Our second IndyCar Team Preview takes us to the team that demands the most attention: Arrow McLaren SP. With the McLaren name back on the grid full-time, the team brought in two young drivers and past Indy Lights champions Patricio O'Ward and Oliver Askew.
Both drivers started well and were on the podium early in the season. O'Ward's run of form continued throughout the season and he was knocking on the door of victory on multiple occasions. He did fall short, but he did pick up a top five championship finish. Askew suffered an accident in the Indianapolis 500 that left him with concussion-like symptoms and forced him out of the car for two races. The relationship between the Askew and the team soured. The two sides closed out the 2020 season together, but both knew they would not remain together in 2021.
O'Ward returns for 2021, but he will have a new teammate, as Felix Rosenqvist joins the organization.
2020 Arrow McLaren SP Review
Wins: 0
Best Finish: 2nd (Road America II)
Poles: 1 (Road America II)
Championship Finishes: 4th (Patricio O'Ward), 19th (Oliver Askew)
2021 Drivers:
Patricio O'Ward: #5 Arrow Chevrolet
O'Ward's first full season was tremendous and it was the season the organization needed in its first year with McLaren onboard.
Things started slow, but the results were encouraging. O'Ward was 12th in his first run at Texas but he followed it with eighth-place finishes in each of the next two races. Then he took a somewhat surprising pole position for the second Road America race. He controlled that race and appeared set for his first career victory. The costly decision might have been taking the alternate tire on the final stint. Felix Rosenqvist had been quicker at the end of every stint and the alternate tire lost more speed in the closing laps. Rosenqvist got within striking distance and took the lead with a lap and a half to go. O'Ward had to settle for second.
At Iowa, O'Ward was fourth in the first race and 30 laps led. In the second Iowa race, O'Ward was showing speed for a podium finish, and possibly competing for a victory, but a botched pit stop cost him, and he had to settle for 12th, one lap down.
One year after failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, O'Ward made the race and climbed forward over the 500 miles, finding himself in the top ten. He was the second-best Chevrolet all race and he finished sixth, earning him Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors. He closed out the oval season with two phenomenal runs at Gateway. He led 94 laps in the first race and looked set for victory until Scott Dixon beat him out of pit lane on the final round of stops and he dropped to third. In the second race, O'Ward started strong, but ultimately fell behind Josef Newgarden and finished second again.
He ended the season with three top ten finishes in the final five races. His only bad race was mixed in there, a 22nd in the first Harvest Grand Prix race when he had a pit lane penalty for crossing the blend line and then had a few off-course excursions. His season ended with an opportunity at St. Petersburg as a few of the top running Andretti Autosport entries ran into trouble. O'Ward picked up a handful of positions and finished second, behind Newgarden and ahead of champion Scott Dixon.
Numbers to Remember:
204: Laps led in 2020, the most laps led for a driver not to win a race since James Hinchcliffe's 217 in 2016 driving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
205: Oval points in 2020, fourth-most.
14: Races finished in 2020. O'Ward was one of three drivers running at the finish of every race last season.
12: Times as the top AMSP starter in 2020.
10: Times as the top AMSP finisher in 2020.
Predictions/Goals:
The goal is to take that next step from fourth in the championship. There is less real estate moving up, but O'Ward has to shoot for it. With the depth of this grid, cracking the top three of the championship is a monumental task, even McLaren is on the door.
He is going to have to beat Dixon and Newgarden, likely Will Power and Alexander Rossi, and it would be no surprise if Simon Pagenaud, Colton Herta, Graham Rahal and Ryan Hunter-Reay were all up there as well. O'Ward could have a better season than 2020 and finish worse in the championship. He could win a race or two and drop to sixth or seventh.
O'Ward had a rather spotless season. A few more bad days could creep in and they don't have to be of his making. A victory feels almost certain, but as we saw with Rosenqvist, winning in your sophomore season doesn't mean it will be an improvement from your rookie year. He doesn't have to improve his championship position to have a successful season.
