The start of a new season brings the opportunity to make up for a disappointing ending in the previous year. Several drivers like Colton Herta, Simon Pagenaud, Graham Rahal, Rinus VeeKay, and Jack Harvey are all aiming to have a bounce-back season after a brutal 2022 campaign.
Those drivers are all returning with their same teams from a year ago. One driver that is making a complete refresh is Alexander Rossi, who transitions to the Arrow McLaren team after seven years with Andretti Autosport.
Rossi was finally able to break his 49-race winless drought last year on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. It was poetic in some regard, as that is where his IndyCar career took off. The 2016 Indy 500 winner was poised to be a title contender every season but the last few years did not go the way anyone wanted. Ultimately, the driver and the team agreed it was best for both parties to go their separate ways.
If there is a team on the rise in IndyCar, it is most certainly Arrow McLaren. They have been building for several seasons now, with a robust driver lineup that includes incredible talent like Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist.
The addition of Rossi gives them a three-headed monster for the upcoming season to keep their momentum going. If that weren’t enough, they have already landed another Indy 500 winner, Tony Kanaan, to drive a fourth Chevrolet entry for the team at Indianapolis.
The four-car effort for the Month of May will be arguably the strongest in the field. Between the four of them, there is no shortage of experience. All four are winning drivers, and they all finished inside the top-five at Indy last year. Throw in Kyle Larson joining the team for the 2024 race, and it truly will be quite the spectacle.
It will be important for the organization to keep progressing with Pato, while evaluating the performance of Felix, who had a terrific 2022 campaign. That could become Alex Palou’s seat next year, but it will be up to the Swede to show his value. Incorporating Rossi into the fold will play a pivotal role on how their season plays out. It will be key for the driver as well, but Rossi feels well prepared.
“I just think there’s a lot of very detail-oriented people that are kind of in a senior role of the team. With that comes a lot of structure down the pipeline that you’re able to very clearly see a path of progress as you go into the season. We do have the resources of the McLaren F1 team. They very much are being integrated in a lot of…
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