Au revoir Pourchaire, Hello Siegel: Another Abrupt Driver swap for Arrow McLaren
Arrow McLaren’s car No. 6 will see yet another driver, parting its ways with Theo Pourchaire it is Nolan Siegel who will drive “the remaining 10 races of the 2024 season and beyond.”
“Can’t wait to be there for the Grand Prix of Monterey”
Just hours before the decision was announced, the Frenchman received the news about his faith. He had been posting on social media about how excited he was to be racing at Laguna Seca this weekend, which will now be Siegel’s McLaren debut instead. “Man I can’t believe I’m gonna race on the legendary Laguna Seca this weekend. Can’t wait to be there for the Grand Prix of Monterey,” is what the French man posted on X. The tweet was liked over 2100 times before he was informed that the team had changed its mind on having him complete the rest of the season.
Chaos in the Arrow McLaren driver department
This isn’t the first time McLaren is having a driver swap this season, but it completes a chaotic chain of events including legal cases, a broken wrist, and now a total driver U-turn in McLaren’s revolving door. Since Siegel is among the “hottest prospects on the up-and-coming side of IndyCar and the North American racing scene,” according to team principal Gavin Ward, it made sense “to fast forward and get him in the car as soon as possible” after the decision was made to sign him through 2025 and beyond. The first driver McLaren had signed for this season was Alex Palou and they hoped to install him for 2024, but Palou decided to stay with Ganassi which led McLaren to sue Palou in a case which is ongoing in a UK court.
Kanaan brought up Palou’s part in starting the story when he spoke with the media on Tuesday about Siegel’s arrival. “It started back in last year with that driver that decided not to come over and breached his contract,” he stated. “It’s been quite a six months for me. I did not sign up to have to choose four drivers.”
Source: indycar.com/series/indycar-series/alex-palou
With Palou out of the picture to replace Felix Rosenqvist, who was leaving the team, McLaren signed David Malukas. Unfortunately, he broke his wrist during a pre-season mountain biking session and missed the opening races. Following the race at Barber Motorsports Park at the end of April, McLaren declared that the still-recovering Malukas would no longer be under contract. After Pourchaire and former Juncos racer Callum Ilott split stand-in responsibilities during Maluka’s absence, McLaren declared Pourchaire would be around for the remainder of the season.
“Frankly the disruption we’ve had off one little accident on a mountain bike is pretty phenomenal and I’m looking forward to moving past that,” said Ward.
Just last month during the Indianapolis 500, Zak Brown had declared that he was happy with his drivers, noting that the decision between Pourchaire and Ilott had not been a straight fight.
Disappointment for Pourchaire
“Nobody takes that news well,” Kanaan admitted after he had informed Pourchaire about the loss of his seat. “I explained it to him and gave him a few examples of what I’ve been through. The first question you ask yourself is ‘what did I do? Did I do anything wrong?’ He didn’t do anything wrong. It was just the situation. It was just a call that we had to make. It wasn’t personal, it wasn’t because of his performance. I think he’s done whatever he could do. He wasn’t happy but he understood.”
For Pourchaire, who cleared his calendar to make himself available to Arrow McLaren for the rest of the season, the loss of his seat hurts and comes with no immediate answers but his work to date has not gone unappreciated. Upon learning of the modification early on Tuesday morning, the Frenchman’s contract details were requested by three notable teams to explore potential future collaborations. As of this moment, Pourchaire has declined to speak to any media, but he did express interest in continuing to race in IndyCar and joining a new team.
McLaren said they would help the Frenchman in his search for other opportunities, and they will keep him in mind for their third seat of the 2025 season alongside Pato O’ward and Siegel. He would then be taking Alexander Rossi’s seat as his future is unclear at the moment, although rumors are that he is expected to maintain his seat.
“Some people will agree, some people will disagree. We’ll take the heat. But for me it’s the best decision. I believe I’m making the right call with the team. I weigh in quite a bit. We just have to move on, we’re here trying to win races. Once we win a race, nobody’s going to remember,” Kanaan said to finish it all off.
The youngest IndyCar driver
This weekend, when Siegel takes the wheel of the No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, he will become the youngest driver on the grid as he begins his full-time IndyCar career at only 19 years old.
“I’m looking forward to jumping right in with the Arrow McLaren team this week and confirming my place in the NTT IndyCar Series in papaya moving forward,” he said. “This is an unexpected jump, but I’m thrilled to be in this position after a rewarding run in the Indy NXT by Firestone series with HMD Motorsports. I am looking forward to this new journey and learning alongside the entire team starting this weekend in my home state.”
