McLaren director BLAMES IndyCar star for chaotic spell

Arrow McLaren’s sporting director and 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner – Tony Kanaan, has placed some of the blame on a current IndyCar star after the team changed drivers for a second time this season.

Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire has been replaced by IndyNXT star Nolan Siegel in the #6 car for the rest of the year.

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It’s a surprise as Pourchaire only served as a substitute for the injured David Malukas before committing full-time to IndyCar last month, abandoning his Super Formula season.

In five races he performed consistently, including a top ten at the Detroit Grand Prix, but he did not do enough to keep hold of his seat.

Why are McLaren in this situation?

A 19-year-old Siegel sits fourth in the IndyNXT championship, which he will no longer be able to compete in.

Speaking about McLaren’s very active approach to their driver line-up, Tony Kanaan blamed Alex Palou for much of the chaos.

“It started back last year with that driver [Palou] that decided not to come over and breach his contract,” Kanaan said, as quoted by Motorsport.com.

“Then we decided on continuity, and it’s been quite a few six months for me. I did not sign up to have to choose four drivers. And then every option we had, because we had to make a decision quick, a lot of them had schedules already.

“I just told the guys out there, ‘You change race cars all the time. You come in, you make a change.’ Not that we want to do that with drivers, but we’re here. I’m in this to win races. That’s all I care [about]. And then I think eventually we look for continuity. There is never a good time," Kanaan continued.

“Everybody’s going to say, ‘Oh, this is bad timing.’ What is a good time to do what we did? I don’t know when.

“I think today; some people agree, some people disagree. We’ll take the heat. We don’t take the heat. But to me, it’s the right decision.

"I believe that I’m making the right call with the team. I weigh in quite a bit because that’s what I’ve done for a living. I’m glad that my boss [McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown] trusts me on it. We have to just move on.”

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