McLaren Racing completes full acquisition of the IndyCar team ahead of the 2025 season

McLaren, who previously owned 75% ownership of the Arrow McLaren IndyCar team, completed the full acquisition of the team on December 31, 2024. The team bought the shares of the former partners Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson, taking full control at the dawn of the new year.

Zak Brown has been heavily involved in the operation of the IndyCar team and has been spotted on track on multiple occasions. The McLaren CEO highlighted the significance of full control and his aim to make McLaren a championship-challenging team. He said (via IndyCar):

“This is an exciting step for McLaren Racing as we grow and strengthen our presence in North America, which is a very important market for our team and our fans. Sam Schmidt and Ric Peterson have been great partners and co-owners, and I want to thank them as we continue to build what they started many years ago, and that is a championship-caliber NTT IndyCar Series team.”

AUTO: JUN 23 NTT IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey - Source: Getty

Pato O’Ward, Nolan Siegel, and Christian Lundgaard will form the IndyCar lineup for McLaren in the upcoming 2025 season. The team has consistently been growing since McLaren joined as a partner in 2020 and won three races during the 2024 season at the hands of O'Ward.

McLaren fielded three full-time cars, #5, #6, and #7 during the 2024 IndyCar season, with a part-time entry for Kyle Larson at the Indy 500. O'Ward was the highest-scoring McLaren driver in the 2024 IndyCar season, as he finished fifth in the championship with 460 points, less than a hundred points away from the champion Alex Palou.

Zak Brown fulfills the role of the chairman alongside Tony Kanaan as the Deputy Team Principal and Brian Barnhart as the General Manager.

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Sam Schmidt reflects on the “bittersweet” move of stepping away from Arrow McLaren

The IndyCar team was originally founded by Sam Schmidt in 2001 when the team was called Sam Schmidt Racing. Ric Peterson joined Schmidt as a partner in 2013, renaming the team as Schmidt Peterson Racing.

Arrow Electronics joined as the title sponsor in 2019 before McLaren approached for a joint entry in 2020, as the team was once again renamed to Arrow McLaren SP, where the last two letters were the initials of Schmidt and Peterson.

AUTO: AUG 27 INDYCAR Bommarito Automotive Group 500 - Source: Getty

As the founder Sam Schmidt sold his shares with McLaren taking the full ownership, he said:

“Stepping away from my ownership role with Arrow McLaren is bittersweet. This team has been my life’s work, growing from a dream into a competitor at the highest level.”

“I’m endlessly grateful to the drivers, team members, partners and fans who made it all possible and to McLaren for elevating the team’s potential. While I’m stepping back from ownership, my heart will always be with this team, and I’ll be cheering for its continued success every step of the way,” he continued

Although Schmidt and Peterson owned 25% of the team from 2021 to 2024, the team decided to drop the “SP” from its name before the 2023 season.