Can McLaren win both the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 this weekend?

23/05/2024

McLaren is one of the most prestigious names in motorsport.

They can claim two of the world’s most famous races this weekend.

Sunday brings two of the most historic races in the sporting world, with the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix and the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500. Along with the 24 Hours of Le Mans, these three races comprise the Triple Crown of motorsport.

But while McLaren is the only team to have won all three, this season sees them with a chance to win both the Monaco Grand Prix, as well as the Indianapolis 500, on the same day.

A strong run of form from both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri gives the F1 team a chance to win in Monaco, where qualifying is critical. With the narrow Monte Carlo streets, overtaking in the race itself comes at a premium. So if you want to win the Monaco Grand Prix, you best be starting near the front.

Norris and Piastri are coming off the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which saw both drivers qualify inside the top three. While Max Verstappen grabbed pole in Imola, Piastri qualified second with teammate Norris behind him in third. However, it was Norris who started second due to a three-place grid penalty handed down to Piastri for impeding Haas driver Kevin Magnussen during the first segment of qualifying.

Verstappen won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, but only after holding off a late charge from Norris, who finished under a second behind the Red Bull driver. Piastri finished fourth, and would likely have joined Norris on the podium were it not for the penalty.

So if McLaren is to pull off their double win, Saturday will be critical on the F1 side of things. But Norris believes the team has a chance in Monaco.

“We’re a third of the way through so we have a very long way to go, so I think many, many things can happen,” said Norris to Sky Sports F1 on Wednesday. “But also Monaco is a place where anything can happen. So I would never say ‘no’ anymore.

“I’ve got fed up of myself kind of underestimating what we can achieve as a team. So we’re going to come in, we’re positive, we’ve had a very good run of results - second, first, second - and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to continue that here in Monaco.

“It’s not known to be our best track but, at the same time, anything can happen.”

Then there is the 108th Indianapolis 500, set for Sunday at historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Arrow McLaren has four cars in the field, including 2016 winner Alexander Rossi and NASCAR Cup Champion Kyle Larson, both of whom are starting on the second row. Rossi qualified fourth for the Indianapolis 500, while Larson will start alongside him in fifth.

Rossi spoke with SB Nation earlier this week about the team’s chances in the Indianapolis 500.

“I think we can [win the Indianapolis 500],” said Rossi to SB Nation on Tuesday. “You know, it’s the best car that I’ve had here since 2019 when I finished second. The team is executing and operating at a really high level. Obviously, as I said, eight of the top ten cars are Chevy powered. So we have every tool at our disposal. Ultimately, it’s gonna come down to some variables and potentially some things out of our control.

“But we have every possibility to win this thing and that’s all we’re focused on.”

Rossi also spoke very highly of Larson, who is trying to become just the second driver to complete “The Double,” finishing both the Indianapolis 500 and the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night. While Larson is set to become the fifth different driver to attempt “The Double” only Tony Stewart, in 2001, managed to finish both races.

“Well, Kyle has been fantastic,” said Rossi.

“You know, we grew up racing together in Northern California. I’ve known him for two decades now, and his success so far this month did not come as a surprise to me whatsoever,” continued Rossi. “You know, you look at his pedigree and what he’s accomplished and there was no reason to doubt him, [or to think] he wouldn’t be to win this race.”

In a press conference on Tuesday from Indianapolis Rick Hendrick of Hendrick Motorsports and McLaren CEO Zak Brown told the media, including SB Nation, just how impressed they have been with Larson’s work so far.

“For Kyle to have not put a wheel wrong, yet explore the limits of the race car and the racetrack, as Mr. H [Hendrick] said going into Turn 1 — it’s the same thing I saw when Fernando Alonso came over. What I’ve found about these great drivers is they can compartmentalize — they know where they’re trying to get to on race day, but they then know on day one they’re trying to accomplish a certain thing, day two, day three. They don’t get ahead of themselves,” started Brown.

“I think what you’ve seen out of Kyle, which is what makes him a championship-caliber driver, is his preparation going into the race. I think he now knows what the high line is like, the low line, traffic, dirty air, wind direction change, and he’s been exploring that within his own comfort zone, even though from the outside sometimes people like myself and Mr. H were a little bit less comfortable watching,” continued the McLaren CEO. “It’s the same thing we saw with Fernando Alonso when we raced with Andretti. Mario was like, he’s going to get himself in trouble, and Fernando came in and was like I’m just trying to kind of figure it out, and he was well within his comfort zone.

“I think everyone recognizes the talent it takes to go out and qualify fifth in your first Indy 500 when you’ve never raced an INDYCAR, and so a huge admiration for him.”

“It’s nerves,’ said Hendrick about watching Larson qualify. “I mean, once we got into the final 12, then you’ve got a sigh of relief. But I’m not used to watching a car go in the corner at 241. I was concerned about — I knew Kyle was going to push it. So I just wanted to get it over with.

“But it was an amazing effort. He gets out of the car and I ask him a question, like you’d think he would be excited or — and he’s just kind of like, that’s what I do.”

Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports may face a difficult decision on Sunday, however. With forecasts calling for rain and thunderstorms, the Indianapolis 500 could be delayed, forcing the teams to make the call to replace Larson, so he can get to Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600.

“Well, that’s a tough question because we’ve talked about it many times, and we know we need to be at Charlotte for the points. We’re just going to let it play out, and then Kyle and myself and Jeff Gordon, we have Andrews, we’ll make that decision Sunday,” said Hendrick Tuesday when asked about a potential weather situation in Indianapolis.

“It would be very hard. It would be very tough,” continued the NASCAR legend. “Would be very disappointing because of all the effort that everyone has put in, from Arrow McLaren to Zak and the crowd, our marketing people. We’ve got a tremendous amount of folks there at Indy, and he’s in such a good position, it would be extremely hard.”

Whether Larson is in the field or not, Arrow McLaren has in Rossi a driver who has won in Indianapolis before, as well as Pato O’Ward who finished second in 2022. While Rossi and Larson are starting on the second row, O’Ward is behind them in the third row, starting eighth.

Callum Ilott is also in the field for Arrow McLaren, and he will start 15th.

McLaren secured their team Triple Crown in 1995, but that journey started much earlier, when they won the 1974 Indianapolis 500 with driver Johnny Rutherford. In 1984, Alain Prost gave McLaren its first victory in Monaco, and in 1995 McLaren won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with JJ Lehto, Masanori Sekiya and Yannik Dalmas.

That journey took over 20 years.

But this weekend, McLaren could win two legs of the motorsport Triple Crown over the course of a few hours.