has every right to leave the Ganassi camp but there is a feeling that if CGR were to win the lawsuit then Palou might be sidelined for the entire 2023 season where he would become a free agent.
Should Palou move away from Chip Ganassi Racing to Arrow McLaren SP then not only would they be getting a series champion in the ranks, to go with an Indy 500 winner in Alexander Rossi and multiple race winner Pato O’Ward, but also a data-driven driver. Palou could still win his second IndyCar championship this season with Chip Ganassi Racing but even the thought of that would still make the Spaniard want to move to the up-and-coming team in the series. Palou also feels his best shot of making it onto the Formula 1 grid is by moving to Arrow McLaren SP given their affiliation with the McLaren Formula 1 team but it has all the hallmarks of Zak Brown dangling a carrot in front of Palou to sign for his team. It wouldn’t be the first time that Brown has done this after promising O’Ward a runout in the Young Driver test in Abu Dhabi at the end of the 2021 season if the Mexican won a race that season, low and behold that’s exactly what happened. It feels as if this is the same situation that is happening with Palou, where if he gets what his bosses want he will get a test in the McLaren at some point.
Felix Roseqnvist:
A big season was needed by the Swede after struggling to adapt to the AMSP machine last season following his move from the CGR squad. After publicly being told his seat wasn’t guaranteed for the 2023 season, Rosenqvist’s performances have been exactly what you’d expect from a driver who is under pressure. He’s had two pole positions (Texas Motor Speedway and Indy Road Course Race 2) and has one podium to his name (Toronto) and most IndyCar drivers all share the same opinion of Rosenqvist’s situation with the likes of Graham Rahal coming out in defense of the Swede saying “The guy’s an exceptional talent. He belongs in IndyCar racing and I hope he finds a sport. I know if we had room at the inn, I’d be pushing for him”.
Only the other day did the news come out that even though McLaren announced that they had signed Rosenqvist for a 2023 ride in a series unknown to the public and the driver himself, he was still actually on the market for other teams to swoop in and offer him the chance to stay on the IndyCar after not signing a physical contract with the organisation. Having Rosenqvist in the stable just makes sense for McLaren, as he is a winner in both IndyCar and Formula E from 2016-2018 with Mahindra. It’s also clear who current team-mate Pato O’Ward wants in the 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet and his choice would be for AMSP to retain Rosenqvist.
I would guess that Rosenqvist will be moved onto the McLaren Formula E program to make way for Alex Palou to take over the seat. I’d love to be proven wrong and see the Swedish driver stay in the series but with all the experience he has in FE and with McLaren being a new constructor for season 9 having Rosenqvist just makes sense. The issue with the IndyCar side of McLaren is that they currently have four drivers fighting for three seats.
Formula 1:
Moving onto the Formula 1 side of the McLaren organisation and that just follows the same path as AMSP when it comes to contracts. All the talk this season has been about what will McLaren do with Australian racer Daniel Ricciardo at the end of the season. There is no doubt that Ricciardo hasn’t delivered anywhere near his best going back to his Red Bull days but even when he was at Renault in 2019-2020 he still wasn’t showing the full package that we have seen from him so maybe his decline has been coming for a couple of years but no-one paid attention to it back then. When Ricciardo moved to the McLaren team for the 2021 season, a lot of questions were being asked about how Lando Norris would get on against the Australian after being equal on pace with his previous team-mate Carlos Sainz but in reality, Norris upped his game massively taking multiple podiums while Ricciardo has struggled to get close to Norris in the year and a half that they’ve been team-mates. So let's take a look at McLaren contenders vying for the other McLaren F1 seat.
