Alexander Rossi will leave McLaren’s IndyCar team at the end of the year as they have hired Christian Lundgaard for 2025.
Rossi’s departure is the latest change in the team’s driver line-up after a series of reshuffles following its unsuccessful attempt to hire Alex Palou.Team principal Gavin Ward said they had not been able to agree terms with Rossi, who is managed by his father.
“Alexander has been an incredible team mate and we’re grateful for our two seasons we’re racing with him,” he said. “We wouldn’t be where we are today without him.
“Ultimately we couldn’t meet in the middle on terms, but we absolutely wish him the best and will do all we can the second half of the season to get him in the top five in the championship.”
Rossi joined McLaren from Andretti last year. He ended his first season at the team ninth in the standings and lies seventh approaching the halfway point this year, but is yet to win a race with them.
He said he had “many conversations” with Ward, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown and team advisor Tony Kanaan over the past months. “We were not able to come to terms on a new deal, so the mutual decision to part ways is amicable.
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“I’m very confident with current discussions in the paddock to land a new spot,” he said, adding “I’ll have good news to follow soon.”
Lundgaard, who made his IndyCar debut in 2022 and scored his first win for RLL last year, said he is “thrilled” with his move to McLaren, where he will partner Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel.
“Christian has had proven success in his few seasons racing in the series, and he checks the boxes for what we’re looking for in speed and potential alongside Pato and Nolan,” said Ward. “The three make up the youngest trio on the NTT IndyCar series grid, and we know that direction has been paying off for our F1 counterparts with Lando [Norris] and Oscar [Piastri].”
Following Palou’s refusal to join the team for this year, McLaren originally hired David Malukas. But he was dropped from the team after he suffered a pre-season injury. Theo Pourchaire was initially named his replacement, but he was dropped for Siegel last month.
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Damon (@damon)
2nd July 2024, 18:27
Rossi has actually been decent this season, and currently is in the 7th position in the WDC standings, which is great. But McLaren wants much more than that.
Janith
2nd July 2024, 18:43
Great to see Lundgaard in a top team. He deserves it. I think that 3rd seat is the paydriver seat. That’s why they went for that new guy over Pourchaire. Malukas is a very talented driver but he obviously brings in loads of cash. And McLaren decided to pull the trigger too quickly after his injury.
uzsjgb (@uzsjgb)
2nd July 2024, 18:49
So you think winning Le Mans and impressing Zak Brown is only a cover story?
Janith
2nd July 2024, 20:05
Who won Le Mans?
hunocsi (@hunocsi)
2nd July 2024, 21:11
Siegel in LMP2.
Laz
2nd July 2024, 19:32
Good to see Luundgaard move up, but a bit disappointed for Rossi. This year I actually think he’s been the strongest Mclaren driver. He’d be ahead of Pato if either a wheel hadn’t fallen off, or had an engine problem. Even at the Indy 500 he was running in the top 5 all day and it ended up being a strategy call that put Pato in contention. So seems a bit harsh to drop him.
Retired (@jeff1s)
2nd July 2024, 21:05
What’s going on at Mclaren
ykiki (@ykiki)
3rd July 2024, 0:15
After months of being “really close” to an extension per Brown, suddenly Rossi is gone after he gets a podium in the last race. This almost feels like Rossi leaving instead of being shown the door.
Dane
3rd July 2024, 2:10
After his first couple seasons I really thought Rossi would be championship material, but his career has sadly fizzled out. I think he’ll end up in a midfield or back marker team now.
Biggsy
3rd July 2024, 7:51
What success?
Their success lies with Andrea Stella turning out to be someone who really knows how to get the best out of people working for the team.
On the other hand, the only thing their drivers have shown, is that they don’t know how to convert opportunities into wins, even when they have a car that is capable of winning.
If anything, Lando has shown that he is missing that final bit that makes a difference between a champion and an also-ran, and that he is absolutely hopeless overtaker, and is also always mugged on the starts.
Asd
3rd July 2024, 14:33
Biggsy, you commented on the wrong article ;)
Don
3rd July 2024, 12:30
Lundgaard is very good. This is an upgrade for McLaren. They should have kept Pourchaire in the lineup though.