McLaren Racing will buy a 75% share of the Arrow McLaren SP race team by the end of 2021 and plans to add a third car to its IndyCar lineup.
The deal, expected to close by the end of the year, comes midway through the second season of the McLaren Racing partnership with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
The team fields cars this season for Pato O'Ward, who was second in the points standings heading into Sunday's Music City Grand Prix, and Felix Rosenqvist. The team added two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya for the Indy 500; he drove two seasons for McLaren in Formula 1.
Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren Racing, said Sunday he would like to add another full-time car in 2023 — perhaps as early as next season “if we can find the right combination.”
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O’Ward and Rosenqvist will return next season. Taylor Kiel will continue to lead the day-to-day operations.
“I don't think there will be any substantial changes in how the racing team operates,” Brown said.
The team was founded by Sam Schmidt in 2001, with Ric Peterson joining in 2013 to form Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM). McLaren returned to full-time IndyCar competition in 2020 after a 40-year absence and formed a partnership with title sponsor Arrow Electronics and SPM to create Arrow McLaren SP.
“This is the next logical step,” Schmidt said. “This is a total win-win.”
Schmidt said he was staying with the organization and the team name was not changing.
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