Christian Lundgaard calls first McLaren season a foundation for 2026 IndyCar title bid

Christian Lundgaard established himself as a top front-runner in the IndyCar Series in his first year driving for Arrow McLaren. After three seasons with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, where he collected three podiums – including one win – the Dane went on to score six podiums and finished fifth in the championship, representing the strongest season yet for the No. 7 car since McLaren joined the series.

It was a campaign that began with a hot start, as Lundgaard scored three podiums in the first four races, putting him second in the standings, just behind the dominant Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi’s No. 10 car.

Although his results dipped in the middle of the season, Lundgaard insists in this exclusive interview with Motorsport.com that his first year with Arrow McLaren was a success, explaining how every experience – including the struggles – will help him and his crew lay the groundwork for a championship run in 2026.

“A successful season”

Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images

If you had to sum up your 2025 season with Arrow McLaren in just one word, which word would you choose — and why?

Christian Lundgaard: I’d probably go with successful, I would say. You know, at the end of the day, we approach this season wanting to learn, wanting to be competitive, but to be competitive from the get-go. We didn’t want it necessarily to be a learning year in that sense. And I think we did that, right? We were competitive from the get-go and we had many great results. We had six podiums. I think that was probably the most that the #7 car has had in its lifetime with Arrow McLaren. So, I’d call that a successful season. Yes, we missed out at the end in championship standings, but I think looking at the season from a bird’s view, we were definitely looking at it as successful.

What has surprised you most about Arrow McLaren as a team now that you’ve completed a full season with them?

Christian Lundgaard: I think that’s a pretty good question because, you know, every racing team operates in the same way, essentially, right? It’s get the cars to the track and get the most speed out of them and make them as fast as possible. But I think there’s different ways to do that. And I think what I’ve learned and what I’ve seen the most of with Arrow McLaren is, it’s as simple as how organized they are as a team, how well-glued the personnel is, and I think how everybody has the same goal. And I think there’s a big difference between, you know, wanting the same thing and believing the same thing. And I think we’re much more in believing the same thing category here. And I think that’s just been a very pleasant experience for me to be a part of.

Early highs, mid-season struggles

Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

How much of the improvement you showed this season came from joining this team, and how much was simply your own progress in your fourth full IndyCar season?

Christian Lundgaard: That’s a great question that I don’t necessarily know the answer to. I think we all evolve, right? We all improve; we all get better. I definitely do believe that, you know, that the cars are naturally faster. And I think overall I’ve improved. I think the team’s improved compared to last year. And I think we’ve seen that at selected events where Arrow McLaren struggled in 2024. We definitely got better results in 2025. And if I will just pick two, I would say, you know, Thermal and Portland were probably one of our two biggest turnarounds from ’24. I’m extremely pleased and proud to have been a part of that journey, of that change and getting the results as a team. And I think going into the 2026 season, I’m pretty sure we can do that even better.

You started the season very strongly, with three podiums in four races. Were you surprised to find yourself in the mix for the title at that stage?

Christian Lundgaard: I think, ultimately, I would say I was a little more surprised, you know, being in the position to fight for the championship than what I expected. But I think there is, again, it kind of goes back to what you believe, right? And the mindset you have. And I think I know I am competitive and fast enough to be in that position. But I think ultimately, it’s all the pieces of the puzzle that need to fit together. And I think that the crew that I’m with, with Arrow McLaren and the No. 7 car, I think we’re a very good group. And I think we got the best out of each other. And I think we built a great foundation for ’26. I wouldn’t say I approached the ’25 season thinking, ‘hey, we’re going to be in the title contention’. Obviously, it’s the hope. It isn’t what I expected. And I would say there were times throughout the year where I was like ‘this does look pretty good’. But I think if we take the No. 10 car out of consideration and we just think second and downwards, I definitely think we had a chance. Of course, for it to slip away is unfortunate. But at the end of the day, that wasn’t necessarily my goal anyway for 2025. It was to build that foundation and be as competitive as possible and not necessarily caring so much about the result.