Colton Herta
Colton Herta recently had a test with the McLaren squad in Portimao, Portugal and the feedback from that test was that the engineers were satisfied with what they saw from the young American racer. All that was missing from Herta was the consistency but the pace was on show and given what Herta shows week in week out in IndyCar makes him a good fit. Given that F1 is trying to expand the sport in America, Herta would be the perfect fit, unlike the last time F1 had an American in Alexander Rossi back in 2016. The question that would be on the lips of fans is whether Herta has enough super license points to be granted an F1 license and the answer to that is yes he does. To get a super license a driver needs to accumulate 40 points over a three-year period and Herta does indeed match that requirement with 5th place in the 2021 IndyCar
The one issue that can hold Herta back is that he is slightly error-prone sometimes, perfect examples are at Nashville in 2021 when chasing down Marcus Ericsson he locked up and went straight into the barrier another was at Barber Motorsport Park when he could have won the race but during the race, he went for a move and ended up spinning and lost out on at least a podium. Just as I write this blog, Herta crashed into the tyre barrier in qualifying for the Music City Grand Prix at Nashville.
If I was McLaren it would be a hard decision but I would personally go for Herta to replace Ricciardo just because of the pace that he possesses and also meets the criteria of being an American driver in F1 and if everyone involved is serious about wanting to break into the American market then Herta is the only option to do that but you would have to question his loyalty, should Michael Andretti get a team onto the grid for the 2024 season there would be no doubt that he would want to have Herta driving for him so where would Herta’s heart be if that came to fruition.
Oscar Piastri
Oscar Piastri is the clear favourite to replace his fellow countryman at McLaren, just like Herta because of the pace that he showed in his Formula 2 championship-winning season. Piastri was unlucky to find himself without a seat on the F1 grid for this season but before the Hungarian Grand, it looked as if he had a few offers, one to replace Ricciardo at McLaren and another being to replace Nicholas Latifi at Williams. Then when the news of Sebastian Vettel retiring came to light there was another opportunity for Piastri to get a seat, but days after everyone went on their summer holidays Fernando Alonso announced that he would leave Alpine for Aston Martin which would give a clear path for Piastri to replace the Spaniard.
The issue for McLaren is that a few days after the Alonso announcement, Alpine confirmed that the young Australian would race alongside Frenchman Esteban Ocon for the 2023 season but just like the Alex Palou saga, Piastri posted on social media of his surprise promotion from reserve driver to full-time driver.
So how does this involve McLaren? Well, McLaren was on the list of teams that were taking a keen interest in Piastri to fill the second McLaren seat but so too were Williams and of course Alpine. In the latest paddock rumours it appears that McLaren has told Ricciardo that he will be leaving the team at the end of the season to be replaced by Piastri but here comes the issues, Ricciardo is contracted with McLaren for the 2023 season and unless McLaren buys him out of the seat then the lineup isn’t going to change. If it is true that Alpine have moved to promote Piastri then McLaren will have two options, keep Ricciardo for the remaining year on his contract and evaluate what’s on the market or buy out Piastri’s Alpine deal but no matter what McLaren finds themselves in a situation that could have been handled differently and we know just how it is going to play out with the use of the lawyers, again just like the Palou saga.
Other than doing the odd Pirelli tyre test, Piastri hasn’t driven an F1 car yet and hasn’t driven in a racing car full-time since he won the F2 championship in 2021. That is something that an evaluation test would be able to sort out but the issue is where will Piastri be racing next season if at all does any racing next year. The biggest question that needs to be asked is Piastri burning bridges with the team that has taken him through the junior categories and given him an environment to settle into or does he jump ship to Alpine’s main rivals and potentially suffer the same effects as previous juniors have with McLaren.
If I was McLaren I would take my chance with Piastri but only if they can sort out the contract situation otherwise there would be no point in essentially loaning Piastri to then give him back to Alpine as a better overall driver. If McLaren weren’t to get Piastri then going after Herta would be the ideal decision.
Pato O’Ward
Pato O’Ward aka ninja hands has now been a part of the McLaren organisation at the end of the 2019 season. It’s no secret how much McLaren value O’Ward, just like they do with Norris, so given the close relationship that Brown and O’Ward have it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Mexican racer in a Formula 1 car at some point in his young career and partnering Norris after all O’Ward has done an F1 tyre test with the team at the back end of the 2021 season so they have the data to decide on whether O’Ward is deserving of an F1 seat.
