Taylor Kiel is the managing director of the team. Last year, he was the general manager of Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. The team is based out of the former Arrow Schmidt Peterson shop in Indianapolis.
“We have been working hard both with the guys at Indianapolis since the last race in Laguna Seca and with the guys in the U.K. putting our partnership together and making sure that we bring our best foot forward into the partnership,” De Ferran said. “So far, it’ been a very enjoyable experience, certainly for everyone, getting to know everyone and I think today it’s yet another step, an important and exciting step in our journey together.
“Both Oliver and Pato are extremely exciting talents,” De Ferran added. “They have not only won the Indy Lights championship over the past couple of seasons, but these are two drivers I think have proven their worth throughout their careers, have had a tremendous amount of success throughout their careers from karting onward.
“We’re proud to have them both onboard and go through this journey together,” he continued. “I wish we could hit the track here quite a few more times than what we will do to try to compete, but I think that we’re doing a lot of work behind the scenes to help with our preparation, both on and off the track. So may the journey begin, I think we’re all very excited about it.”
A ride with Harding Steinbrenner Racing fell through prior to the start of last season, and O’Ward has landed with McLaren.
“I honestly couldn’t be more excited,” O’Ward said. “I think it’s very big, not just for me but for Oliver as well. We’re just starting our journey into the professional side of this sport and it’s something we have been working toward our whole lives, so I’m very much looking forward to the opportunity, I’m very thankful and I think there’s no better team to do it than Arrow McLaren SP. I think the guys have just proven that they have what it takes to win races, to challenge for championships.
“I’m very excited to see what the future could have in store.”
Askew dominated last year’s Indy Lights Series.
“I don’t have any expectations,” Askew said. “We’re going to be putting a lot of hard work in, in the offseason to make sure we take advantage of the tools that we have here, especially with myself as a pure rookie, only my fourth full season in cars, but I think I’m ready for it with the resources that we have here and the personnel.
“Obviously, it’s a top-tier team and I’m looking forward to representing Arrow McLaren SPM going into the future.”
Arrow McLaren Racing SP’s first mission is to learn from its past mistakes. No one knows that better than Brown, who experienced the thrill of Alonso’s effort in 2017 and the bitter disappointment of failing to make the 2019 field.
“We certainly made a lot of mistakes in Indianapolis last year, and as I told everyone on the racing team, mistakes are OK as long as you learn from them and you don’t make the same one twice,” Brown said. “We always had a desire to compete on a full-time basis, and the way we did it in 2019 was kind of the start of ramping up. However, it’ very obvious that that’s not the right way to do it.
“What we are able to put in place for Sam will give us that full-time presence; will give us that platform to ensure that we’re competitive and don’t repeat the mistakes we made, which really was showing up with a part-time effort and a part-time crew that worked extremely hard.
“But Indianapolis is a tough place to show up for anybody on a part-time basis and so what we structured here with Sam we think ticks a lot of the boxes of the technical aspects and the commercial aspects that enabled us to go ahead and commit.
“I think the view of my board was either let’s be all-in or all-out, and all the reasons we have wanted to do IndyCar the last couple years, have remained, regardless of our defeat at Indianapolis.
“We’re racers, so you’re going to hit the wall every once in a while.
“You have to dust yourself off and go back at it.”