Which historic feat did McLaren script at Thermal Club with Christian Lundgaard and Pato O’Ward?

The season's second race, the Thermal Club Grand Prix, came to a close on March 23, 2025, at Thermal California. The Arrow McLaren team made history during the qualifying after securing a 1-2.

Pato O'Ward and Christian Lundgaard secured a historic 1-2 for Arrow McLaren in the qualifying. The papaya team's best qualifying effort was last at Texas Motorspeedway, which took place in April 2023. Alexander Rossi and Felix Rosenquist qualified first and third, respectively.

The win was a bounce back for Pato O'Ward after a poor qualifying at St. Pete, where he qualified in 23rd position. After the qualifying, while in conversation with Paul Kelly, Indycar staff writer O'Ward expressed how he felt during the qualifying.

“I knew if we could get the car to my liking, I would get it done. I’ve got to thank the guys. We turned it around. We dialed it in after Q1 (first qualifying segment) because I was somewhat happy with it but not perfect. Just made a little bit of an adjustment and as soon as we went out in Q2, I said, ‘I’ve got this,’” he said, via Indycar.

The #5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet driver was joined by his teammate Christian Lundgaard on the front row. This also marked his best start since May 2024 at the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

However, the race didn't pan out the way Arrow McLaren would have wanted it to. The papaya colored cars were overtaken by Chip Ganassi's Alex Palou in the final 15 laps of the 65-lap race.

Pato O'Ward reveals Arrow McLaren's setback after IndyCar's hybrid change

Pato O'Ward at F1 Grand Prix of Mexico - Practice - Source: Getty

The Arrow McLaren driver Pato O'Ward, after the Thermal Club Grand Prix qualifying, spoke about how the cars were no longer on the edge and they felt like they plow like pigs.

During last year's Mid-Ohio race, IndyCar introduced hybrid engines in an effort to aim for a sustainable future. This meant that it would increase the weight of the car by approximately 100 pounds.

When asked about how on edge the cars were at the track, O'Ward replied, via Asap Sports:

"Not a lot. You used to have them a lot on the edge without the hybrid, but with all this weight in the rear, they just plow like pigs really. Yeah, it's a bit of a shame because they feel like they can go a lot faster, but we can't really get them there to that edge where maybe I have put it in the past."

The Arrow McLaren team took a huge gamble during the race and ended up securing the 2nd and 3rd place.