It is also very highly expected that O’Ward will take part in an FP1 session, hopefully in Mexico, to fulfill the mandatory young driver regulation with Herta doing another FP1 session. The question that O’Ward will have to try and find an answer for would be whether or not F1 is a viable option given he wouldn’t be guaranteed race win/podium/points every race compared to IndyCar and given he is the team-leader in the Arrow McLaren SP squad, would F1 have the pulling power to get him away from IndyCar and the question that McLaren and Brown would have to answer is whether or not O’Ward has the same commercial value as Herta if McLaren were to go to an Indy-to-F1 route.
If I was McLaren I wouldn’t put O’Ward in the seat as Ricciardo’s replacement just purely based on it hindering the organisation’s development in IndyCar to become one of the dominant teams in the sport. Maybe in the future, O’Ward should be considered for an F1 seat but only if he is successful in Indycar. O’Ward has the speed to compete in Formula 1 but it remains to be seen whether he can be consistent over a stint in an F1 car compared to what he can do in an IndyCar.
Sebastian Vettel
A Sebastian Vettel/Lando Norris combo would have had the hallmarks of a mouthwatering lineup, but that won’t be happening after Vettel announced his retirement from the sport in the build-up to the Hungarian Grand Prix. Vettel will go down as a legend both on and off track but it is a shame that in the last three years he hasn’t been able to show his true performances due to an under-performing Ferrari in 2020 and an under-performing Aston Martin in 2021 and 2022.
It would have been interesting to see just how both Vettel and Norris got on as team-mates but mainly for Vettel to see if he would have still had the fire and hunger to want to help both himself and the team get to where they wanted to be which is fighting for podiums, wins, and championships. Given what Norris has achieved with McLaren, especially in the last two years, would Vettel have been able to get close if not beat the young Brit throughout a season.
The only issue that McLaren would have had with trying to persuade Vettel to drive for the Woking-based team was the infrastructure. McLaren is awaiting its infrastructure upgrades to finish and maybe that would be enough to entice a big name to the team no matter at what stage of their career the driver is.
Alex Albon
The final contender for the seat before the Hungarian Grand Prix recently re-signed with Williams Racing for 2023 but it’s hard to have not at least enquired about the Thai driver given his performances in one of the slowest cars on the grid. It remains to be seen whether Alex Albon could get up to speed quickly to Norris’s pace, if he was given the chance in the McLaren but given that Albon has confirmed his seat for next season means that McLaren are going to miss out on an ideal replacement for Ricciardo, of course, if that were to happen.
A step up to McLaren for Albon would, on paper, be the right combination given the gifted speed he has shown at times in the Williams. Albon also fits the environment that Zak Brown is trying to install around McLaren Technology Center, with his social-media-friendly attitude. Another factor to consider is that Albon has raced Norris for many years both in F1 and in the junior categories, so they know each other's driving styles.
Albon’s performances this season shows why he should be taken seriously for future progression up the grid. Albon’s best performance this season was at the Australian Grand Prix when he effectively did 50 laps on a set of hard compound tyres and then went on to score a world championship point. Yes, Williams had to take a gamble given they don’t have the quickest car on outright pace but to still do 50 laps on a set of tyres and keep pace with drivers he wouldn’t have been expecting to be racing at the start of the race goes to show that Albon has improved in another department with his tyre conservation.
Extreme E:
It is expected that the NEOM McLaren Extreme E lineup won’t change for season three. The current lineup for the Extreme E program is Emma Gilmour and Tanner Foust. Given second two was the first season for the team having Gilmour in the lineup makes sense given she has been in the series since it started back when she raced for Veloce Racing. Gilmour also has experience in rallying, rallycross, and cross-country rallying. Foust is a four-time US rallycross champion, he has also won four X Games gold medals while also winning two Formula Drift championships. So it is safe to say that the Extreme E side of the McLaren organisation is in safe hands with their current lineup.
