Arrow McLaren Grand Prix of Monterey: Qualifying Report

Two cars will star the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey inside the top 10.

One day remains for the Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team to continue to show its pace on the 2.24-mile permanent road course at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Practice 2 saw Pato O'Ward finish fifth and Alexander Rossi in eighth, showing speed heading into qualifying.

Following the last on-track session of the day, Alexander was the best qualifier for the team ending the day in fifth. Pato finished out Round 2 and will start ninth, while Nolan Siegel will start 23rd.

Now read what is on the mind of the drivers and Team Principal Gavin Ward as we head into Sunday's 95-lap event.

"It's been a smooth weekend so far, and it is good to qualify where I think we should be. When you're that close and you fall short, it is a little disappointing, but ultimately the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet has been awesome. The team has done an amazing job, and I think we'll have a really strong package going into tomorrow."

"It wasn't the best of Saturdays, I would say, but we can work from P9. I was happy with the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, so we'll see what we can make better for the longer stints and see where it takes us." 

Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, Driver, said:

"We're getting better every session, we're getting to know each other better and I am getting to know the No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet better. It's just a lot of new things and it's tough. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is super competitive, and I feel like as long as we can continue improving at this rate every session this weekend, we're going to hit the ground rolling really well in Mid-Ohio and the rest of the season. I'm happy with where we're at and the trajectory of where we're going. I think that we're going to be competitive in the race, and we'll be competitive for the rest of the season."

Gavin Ward, Team Principal, Arrow McLaren, said:

"It was a bit of a mixed bag today. On one hand you've got Alexander's best qualifying of the year. He did a good job to get up there and he really pulled out a great lap to get into the Firestone Fast 6. We just didn't have enough to fight for pole today. Pato left a bit on the table in Q2. The potential was there to get that car in the Fast 6, but it was a bit of a scrappy session. Nolan is getting to grips with the car. We lost run time yesterday, and not getting a proper run on the softer tire today is a steep learning curve. We're looking forward to race day."

Session Times