IndyCar Wrap-Up: Arrow McLaren SP's 2022 Season

Our eighth and antepenultimate IndyCar Wrap-Up focuses on Arrow McLaren SP. After finding itself go to the final day of the 2021 season with a shot at the championship, the AMSP group was looking to come home with the largest piece of silverware in 2022. The team showed great pace and had a more rounded program with two drivers performing at a high level, but AMSP did not take that final step forward. 

Patricio O'Ward

O'Ward was a championship contender until he suffered his first and only retirement of the 2021 seaosn in the season finale. In 2022, O'Ward was ready for a breakthrough, especially after testing for McLaren's F1 team during the offseason. It started promising, but O'Ward could not maintain consistency to even match his 2021 output. It was a good season, but not good enough.

What objectively was his best race?
O'Ward won twice this season. The first victory was at Barber Motorsports Park after having great in laps and out laps leap him ahead of Rinus VeeKay during the final pit cycle. The second victory was at Iowa after Josef Newgarden's right rear suspension failed while leading, handing the lead to O'Ward, who held on for the victory. 

What subjectively was his best race?

Would it be strange to say neither victory and the Indianapolis 500 instead? O'Ward was in the top five for a great majority of the race and it was clear he was going to be fighting until the final lap for victory. He made it so Scott Dixon couldn't breathe and Dixon sped entering the pit lane on his final stop, setting up O'Ward to take the top position. 

Unfortunately, Marcus Ericsson had a fire lit underneath him in that closing stint and left O'Ward in the dust. O'Ward had one more chance with the final restart with two laps to go, but he had to settle for second. 

What objectively was his worst race?
An engine failure ended O'Ward's day with nine laps remaining at Road America, placing him in 26th. It ended what was going to be a top ten day.

What subjectively was his worst race?

Mid-Ohio because O'Ward started on pole position and it looked like this was going to be a race that could swing his championship. He was fourth in the championship entering Mid-Ohio, 45 points off the championship lead after the Road America retirement. It looked like Mid-Ohio would be the race that showed he was a serious contender. He led the first 28 laps, but lost the lead in the first pit cycle as his car started experiencing fuel pressure issues. He kept losing positions and then the car crapped out on him. He left with a 24th-place finish and he dropped to fifth, 65 points off the championship lead. 

Patricio O'Ward's 2022 Statistics
Championship Position: 7th (480 points)
Wins: 2
Podiums: 4
Top Fives: 8
Top Tens: 9
Laps Led: 165
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 8
Fast Twelves: 11
Average Start: 6.6471
Average Finish: 9.1176

Felix Rosenqvist

Coming in needing an improvement Rosenqvist stepped up to the plate and got the job done. The season opened slow, but the Swede made AMSP a formidable 1-2 punch for the entire season, keeping pace with his teammate O'Ward and having both AMSP drivers in the conversation at nearly every race. With uncertainty over his future at the start of the season, Rosenqvist's results likely saved his job.

What objectively was his best race?
Rosenqvist got third in Toronto after spending much of the race in the top five. Some contact with Alexander Rossi help secure third for the Swede.

What subjectively was his best race?

After only one top ten finish in the first five races, Rosenqvist looked like one of the best drivers in the Indianapolis 500, on par with his teammate O'Ward. After having only one good oval race in his first three IndyCar seasons, Rosenqvist looked capable of winning of Indianapolis and even pushed O'Ward in the final stint as O'Ward was in second. It ended with a fourth-place finish for Rosenqvist, but this was a big race that turned around the Swede’s perception.

What objectively was his worst race?
Rosenqvist brushed the wall exiting turn two on lap 111 of the first Iowa race and it left him in 26th position. 

What subjectively was his worst race?

Mechanical issues ruined Rosenqvist's only pole position this season. He took a surprise pole position at Texas. He didn't lead a lap as Scott McLaughlin took the point from the jump. Rosenqvist didn't really pressure of the lead, but he spent much of the race in the top ten before suffering a driveshaft failure. 

Felix Rosenqvist's 2022 Statistics
Championship Position: 8th (53 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 3
Top Tens: 10
Laps Led: 25
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 4
Fast Twelves: 11
Average Start: 9.7647
Average Finish: 11.765

An Early Look Ahead

This team has gotten better with Alexander Rossi signed to the expanding operation. It already has one race winner. It has another driver who is competitive and sniffing victories. Rossi only makes this team a triple threat. 

AMSP lost the championship in 2021. It was hard to take but it was still a respectable year and one that every team would take if offered on day one of the season. I don't think it was a major disappointment it didn't have a driver in the title discussion at the season finale in 2022. O'Ward was alive into the penultimate race and he just fell short of making it to the final day of the season. There were more technical issues that cost this team in 2022. Those weren't on the drivers. The drivers are more than good enough for the team. 

Not remaining alive for the championship into the finale and falling out of the top five might come off as a failure, but I think 2022 was a great season because Rosenqvist stepped up and the team had seventh and eighth in the championship. I don't think O'Ward took a step back for the sake of Rosenqvist. I think O'Ward's decline was more on the team and Rosenqvist suffered just as many mechanical problems as well this season. I think the team hit on something. The only difference is a result or two that was mostly out of the drivers’ control. 

It is nerve-wracking expanding to three cars after this season. It was a good year, but any step back raises a concern of a trend. Adding another car spreads resources. We have seen teams struggle with expansion, and though Rosenqvist is coming off a rejuvenated season, it is only one season. We have two years where he was struggling and many questioned his capabilities to be a top IndyCar driver. 

McLaren has enough money to make sure this will not be an issue, and it has brought Brian Barnhart over from Andretti Autosport as well, who worked with Alexander Rossi as strategist the last two seasons. Rossi is coming in motivated. He said he wants to win championships and applied AMSP gives him that opportunity while Andretti Autosport no longer could. This is a big shift for him as we will see how much of his results were down to his own deficiencies and how many were on the team. It is going to be a new group and I think it would make sense to have some hesitation over whether Rossi can enter and immediately lead this group. 

But in 2021 Álex Palou joined Chip Ganassi Racing and immediately won the championship, so we cannot rule it out for Rossi and AMSP.

Each driver will push the others next year. O'Ward had a championship within touching distance and he has interest in Formula One in a highly congested McLaren program. Not long ago Rossi had his fingertips on a championship and he knows he can win it, but needs to find a way to surround himself with the people to get him there. Rosenqvist saved his job, but he will be third of the three from the start of the 2023 season. Rosenqvist knows AMSP has a short leash, and the team will not be afraid to make a change if it feels it must. We know Palou was already on the team's radar and Palou will be a free agent at the end of the 2023 season. In all likelihood, this will be a four-car team with another stout member. 

There will be a healthy amount of fear in this team next season. Whether that leads to great success or more failure, we will find out later.