McLaren's IndyCar team makes leadership changes as Gavin Ward leaves role as team principal

Arrow McLaren said Tuesday that team principal Gavin Ward has left the IndyCar team after two seasons in a mutual and strategic decision among executive leadership.

Arrow McLaren said it will rely on a handful of leadership acquisitions, including former Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan and former IndyCar race director Brian Barnhart.

“I leave Arrow McLaren after two years developing a people-first culture set to topple the 20-year domination of IndyCar's championship teams," Ward said. “We’ve made major strides during my tenure. Our 2024 IndyCar season delivered the team’s most-ever race wins, and we came within two turns of victory in the Indianapolis 500. Arrow McLaren is positioned for further success — with a stable driver lineup, significant offseason recruitment and thoughtful organizational changes.”

Ward said he planned to spend time with his wife and two daughters "while I evaluate what’s next in my career.”

Ward, a Canadian, started his motorsports career volunteering with a local Formula Ford racing team. He moved to England after high school to study automotive engineering at Oxford Brookes University.

Ward started with an internship with Red Bull Racing in F1 and within six months began his climb through the organization. He spent nine years there in roles from trackside control systems engineer, tire and vehicle dynamics engineer, and race engineer for David Coulthard, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo.

While Ward was at Red Bull, he was part of four championships and more than 50 F1 victories. He collected the trophy as the winning constructor after Red Bull finished 1-2 at the 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Ward moved into the aero design department at Red Bull the next year.

He moved to the IndyCar Series in 2018 as a race engineer for Team Penske, then moved to Arrow McLaren. He had to sit out nearly a year before he could join the McLaren team.

In his two years leading the IndyCar organization, McLaren won a season-high three races last year with Pato O'Ward. But the team has struggled with personnel since three-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou changed his mind about moving to McLaren from Chip Ganassi Racing and Ward spent most of 2024 filling holes in the lineup.

The 2025 team will field cars for O'Ward, the only holdover, as Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel complete the three-car team. Siegel joined McLaren midway through last season.

“I want to thank Gavin for the time he gave to our Arrow McLaren team the past two seasons. We’ve grown significantly from where we were when he joined the team in 2022, and he was a big part of that transformation," McLaren CEO Zak Brown said. "We have a strong team in place, having grown this offseason, and we’re fired up heading into 2025 to fight for race wins and championships.”