15 May 2026 01:00 (UTC)
Our wins at the Indianapolis 500 are legendary, but they’re motivating us to achieve more. Recently, it’s been a case of close but not close enough.
The Indianapolis 500 is a race where we’ve tasted success on two previous occasions. It makes up one third of the Triple Crown, which we’ve previously completed alongside victories at the Monaco Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But despite that success, it’s also a race where we feel we have unfinished business, with 2026 marking 50 years since a McLaren driver last tasted the milk.
It’s been a long wait, but it hasn’t dampened our spirits. And as we head back to Indy for this year’s 110th running, we do so with a sharpened focus - with one eye on that last victory, motivating us to finish the job and claim our next one.
McLaren first took on the Indy 500 in 1970 and by 1972 a McLaren-built car was in victory lane, albeit a privateer entry fielded by Team Penske for Mark Donohue. A year later a hint of future success would come when Johnny Rutherford put a factory McLaren on Pole. He won our first Indy 500 the following season, took second in 1975, and then added a second victory in 1976.
We don’t like to rest on our laurels. While for many, merely winning the race would be a box ticked, but for us, those two wins in 1974 and 1976 marked the start of a period of unfinished business for the team.
Of course, for a lot of that time, we were absent from Indianapolis. After the most recent win in ‘76, McLaren continued to race at The Brickyard until 1979, but then wouldn’t return until 2017.
In 2017, in partnership with Andretti Autosport, McLaren fielded Fernando Alonso in the Indy 500. In what was his first IndyCar start, Fernando led 27 laps and looked like a strong contender for the win until engine failure brought an early end to his day.
That near miss whetted our appetite. After another one-off entry with Fernando in 2019 – in which he failed to qualify – we’d become a full-season participant in American open-wheel racing again from 2020.
When Pato O’Ward has finished at Indy, it's been in the top six, and for three of the last four years, he's finished in the top three – just not in first. It's a textbook case of so near, yet so far.
Since our full-time return to IndyCar, Pato has given us our best shot at victory. In 2022, he was battling Marcus Ericsson for the lead on the final lap. He got ahead briefly, but had to settle for second. A year later, he crashed out after challenging for the win throughout – a fate met similarly by teammate Felix Rosenqvist. Then again in 2024, he suffered another painful last-lap loss.
As Pato crossed the line to begin the final lap in 2024, he passed Josef Newgarden for the lead while Alexander Rossi in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren entry shadowed the pair. Pato was in front, and he looked set for victory, until Newgarden swept round the outside of Turn 3 to break papaya hearts once again.
“I’ve finished in every position at the top except for the win,” Pato said. “I know how to position myself for that final charge - but there’s unfinished business. Now it’s about finishing the job.
“When you invest so much into the preparation and put it all on the line on race day, coming up short is tough - but it’s what pushes you forward.”
In that 2024 race, Alexander finished fourth, having been touted as one of the fastest cars in the field throughout the Month of May.
A previous winner – triumphing on his debut in 2016 – Alexander qualified in the second row in 2024, bringing expectations of another victory challenge and a first Indy 500 win for him at McLaren. He was even leading with eight to go, but a fuel-saving issue dropped him back in the closing laps.
That year was also when NASCAR champion Kyle Larson made his Indy 500 debut with the team amid much fanfare. While Indy cars are wildly different to the stock cars he's used to, the American was right on the pace, qualifying fifth.
A promising day, however, took a turn when a pit lane speeding penalty took him out of serious contention. He returned last year for another attempt, but crashed out just before the halfway point.
This year, the chase to settle that unfinished business continues. Heading into the Month of May, Pato has only finished outside the top five once, while Christian Lundgaard has three podiums to his name in 2026, including his first IndyCar victory in papaya, achieved last time out at the IMS Road Course. He finished seventh in last year’s Indy 500, and he’ll be hoping this year he can join Pato in the fight for the win.
“Last year, I produced my best Indy 500 result yet, but I still feel like we left with unfinished business,” Christian said. “We aren’t racing in the Indy 500 to finish seventh, we’re here to win. After winning the Indy GP, with momentum on our side, I’m hungry to get this win on Sunday.”
Nolan Siegel will also be looking to avenge his last lap crash from the 2025 Indy 500 with the help of mentor Tony Kanaan, the Arrow McLaren Team Principal, who has been guiding him since his pre-McLaren days.
Before his 2024 Qualifying run, Tony advised him to “just go flat out,”, a mentality that has stuck with him as he chases strong results, not just at Indianapolis, but across the whole IndyCar season.
“I’ve put everything on the line at Indy - in my debut in 2024, coming up short in Qualifying in heartbreaking fashion – and then last year, putting my head down and fighting for a P13 finish as one of the top rookies,” Nolan said. “It’s taught me how unforgiving this place is, and it’s left me with unfinished business in putting everything I’ve learned together to fight at the front.”
Bolstering our lineup at Indy this year is an IndyCar legend - Ryan Hunter-Reay isn't just a champion at this level, he’s also an Indy 500 winner. But even with a win under his belt, he still feels he has personal unfinished business, too. More 500s have gotten away from him than have fallen his way, including last year’s race, where he fought to the front, leading 48 laps, only for a fuel issue to curtail his charge.
Ryan’s triumph came in 2014, a year after his first top-three finish in the race, and two years after his overall season title. And with a margin of just 0.060s over Helio Castroneves, it was – and remains – the second-closest finish in the race’s history. As we look to take care of unfinished business, who better to strengthen the roster than a man who’s not only done it, but done it the hard way?
“I know what it means to win the Indy 500,” Ryan said. “Having been on that side and understanding the history and what that ultimate reward represents, it’s only made me hungrier to do it again.
“There’s still unfinished business. I think about the races that got away more often than the one I won – especially last year, coming so close to getting my second win. It’s motivating because I know I can win here again.”
And that’s why, for this year’s Indy 500, we’ll be running “Unfinished Business” branding across all four of our Arrow McLaren entries, as we aim to win the event known as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” for the first time in 50 years.
