"Let's face it, it was boring": Arrow McLaren boss gets blunt about IndyCar's Alabama GP

Arrow McLaren drivers Christian Lundgaard, Pato O'Ward, and Nolan Siegel finished inside the Top 10 at the Alabama Indy Grand Prix, bringing home a solid chunk of points. Yet, team boss Tony Kanaan claimed it was somewhat of a boring race as the Brazilian got blunt about the IndyCar race at Barber Motorsports Park.

Alex Palou took the pole position for the 2025 Children's of Alabama Indy GP and won the race in dominant fashion, being in the effective lead throughout the race. The Spaniard won the race by a 16+ second margin over Christian Lundgaard, who finished P2.

Tony Kanaan, who took over as the Deputy Team Principal after Gavin Ward left the team and was promoted to the role of Team Principal before the start of the 2025 season, reflected on Arrow McLaren’s performance at the Barber Motorsports Park. The Brazilian said ( via Frontstretch's YouTube channel),

“I mean, we had three cars in the top ten. There was a goal, obviously trying to chase Palou down. Christian did an awesome job, mate. I won't be hung up on.”

The reporter then questioned the Arrow McLaren TP about the rule change for the upcoming race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, where the drivers will have to use two sets of alternate and primary tires each during the race.

Kanaan suggested that it was all done in a bid to make the racing interesting and claimed that the Alabama Indy GP was boring. The Team Principal said,

“We're trying to make racing more exciting for the fans another green flag race. Let's face it, it wasn't fun, it was boring. So hopefully, we'll make a change. We're at a little bit of an extra set of tires and we'll see. A little bit more of an exciting race. Look at the fans here today. It was crazy, so. They deserve a more exciting race, and we'll try to do that.”

Most drivers struggled with the primary tires at Barber and ran most of the race on the alternate compound. However, with the new tire rules, both alternates and primaries would have to be taken into consideration as a race tire.

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Arrow McLaren's strong result at the 2025 Alabama Indy Grand Prix

All three of the Arrow McLaren drivers were able to make it into the Top 12 qualifying session at Barber on Saturday. While Nolan Siegel was able to make it to the Fast 6, Christian Lundgaard and Pato O'Ward narrowly missed it, and started the race in P7 & P8.

Nolan Siegel, who had his best-ever qualifying results, dropped positions after the first pit stop. Christian Lundgaard, on the other hand, made his undercut strategy work during the final round of pit stops, as the Danish driver overtook Will Power, Scott McLaughlin, and Pato O'Ward on track to finish P2.

Colton Herta's slow pitstop and Nolan Siegel’s average race pace promoted the Mexican two places up compared to the qualifying position. O’Ward started the race in P8 and finished P6.