Pato O'Ward 'obviously is the guy to beat' at McLaren claims the team's latest signing Christian Lundgaard

Arrow McLaren's latest signing Christian Lundgaard feels that Pato O'Ward is still the guy to beat within the team as the youngster takes the next step in his IndyCar career. The Danish driver has an interesting history, having decided very early in his junior racing career that his route to F1 was more or less closed.

He was part of the Alpine Academy but felt that he was not one of the chosen ones and called time on his junior career after his second Formula 2 season. In IndyCar, Lundgaard was welcomed by Rahal Letterman Lanigan, a team that is at best a solid midfielder, with resources fading by the day.

It was on this team that Christian Lundgaard made his name in the last years, impressing everyone and hence getting a call from McLaren. Pato O'Ward has been a part of the squad and will be teaming up with the Danish driver.

Despite Pato's dismal record against his last two teammates Alexandar Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist, who were dominated by the Mexican, he will join Christian Lundgaard at Arrow McLaren next year.

Lundgaard understands the dynamics and was quick to claim that Pato O'Ward was the guy to get over at the team. He told The Race,

“Pato obviously is the guy to beat, but for the two of us to excel and push each other will be more beneficial for the both of us. We're in the state where he's established, in a team where I come in with, let's say, the hunger, and I think that's going to push him, and I'm obviously going to learn as much as I can from him in terms of how the car responds and reacts. But I'm just excited to see how we can evolve, and ideally to see how many championships we can win.”

Christian Lundgaard hopes to make McLaren a double podium contender with Pato O'Ward

One of the major criticisms of the McLaren number two drivers has been the inability to match up to Pato O'Ward, and hence the team ends up with just one driver consistently fighting for the podiums and wins while the other struggles.

Christian Lundgaard, someone highly rated at this stage, is trying to reverse this trend. The Danish driver claimed that now the team had two drivers who could fight for the podium. He said,

"You’ve got to give that car the possibility to finish first over second when it counts. I think we're now going to have two cars that at least have the possibility to finish on the podium every single time.”

With an exciting and young prospect in Lundgaard in one car and Pato O'Ward in another, Arrow McLaren has set itself up for a far better 2025 IndyCar season.