Lundgaard: McLaren can make history with F1/IndyCar double win

While the IndyCar squad is grappling with the almost-irresistible force that is championship leader and three-time champ Alex Palou, Lundgaard’s impressive early performances have put him third in the title race, just behind teammate Pato O’Ward.

How has Lundgaard been able to make that transition so seamlessly – and has moving from midfield team Rahal matched his expectations?

“I was, publicly, pretty vocal about it, that I wanted to be competitive from the get-go,” he says emphatically, pointing to pre-season preparation.

“I didn’t want to spend a couple of races getting up to speed with the team and learning how to operate compared to what I’m used to, because obviously the cars handle in different ways, and it’s different driving styles, but it’s about adapting to that.

“So I wouldn’t really say it was a surprise. Quite the opposite. It was exactly what I expected.”

With that elevated performance comes enhanced targets, but Lundgaard is bullish about what he wants.

“The objective is always to win. But I feel like I was very clear in the off-season that my objectives for the year isn’t necessarily to win every race – it’s to be competitive every single weekend, to be knocking on the door.

“Seeing the F1 team put it first and second in qualifying, that’s what we wanted to replicate – to come away with the results this quick just proves how prepared we were in the off-season.

“That’s the biggest benefactor of the work that we put in – that’s where we want to be and need to be.”

The Dane made an immediate mark on IndyCar by qualifying a stunning fourth on debut at the Indianapolis road circuit in a one-off appearance for Rahal in 2021.

Making a full-time return with the team in 2022 he scored his first podium (again on the Indy road course), then won for the team at Toronto.

However, in recent years Rahal (and by extension Lundgaard) has constantly struggled on the Indianapolis oval and other similar circuits – can he envisage finally making a mark in that area in 2025?

“I’ve had my three years of experience in the series – I’ve driven all tracks, been competitive at Thermal before,” he says.

“But what I’m just really looking forward to is later in the season, when we get to ovals where I feel like at least I will see the biggest benefit of racing for McLaren.

“I would almost call it driver education, in a sense, for them to help me get better on them and get the maximum potential out of me.”

Motor Sport tries to get Lundgaard to spill the beans on what it’s like to join the IndyCar ‘big time’ with a front-running team, but he’s typically measured in his answer – and hardly starry-eyed.

“At the end of the day, I think all racing teams are very similar – it’s a race team, right?” he reason.

“We have a lot more people than what I’m used to. You can argue there’s a lot more links [between staff], and [therefore there is the potential for] ultimately more weaknesses.

“But you also have to give the people the freedom to work, that’s the biggest difference. I see everybody has their freedom to do what they’re good at, whereas in a smaller team you several people trying to cover multiple tasks.”

Being associated with such a brand also means some perks like getting involved with the pretty-quick McLaren 600LT too, for a special California-themed Long Beach photoshoot. Is he a supercar man?

“We’re all, at the end of the day, supercar guys, right?” he says laughing.

“I’ve never owned a car in my entire life. I have my Chevy Tahoe that gets me from A to B – but I definitely want to acquire one [a McLaren supercar] in the future.

“I have spoken to Zak about a McLaren, but I don’t think that’s really determined yet, but I’m definitely gonna poke him!”

Moving to a bigger squad also brings the added pressure of more intra-team rivalry: now Lundgaard has Pato O’Ward as a colleague. Not only is he arguably the fastest IndyCar man over one lap, he’s also easily the most popular driver in the series.

This was driven home by Lundgaard looking like the man to beat for most of the Thermal weekend, before O’Ward snatched pole with a searing lap, leaving the Dane a disappointed second.

Despite that, Lundgaard says he’s relishing the challenge the Mexican represents.

“That’s what we target,” he says. “It’s for Pato to push me, and me to push Pato.

“I feel like me and him have a great relationship. We understand that we both want to win, but we also need to help each other to be able to do that.

“We had a very clear and casual conversation before the race in Thermal that if I’m faster, you let me go, or if he’s faster, I won’t put pressure on him.

“You saw it when I tried to hold up Palou in that race to help Pato. I know he would do the same, and that’s really what makes it a good dynamic.

“I’m sure we’re going to have some more battles from that, and it’s going to be less friendly, but we both understand each other and what’s best for the team.”

In Lundgaard’s three previous Long Beach races, the results haven’t come for Lundgaard. What makes him think he can turn it around with McLaren in 2025?

“I qualified just outside the Fast Six last year, then we messed up on strategy in the race,” he argues.

“That’s where I see the biggest difference at McLaren is people are just on top of these things. Even if we mess up the strategy, we lose a couple of positions, not 10.

“I see all tracks the same. You’ve got to be competitive, you’ve got to be fast, you’ve got to like all of them.

“Because the mentality of coming to a track that you don’t like automatically, in your subconsciousness, you’re not going to push as much as you know you’re capable of doing.

“So I always view them the same way, and I think the event itself is always cool. There’s, there’s so much history to it, and it’s one of the races that we all want to win.

“So that’s just what we got to go do this weekend.”