Two iconic races, one day: McLaren's quest to win Monaco, Indy 500

The Monaco Grand Prix. The Indianapolis 500. They are 2 of motorsports' biggest races, and for overmuch of this century, they've been held connected the aforesaid day.

That statement has made the last Sunday successful May a vacation for contention fans. In the U.S., gearheads tin ticker F1 cars taking to the streets of Monte Carlo portion enjoying java and a croissant, with conscionable capable clip to occurrence up the grill for a lunchtime barbecue earlier the greenish emblem drops astatine the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).

It's a time to beryllium celebrated by fans because, well, those 2 races instrumentality spot immoderate 4,500 miles apart. You mightiness person heard of "Double Duty," the feat of finishing the Indy 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 successful the aforesaid day, but the Atlantic Ocean separating 2 of the astir historical events successful racing keeps immoderate 1 operator from trying to tackle them some successful 1 day.

But what astir a team?

Since 2020, McLaren has taken portion successful some the F1 and IndyCar championships. And portion the teams are separate, headquartered successful Woking, England, and Indianapolis, respectively, they are connected by McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown -- the 53-year-old Californian who tin often beryllium recovered fronting the papaya team's efforts successful some paddocks.

For the past 3 years, helium has faced a decision: Where does helium privation to beryllium connected contention day? Monaco oregon Indianapolis?

He won't look that dilemma overmuch longer. As portion of Monaco's woody with F1 that runs done 2031, it was agreed that the principality's day connected the calendar would beryllium moved to June, meaning that Sunday was the past clip for the foreseeable aboriginal that the Indianapolis 500 and Monaco Grand Prix would beryllium contested connected the aforesaid day.

So, to people the farewell of the holiest time of hooning, ESPN sent writers to Monte Carlo and Indianapolis to walk important clip with the 1 squad that is intimately acquainted with some races. This is the communicative of McLaren's effort to tackle 2 of the astir historic, iconic races successful motorsports, which conscionable truthful hap to instrumentality spot connected the past Sunday successful May.

Bringing the F1 blueprint to Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS -- A batch of work. A batch of sneaky glances astatine the TV. A batch of papaya orange.

At 7:45 a.m. Indianapolis clip Sunday, the lights were going retired 4,556 miles to the eastbound on the French Riviera. As the Monaco GP roared to life, the garages of Arrow McLaren IndyCar had already been astatine afloat opus for astir 2 hours.

"We are surely keeping an oculus connected things implicit there, wherever the brag is," said Tony Kanaan, Arrow McLaren squad main and ranking serviceman astatine Indy portion Brown was successful Monte Carlo. "But lone truthful much. There's a batch of enactment to bash successful here. So, the TVs are connected implicit there."

What a time for this group, @ArrowMcLaren. They'll beryllium watching their teammates successful Monaco, past fielding 4 cars astatine Indy, past sending Kyle Larson disconnected to Charlotte for the 600. Racin'! pic.twitter.com/Ugks3S6ftu

The 2013 Indy 500 champion pointed from the team's bid of factual arches, situated connected the archetypal enactment of Indianapolis Motor Speedway's fabled Gasoline Alley, to an bureau doorway crossed the walkway, closed with a elemental achromatic motion taped to the glass: "ARROW MCLAREN INDYCAR TEAM. TEAM MEMBERS ONLY!"

Inside was an ever-rotating sampling of folks dressed successful papaya, ranging from sponsor executives to unit members who'd conscionable been thrashing connected their 4 Chevy-powered Dallaras to different Indy legend, Johnny Rutherford, who earned 2 of his 3 Indy 500 wins driving for McLaren successful the 1970s. All were seeking a cupful of coffee, a fewer minutes disconnected their feet and a bully agelong look astatine the goings-on successful the streets of Monaco.

"We are ever alert of what our F1 friends are doing, always," Arrow McLaren operator Pato O'Ward said Sunday morning, hours earlier his sixth Indy 500 start. "What they bash and what we bash is precise different, but it is besides inactive car racing. You spot wherever they were not truthful agelong ago, and present determination they are."

On the TV screens each astir him were the images of Lando Norris, who'd conscionable made the archetypal of his mandated 2 pit stops.

"They are starring the mode successful their concern and we are inactive chasing to beryllium the best," O'Ward said. "We volition get there. And they privation america to get there."

Yes, it would seem, they do. Kanaan, successful betwixt handshakes from fans shouting "TK!" and interruptions from unit members with questions astir the machines successful assorted states of deconstruction each astir them, was speedy to praise the cross-discipline efforts of those successful the Star Wars backdrop that is the McLaren Technology Center successful Woking.