From that very strong start, there were five races without a podium. Do you think that slump was part of the process — helping you and the team grow before recovering later in the season?

Christian Lundgaard: Yeah, you know, this is my honest opinion. And I know we’ve talked a little bit about this within the No. 7 crew. It was a very tough time for us in a sense. And I’m very glad that we went through it for one reason only: I think we learned more having gone through that experience than just, you know, hitting the gate hot. We kind of started the season very well. And I think that kind of came a little out of left field for all of us. And I think it’s not that we were uncomfortable in that situation. I think we’re actually very comfortable because that’s where we believe that we should and need to be, right?. I think there were kind of some expectation management issues in a sense I think that we could have done better. And that kind of middle part of the season was tough and it was frustrating. But I think how we recovered in the second half of the season is really the showcase of, you know, we’re not going to back down. We’re going to keep improving. And I think that was just the best way we could really end the season in a sense, because we showed as a group that we were capable of bouncing back from adversary, and kind of that mental struggle of getting out of momentum.

Cracking the ovals challenge

Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

During that period, you also had your best personal performance at the Indy 500, starting eighth and finishing seventh. How would you evaluate your experience at Indianapolis this year?

Christian Lundgaard: I learned a lot. I think obviously, you know, from the past three years of oval experience, I definitely felt like I needed to take a step back and kind of rewind and learn everything from scratch in a sense, kind of rebuild. And I think we built up a lot throughout the season on ovals. I think we saw Milwaukee, Nashville just being much more competitive, much more comfortable in that sense. And obviously, the Indy 500 was the first race of the season on an oval. And it’s the biggest, the most important one, which was tough, you know, kind of to start at. But I think taking step by step and taking everything in, learning from this team, obviously having Kyle (Larson) as the fourth car as well. I learned a lot from Kyle, just that kind of ruthlessness of just going out there and doing it. We had a great month with ups and downs. I think we essentially should and could have had a little more of a result. But, you know, I don’t really want to look at it that way. I just want to look at it, ‘hey, we learned and I think we’ve built something great for the future’.

Before this season, you were very clear about your need to improve on ovals. How difficult is it to take that next step on such tight margins? Where do you feel you still need to improve — is it your driving style, confidence, or a combination of factors?

Christian Lundgaard: I do think it’s a combo of things. It isn’t as simple as, you know, just flicking a light switch, right? It’s a series of events. It’s a piece of a puzzle that, you know, all the pieces need to kind of fit together. At the end of the day, I wish it was as simple as flipping a switch and just say, ‘hey, now it’s time’. But I do think the mentality is a very big part of it, you know, kind of just understanding that just go out and do it in a sense and be okay with whatever results it is. I think the second half of the season, we built great momentum in those situations. And I think I learned a lot, just became more comfortable with exploring more versus just kind of driving around and taking one step forward. I think we started moving at a little faster pace.

You already mentioned working with Kyle Larson during the Month of May. What did you learn about oval racing from being Pato O’Ward’s teammate, given how strong he is on ovals in IndyCar?

Christian Lundgaard: Yeah, I mean, on ovals, Pato is a different animal. It’s a very interesting driving style, but it works for him. And, you know, that’s, I think that’s the beauty of this sport. Everybody is different, even though that we’re human beings. We tackle everything differently. And Pato is probably the best oval racer in the field. You know, maybe not statistically, but I think from a pace, from a handling and understanding standpoint, he’s by far one of the best. It’s a good teammate to have and a good person to learn from. But what’s very difficult is we have very, very different driving styles.

That’s what makes it very tough. I think, you know, Kyle is in a little bit of a different boat there as well, compared to me. And I think Nolan (Siegel) and I are a little more similar, potentially a little more traditional. So I think there’s a lot to learn from that. And I think that is also a part of why we’ve accelerated and learned more and gotten better on the No. 7 car.

Building toward a 2026 title challenge

Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

You’ve been very strong on road courses this year. Do you see mastering the ovals as the key to mounting a title hunt in ’26?

