O'Ward grateful to Arrow McLaren crew for salvaging his weekend

Pato O’Ward was pleasantly surprised to round out the top-five in Markham after a weekend when the Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet team appeared to be fighting from the back foot.

Through the two practice sessions at the NTT IndyCar Series’s new Canadian venue, O’Ward was seen taking several adventures into runoff areas. Even when quick, he appeared to be wrestling his car rather than feeling at one with it. Having his fastest lap docked in qualifying for causing a local yellow, and then taking a six-place grid penalty for an early engine change, might have signified the end of O’Ward’s hopes for a top-five, for now he was starting 23rd.

But keeping away from most of the six-caution chaos – he was tipped into a half-spin at the hairpin following one restart – O’Ward finished fifth, right behind Will Power and Alex Palou, and as top Chevrolet runner.

"It's been a really tough weekend, so it was really nice to end it with a top-five finish,” he remarked. “It was crazy out there. It was like bumper cars on every single restart. We're going to Washington next weekend, and I'm sure it's going to also be crazy.

“Great layout this weekend; I really enjoyed driving the track. I've got to thank my crew for fine-tuning the car and doing so many changes from session to session. I feel like we tried seven different setups this weekend and happily, we ended up with the best one!”

By contrast, teammate and front-row starter Christian Lundgaard was left puzzled by his great pace yesterday, but never looked a threat for victory come the race.

"This weekend left us a bit confused,” said the Dane who has scored two road course wins this year but has been dropped by the team for 2027. “Obviously some good moments that honestly took us by surprise, starting in the front row.

“It’s a tricky new circuit that caused some chaos on track, so I’m glad we got all three cars through intact. We didn’t land the strategy, but at least we stayed in the fight and got some valuable points again."

The other McLaren driver who will be ditched at season’s end, Nolan Siegel, continued his positive recent trend and even led at one stage, but his day was ruined by a drive-through penalty for tipping Josef Newgarden’s Penske-Chevrolet into a spin at the hairpin. Even so, he finished 12th.

“That was one of the most chaotic IndyCar races I have ever been a part of,” said the California native. “We were in a good spot there after passing most of the field. From there, strategies seemed to evolve quite a bit, and we cycled through just about every position within the pack before bringing it home. I will take the result for how chaotic today was."

Newgarden himself had bigger problems, having been anonymous all weekend aside from a shunt in qualifying. “It was extremely hard to get any heat in the tires, especially early in a run,” said the two-time champion, who started the race from 20th. “It was a handful even under caution. Jonathan [Diuguid] worked the strategy to maximize the best finish possible. Leaving with a 13th place finish doesn't feel great but it doesn't feel too bad at the same time."

Teammates Scott McLaughlin and David Malukas had barely more reasons to be cheerful. Third-place qualifier McLaughlin’s second and final stop came on lap 55 of the 90-lap race, so when there were no more cautions, he was left to hobble home at considerably reduced rate to conserve fuel and fell to eighth. Malukas, who rolled off seventh and was in McLaughlin’s wheeltracks for much of the final stint, took over fifth, but was suffering similar fuel-sipping needs in the closing stages, and then struck a wall so had to pit anyway to retire. He was classified only 17th.