McLaren Drops IndyCar Driver Injured Crashing on a Mountain Bike
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Arrow McLaren has fired IndyCar driver David Malukas, a 22-year-old signed to the team last offseason. Malukas is recovering from a wrist injury sustained in February and has not run a single race for the program since signing.
Malukas became one of the better prospects in IndyCar by succeeding in an odd situation, finishing second to Kyle Kirkwood in an Indy Lights championship battle before joining a back-of-the-field Dale Coyne Racing team and impressing immediately. He had made a quick name for himself on ovals, where he secured three top four finishes for a team that has just six wins since it was founded in 1984. Malukas then left for what he thought was to be his shot with one of IndyCar's four best teams, but the opportunity ended before he ever actually got a chance to race in papaya orange.
The decision comes two weeks after McLaren racing lead Zak Brown told Road & Track that the team was "hot on the driver market" during the time Malukas had been out of the car. With Alexander Rossi also coming up on the end of his contract, Brown now potentially has two openings to work with in the near future. While Malukas has been injured, the team has tried out former Formula 2 runner-up Callum Ilott and reigning Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire. Ilott's best finish in the car is 12th and Pourchaire's high watermark to date is 11th, accomplished in his first-ever race in an IndyCar.
Ilott and Pourchaire should both get a real shot at the seat for 2025, but Ilott did not expect to have a full-time IndyCar opportunity in 2024 and has existing sports car obligations with the Jota Porsche program to maintain in the World Endurance Championship. Ilott, who has oval experience from previous IndyCar seasons, tested the car in a pre-Indianapolis 500 session in April. He should be the favorite to race the car in May, but Brown told Road & Track at Long Beach that recently-retired team executive Tony Kanaan could also be a factor for that car.
Malukas is the fourth driver dropped from McLaren's IndyCar team under strange circumstances, something that stretches back to before the team reached the grid. Arrow McLaren inherited James Hinchcliffe from the team's past life as Schmidt Petersen, then dropped him while he was still believed to be under contract. One of his two replacements, Oliver Askew, was dropped after his rookie season amid reports that his firing had been tied to public comments about a concussion he suffered while racing. Felix Rosenqvist was not actually fired after the 2022 season, but he and his employer disagreed over whether or not he was signed to a deal that could place him in Formula E if the team signed Alex Palou. The team did not sign Palou, so Rosenqvist ended up staying with the program for one more year before being replaced by Malukas.
In addition to all of that, in 2022 McLaren attempted to sign away drivers under contract with different teams on two separate occasions. Their efforts in F1 led to the acquisition of Alpine junior Oscar Piastri, but their IndyCar maneuvering ended with an ongoing court case rather than the final, official signing of Alex Palou.
Next, Malukas has to pick up the pieces and find a new IndyCar opportunity mid-season while recovering from an injury. McLaren, on the other hand, has to find a way to convince a new top-level driver or prospect to join the team in a market where drivers are all too familiar with how little regard the papaya-clad team has for both its own contracts and the contracts other teams have signed. That could become a challenge for both driver and program, but Malukas is talented enough and McLaren is fast enough that both will have options.
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