Christian Lundgaard: Absolutely. I think if I have the same results on ovals as I’ve had on road courses, I think we’re going to be right there and we’re going to have a good fighting chance. But at the end of the day, you know, I think that’s the goal, but I’m also going to take it the same way and approach it the same way I approach the ’25 season: I don’t care what the result is as long as we’re competitive. And I think that’s the strength of the mental game. I’m not expecting to go out and win every oval race. I’m not expecting to go out and be on the podium in every oval race. But if we’re knocking on the door -fourth, fifth places-, if we’re there every time, we’re going to have a chance winning the championship anyway. So I think that’s the most important.

Having finished fifth in ’25, just shy of third, the next step would be to contend for the championship. Do you see it that way for next year, or is it too soon, being only your second season with the team?

Christian Lundgaard: I’m going into my fifth full season, right? And I’ve been around racing long enough, you know, to understand when you’re in a position to do anything. And I think, you know, even this year, I think we were in a position to win the championship. The No.10 car obviously had an amazing year, right? And I don’t think anyone could take that away from that No. 10 car. But I think looking at the best of the rest, you know, we were there. And I think there were some results that were thrown away and some very valuable points that I think we gave away by the fault of our own, and without those, we definitely could have fought for even second in the championship. But again, we need the No. 10 car to not have another season like you did this year.

This has been your best IndyCar season by far, but was it frustrating to finish the year without a win, or do you see it as part of the process heading into ’26?

Christian Lundgaard: Well, you know, I honestly didn’t really think about it at all. There were questions that I was being asked throughout the year. ‘Is this going to be the weekend?’ ‘Is this going to be the time?’ If I’m going to be honest, I think everybody in the entire field was frustrated without a win, you know, very far into the season because the No. 10 car got all of them. And the way that I see that is every time the No. 10 car basically won a race, it was the No. 5 of the No. 7 car right behind. I think that is enough evidence for me saying that it’s coming, right? And if it comes this year, if it comes next year, you know, I’d rather want to not have one this year and have five next year, right? I think that’s how I see it. We were knocking on the door every single event. And obviously, you know, all the podiums that we had, we were potentially the best car. We were by far the best car at Portland. The engine penalty is what kind of took that one away. I left that weekend, you know, telling myself that I won that race, even though that on paper, it shows that I was P2, the points is for P2. But I truly believe that that was, you know, I told myself that was the win. Because that’s the job that we did and we did everything to deserve that win. And obviously, it was taken a kind of taken away by out of our control. I think that’s how you have to look at it versus, you know, being frustrated. It’s you need to see the positives and the things that you’re doing.

The Tony Kanaan effect and offseason plans

Tony Kanaan, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

How has it been having Tony Kanaan as team boss? You previously worked with a legend like Bobby Rahal at RLL. How has your experience been with TK this year, perhaps benefiting from his closer age and recent driving experience?

Christian Lundgaard: Tony’s great. I didn’t get to experience Arrow McLaren as it was, right? Very briefly after I joined the team, changes were made and Tony was put in charge. And I think Tony was a big part of me coming to the team anyway. Having worked very close with Tony, that’s also one on my to-do list for this offseason, is try to spend some time with Tony, you know, outside of the kind of racing world for us to take things to a different level and really make sure that we’re on the same page for 2026 and what we want and what our mindsets are.

But it’s been great. Every question I’ve had, he’s had an answer. Don’t get me wrong. He’s definitely asked me plenty of questions I don’t have answers to. But I think, you know, that’s the beauty of having him in the team and having him as a mentor in a sense. And I just love the fact that, you know, he’s an ex-driver now in a position to control the team, control the drivers. But at the end of the day, he understands what we need. And now he sees that from an organization standpoint of view. And he’s helped us a lot, you know, staying in it. And I think that’s the biggest benefactor I’ve taken from ’25.

With the offseason approaching, what are your plans? Will there be a lot of golf to keep your competitive side sharp, and how much time will you spend thinking about how to beat Alex Palou?