"This is simply a 24-hour organization. While we slumber here, they enactment there, and vice versa," helium said. "The engineers enactment connected F1 and Indy. If determination is simply a car connected a way anywhere, contention power astatine McLaren and those engineers are watching and monitoring. Always."

Especially connected this day, with Earth's 2 biggest open-wheel races moving back-to-back.

"It's beauteous astonishing to beryllium a portion of it, particularly for a feline similar maine due to the fact that I emotion each of it," explained Kyle Larson, who, arsenic Max Verstappen led Norris, stepped disconnected his centrifugal manager and stood beside the McLaren he'd been loaned to steer astir Indianapolis whenever helium was successful municipality for the fender-less fractional of his 2nd effort astatine the Indy-to-Charlotte IndyCar/NASCAR doubleheader. It adjacent had a HendrickCars.com decal slapped connected the door. "But what I person learned being astir these guys with this team, they emotion it all, too. Racing is racing. And we each either privation to beryllium racing oregon we're watching racing. If thing from F1 tin marque the IndyCar squad amended oregon the different mode around, Zak is going to bash it."

That hasn't ever been the case. Definitely the practice part, and adjacent the watching part. For decades, anyone who asked to person the IMS media halfway TVs turned to F1 successful the greeting and NASCAR successful the evening was greeted by the equivalent to 1 of those large reddish X's and the buzzer from "Family Feud."

Even now, connected Sunday, you had to bash immoderate searching to find Monaco connected a TV. The monitors mounted to the walls of the Arrow McLaren garages showed lone the in-house speedway prerace show. As the F1 lawsuit reached the halfway point, the team's 4 pit stalls were finishing their installations connected pit lane, and adjacent amid an endless fig of screens, determination were lone a fewer with Norris' tally unfastened successful a window.

But wrong that closed-door bureau and the massively modern McLaren hospitality halfway that towered implicit the wrong of Turn 1, the images beamed successful from Monaco were everywhere.

"Used to be, determination was nary crossover, not astatine all," said Rutherford, who started driving McLaren's IndyCar effort successful 1973 until the extremity of the decade. The lone clip McLaren F1 and IndyCar captured races connected the aforesaid time was 49 years agone this month, erstwhile Rutherford won successful Trenton, New Jersey, and James Hunt took the Spanish Grand Prix.

"They were Formula 1. We were Indy." Rutherford added. "What precisely were we going to bash for each other?"

This contempt the vocation of squad laminitis Bruce McLaren (who died successful 1970), which earned him 4 F1 wins, a heap of Can-Am victories and the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans. Under Brown, that cross-series tone is back, viewing and helping and each of it. Just past month, McLaren came adjacent to calling backmost to that time successful May 1976, arsenic Oscar Piastri and Norris finished 1-2 successful China, but O'Ward and teammate Christian Lundgaard had to settee for 2-3 aft starting connected the beforehand enactment astatine Thermal, California.

"People laughed erstwhile I said we conscionable wanted to transcript what they are doing successful F1, but I was serious," Lundgaard clarified Sunday, lasting successful the abstraction betwixt the Arrow McLaren garages and the office-turned-Monaco-viewing-room. That room, and the hospitality center, had precocious erupted successful cheers arsenic Norris earned his 2nd triumph of the season.

Now, the radical from some were crowding astir Lundgaard, O'Ward and rookie Nolan Siegel, inactive buzzing astir Monaco and amped for Indy. It was 11:15 a.m. successful Indiana, 5:15 p.m. successful Monte Carlo. Fans, sponsors, household members and unit each started clapping arsenic they marched with their racers retired of the garage, nether the iconic Gasoline Alley motion and onto the beforehand stretch, wherever Larson was already waiting.

McLaren did its occupation successful Monaco. It was clip to spell to enactment successful Indianapolis. -- Ryan McGee

Sipping Champagne successful Monaco

MONACO -- Brown was successful 2 minds Saturday greeting astir whether to hop connected a pitchy that evening to alert to Indianapolis. The conundrum facing McLaren's CEO went distant the infinitesimal Norris crossed the enactment to assertion McLaren's archetypal rod astatine the principality since 2007.

"I deliberation Zak's conscionable gladsome helium doesn't person to spell to Indy," Norris joked successful the TV media pen soon afterward, erstwhile asked astir being met by a jubilant Brown successful parc fermé aft climbing retired of his car.

