The deal through 2028 retains Arrow's name in the Arrow McLaren SP team title. Arrow continues as a partner of the McLaren Formula One team, the organization said.
The extension was announced as
Simon Pagenaud finished fifth in the standings twice, and a Schmidt-owned car best third in a stretch from 2012 to 2014 in which the team showed the potential that first attracted Arrow. The
McLaren joined in 2019 as a commercial partner and will take over at the end of this season as majority owner from Schmidt and his business partner
“We all sat down and said, ‘Where do we want to be five years later?’” Long said. "We're going to invest. We're going to be there with you if there's a vision that says: ‘We’re going to win. You don't have to win this year. You don't have to win next year, but we have to win.'
“The approach we took was, 'We're going to be there, we're going to provide resources for you to win, but we've got to see the vision.'”
The team was indeed growing and overcame a 2018 setback when promising rookie
But everything stepped up a notch in 2019 when McLaren partnered with Arrow and Schmidt in its slow return to the IndyCar Series. The organization has had aggressive driver turnover — McLaren brass saw a superstar in O'Ward and grabbed the Mexican when he surprisingly became available — and steady growth on the track.
O'Ward won his first two career IndyCar races this season — his victory at
“We're not here to lose,” Schmidt said. “We've been building this a long time. I think a lot of drivers and the teams, they see our cars, they see we've doubled the size of our resources. This is what we've wanted to do since 2013.”
O'Ward and
“We're nervous,” Schmidt said about the IndyCar championship. “But it's good nervous. We want to be here.”
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