Will Power addresses "shocking" Team Penske situation and Scott McLaughlin's downfall

Will Power won the 2025 Grand Prix of Portland and became the first Team Penske driver to win a race this season. The Australian came out after the win in Portland and commented on Team Penske and Scott McLaughlin’s performance this year, detailing how it's been a year of underachievement for the driver-team duo.

Scott McLaughlin was one of the favorites alongside Alex Palou and Colton Herta to challenge for the 2025 IndyCar title. However, the Spaniard ran away with the championship with eight wins so far this season, while McLaughlin has failed to win a single race this season.

The Kiwi driver isn't even the best performing Team Penske driver this season, as he currently sits outside the Top 10 of the championship standings while his teammate Will Power recently became the only Penske race winner, and currently sits 6th in the championship.

Team Penske, in general, has had a troublesome season, being the last team out of the top teams (Chip Ganassi Racing, Andretti Global, and Arrow McLaren) to take a victory. The season has been filled with reliability issues, unforced errors, as well as the Indy 500 attenuator scandal, which led to the firing of three senior members, including Tim Cindric.

Will Power featured on Conor Daly's Speed Street podcast’s latest episode and was questioned about the biggest surprise from a positive and a negative standpoint in the 2025 season. Detailing Scott McLaughlin and Team Penske's poor form this season, Power replied,

“I mean, probably the year McLaughlin's had. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, I would have said, I would have said that he was going to be an absolute, you know, championship contender at the end of last year.” (1:13:30 onwards)

“I was like, but yeah, that's the whole team. Like, you know, we've all struggled. You know, just look at the whole Penske situation, it was just shocking. We just won our first race now. I've only got two to go. So, I think, oh yeah, just that,” added Will Power

Will Power Team Penske's IndyCar contract situation

Will Power’s Team Penske IndyCar contract expires at the end of the 2025 season. Despite being the best-performing Penske driver this season, the Australian hasn't been offered a contract extension. Roger Penske suggested earlier this year that the team is looking at its options, while Power has also revealed that multiple teams have contacted him about his availability for 2026.

“Well, just because you see there's interest in Will. There's a lot of interest in Will. (Other teams outside Penske) see his worth. I think he's handling this, in whatever which way it goes, so we'll see what happens at the last race,” said Power's wife Liz. (Via IndyStar)

With two races to go in the 2025 season, reports suggest that Power's Team Penske future will only be clarified at orbafter the race in Nashville.