O'Ward should be gunning for that first career victory, but if he picks up another four podium finishes, leads another 100 laps and ended up somewhere in the top eight of the championship and top AMSP drivers that is a sufficient season. I don't want to make sixth in the championship a failure for him. AMSP has a habit of being quick on the trigger. The last thing we need is O'Ward being target practice.
What does O'ward need to do in 2021?
Win a race.
Lead more than 50 laps on road courses.
Make it out of the first round of road/street course qualifying in at least eight races.
Felix Rosenqvist: #7 Arrow Chevrolet
Rosenqvist opened the 2020 season with an incredible drive at Texas. While Scott Dixon led the way, Rosenqvist made his way to the front and was up to second. He was pushing Dixon in the closing laps as they negotiated traffic. Rosenqvist had a chance at victory and went for it, but with slick track conditions, Rosenqvist spun and went from a runner-up finish to out of the race in 20th.
He qualified in the top ten for the first six races, but the finishing results did not necessarily match the qualifying pace shown. He dropped to 15th in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and he had a mechanical issue in the first Road America race relegate him to 18th.
The bounce back he needed came in the second Road America race. He started seventh and moved forward. He was behind O'Ward but was making up ground in each stint. A slow pit stop knocked him back in the middle of the race, but he had enough time to erase the deficit. With the pace Rosenqvist had, he could not afford to put a wheel wrong over that final stint. Rosenqvist closed in and with fresher tires he passed O'Ward in turn seven on the penultimate lap. He picked up his first career victory and it was Ganassi's fourth consecutive to start the 2020 season.
The victory did not spark his season. An attempted two-stop strategy backfired in the first Iowa race and he was a non-factor in the second Iowa race. He was 12th in the Indianapolis 500, but was mostly anonymous in this race. He strung together top ten finishes at the first two Gateway races and the first Mid-Ohio round. He qualified fifth for the second Mid-Ohio race, but was taken out on the opening lap when Santino Ferrucci re-joined the circuit mid-corner.
He picked up a top five in the first Harvest Grand Prix race, but his season ended with an average second Harvest Grand Prix race, and a flat tire in St. Petersburg knocking him down to 18th.
Numbers to Remember:
6: Races finished off the lead lap in 2020. Rosenqvist also finished off the lead lap in six races in 2019.
11: Races with laps led in 31 starts.
3: Races with double-digit laps led.
31: The most laps he has led in a race is 31, which came on debut at St. Petersburg in 2019.
3: O'Ward led more than 31 laps in three races in 2020.
Predictions/Goals:
The team with a short fuse has hired a driver that went from sixth to 11th in the championship, saw his average finish drop by 2.5 position and whose number of laps led were nearly a third of what it was the year before.
I can imagine Rosenqvist being another one-and-done driver at AMSP. I don't think that will be the case, but I would hardly be surprised if that happens.
It is called a sophomore slump for a reason and careers ebb and flow. Rosenqvist picked up a victory, but he struggled with consistency. In half the races in 2020, his finishing position was worse than his starting position. He showed the pace in qualifying, starting 11 races in the top ten, but he had finished in the top ten in only four of those races. That is a big area where he has to improve. He has to take sixth place starting spot and turn it into a third or second. And he has to take a top five starting position and contend for a victory.
In his first year with AMSP, Rosenqvist cannot afford for O'Ward to become the clear number one driver. Rosenqvist needs to immediately push his teammate for top spot in the organization. That will improve his job security and likely increase his overall championship finish. From watching O'Ward and Askew, AMSP should provide quick cars for Rosenqvist. His qualifying average should be fine. We need to see Rosenqvist have a dominant day. Rosenqvist has led 71 laps in his career. O'Ward led 204 laps last year alone and he led the most laps on two occasions.
It is tough to see both AMSP cars cracking the top ten in the championship. I think one of them will miss out and I am leaning on Rosenqvist being on the outside again, but not far out.
What does Rosenqvist need to do in 2021?
Finish better than his starting position in at least ten races.
Qualify in the top five in at least six races.
Led at least 90 laps and lead at least 40 laps in one of those races.
The 2021 NTT IndyCar Series season will begin on April 18 at Barber Motorsports Park. NBC will have coverage of the season opener.