Formula E:
Now the Formula E program shouldn’t be as complicated as it should be for drivers given that they are taking over the Mercedes EQ team but leaving all of the trackside workers on the team. So when it comes to drivers then current team principal Ian James will have the final say and surely on the list of many drivers should be current drivers Nyck De Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne but given the pair's history with McLaren that might not be a viable option. Here are some of the names that have been linked to the McLaren Formula E seats for season 9.
Rene Rast:
Rene Rast all but looks to be racing for the McLaren Formula E team with advanced talks happening during the Berlin E-Prix double header a couple of months ago. Rast has been on the books for the Mercedes EQ team as a possible replacement for Nyck De Vries should the Dutchman have been offered a seat in F1.
Team principal Ian James and the technical team, headed by Nick Chester, have been impressed by the data studies of the German driver when he last raced in Formula E with the then Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler team. If Rast does get confirmed as a McLaren Formula E driver, then he will be replacing the DS-bound Stoffel Vandoorne.
Sergio Sette Camara:
Sergio Sette Camara looks to be on his way out of the Dragon/Penske Autosport team at the end of the season, as the team looks for a fresh start and makes its way up the grid. It looks like a whole raft of changes with a new title partner and a new driver lineup, DS are ending their ties with TeCheetah which then allows them to form DS Penske. 2-time champion Jean Eric-Vergne looks to be joining the team alongside current championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne, which on paper seems to be the strongest lineup on the Formula E grid.
This leaves Sette Camara without a drive for season 9 and given the pace he has shown many times throughout the season, it would be hard to see him not being on the grid next season. Sette Camara has outpaced and outraced his team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi but most times he’s doing it without scoring points.
Even though Sette Camara has a lot of pace, he is also known for dropping the ball in situations where a more experienced driver wouldn’t. A moment that springs to mind is his qualifying for race one for the New York E-Prix, where he crashed the car at the final corner and wasn’t able to take part in the race. The only question mark surrounding Sette Camara is if he is the type of driver that is going to deliver McLaren a championship if given the tools to do it.
Oliver Turvey:
McLaren has a past history with Oliver Turvey given he was their Formula 1 test driver before leaving them and starting his career in Formula E. Turvey currently races for Chinese car company Nio and has done so since 2015 but given that Turvey has never had a car to compete with his fellow racers, maybe a move to McLaren will give him that chance to show what he has.
Turvey is always a safe pair of hands when it comes to his racecraft in Formula E, very rarely getting involved in an accident while also extracting the most of his car. His fellow peers also rate Turvey as the most underrated driver on the FE grid, which in itself is high praise given the drivers that are currently on the grid racing.
The only issue for Turvey is if McLaren really wants him or whether he is just a backup plan should operation Felix Rosenqvist fail. Should operation ‘Felix’ fail, then Turvey has the experience needed for the McLaren team, and going into a generation of Formula E, then knowledge of the car isn’t as critical in a driver given everyone else will be starting from scratch.
Felix Rosenqvist:
As mentioned at the beginning, there is a high chance that Felix Rosenqvist is going to move out from his AMSP car to the Formula E car. It’s a no-brainer for what Rosenqvist brings to the team then he has to be the number 1 name for a seat.
Rosenqvist will always be an asset to the McLaren organisation whether it be in Indycar or Formula E, but given that McLaren is new to the series means having Rosenqvist in one of the two cars is just an advantage however on the flip side Rosenqvist hasn’t raced a Formula E car since 2018 before his move to America so maybe that somewhat hinders him going into a new generation car.
My predicted McLaren lineups:
Formula 1:
Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo
IndyCar:
Alex Palou, Alexander Rossi, and Pato O’Ward
Extreme E:
Emma Gilmour and Tanner Foust
Formula E:
Rene Rast and Felix Rosenqvist
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