Walking down the paddock conscionable aft those celebrations with Norris, Brown had already decided helium would beryllium staying successful Monte Carlo.

"Yeah, I conscionable decided now," Brown told ESPN arsenic helium strode toward McLaren's harborside hospitality center, hand-in-hand with woman Tracy.

His logic had been beauteous simple.

"Chance to triumph [Monaco], I'm staying. If we don't person a accidental to win, I'm going [to Indianapolis]," helium said. "My worst nightmare is not being astatine 1 oregon the different for a win."

Norris starting from rod and Piastri straight down successful 3rd astatine a circuit with arsenic contrasting of a estimation arsenic you tin get to the topsy-turvy and wildly unpredictable Indy 500 turned retired to beryllium a spectacle excessively tantalizing for Brown to miss. His McLaren squad has fixed him plentifulness of winning moments successful the past 12 months, and Norris delivered different -- 1 helium and the CEO person dreamed of for a agelong clip -- with a gritty and commanding triumph successful tense circumstances Sunday.

As is often the lawsuit successful F1, attraction genuinely turned to the Indy 500 lone erstwhile proceedings astatine Monaco had finished and celebrations coiled down. The opposition betwixt the 2 events are numerous, but 1 is the buildup: Indy has an almost-monthlong dilatory pain to the main event, whereas Monaco follows F1's three-day, in-and-out contention week schedule. In today's Monaco paddock, pursuing the contention happening successful Indianapolis tin consciousness similar an afterthought, adjacent if galore are hopeless to ticker it.

F1's calendar did not lend itself to a straightforward viewing of the contention to astir rank-and-file McLaren squad members. With Monaco sandwiched betwixt Imola and Barcelona successful a tripleheader of races crossed 3 weeks, galore of the squad members were astatine Nice airdrome waiting to committee arsenic the 500 ticked into its last moments. Most had to marque bash with a huddle astir a telephone oregon an iPad. Though astir squad members ESPN spoke to wanted to beryllium down and bask the spectacle, clip conscionable does not let it; a Sunday evening formation offered an other afloat time astatine home, a invaluable and uncommon commodity successful the mediate of F1's jampacked schedule.

"I'll ticker it astatine the hotel," Brown told ESPN.

Asked if helium was a bully spectator successful those benignant of circumstances, helium laughed.

"No. No. Horrible."

It astir apt wasn't a peculiarly enjoyable experience. After second-place finishes successful 2 of his past 3 500s, O'Ward was Arrow McLaren's archetypal finisher successful fourth, with Lundgaard and Siegel taking ninth and 16th, respectively, arsenic Larson crashed retired connected Lap 92.

Making matters worse, it was Álex Palou who won his archetypal 500. The three-time IndyCar champion is the taxable of a $30 cardinal breach-of-contract lawsuit from McLaren.

play

1:54

Alex Palou: Winning Indy 500 is 'the champion time of my full life'

Alex Palou reflects connected winning the 2025 Indianapolis 500, saying it's the champion time of his life.

At slightest Brown tin instrumentality comfortableness successful the cognition that his determination to stay successful Monte Carlo was the close one.

Viewing the contention taking spot crossed the Atlantic was somewhat easier for those who telephone Monaco home.

"I volition astir apt beryllium watching connected my sofa astatine home," F1 title person Piastri said during Sunday's quality league earlier turning to Norris and Charles Leclerc, some chap residents of the Principality, alongside him. "Unless I get an invite? You're invited to travel if you want, but yeah, astir apt connected my couch. And I'll support my reply abbreviated due to the fact that I privation to spell ticker it."

The Australian is blessed to ever beryllium a spectator erstwhile it comes to the celebrated event. "Not for me," he said to ESPN astir ever attempting the Indy 500.

As for Norris, helium said helium had achieved a imagination Sunday night, proudly stating that one time his kids volition capable to accidental their dada won the Monaco Grand Prix. He doesn't foresee them ever having thing to accidental astir the Indianapolis 500, though.

"It is thing I'll ne'er do, I tin accidental it close now," Norris said Sunday evening. "I'm not doing it. Just person nary involvement successful doing it. Not my thing. It's not what I enjoy. I person a batch of respect for these guys. There are a batch of incredibly talented drivers implicit determination successful America, and immoderate of them could bash precise good successful Formula 1."

With a cheeky grin, helium past added: "But, yeah, I similar turning close arsenic well. So, that's the main thing." -- Nate Saunders