IndyCar signing received GLOWING reference from F1 star reveals team chief

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has revealed that Formula 1 star Oscar Piastri gave the team the seal of approval to snap up rising IndyCar star Christian Lundgaard for next season.

Lundgaard, who is a one-time IndyCar race-winner, recently announced that he would be driving for Arrow McLaren in 2025 and thus departing his current team - Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

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The Danish driver joined his current team ahead of the 2022 IndyCar campaign having raced single-seaters in Europe prior to that.

In 2021, for example, Lundgaard raced in Formula 2, where he raced current F1 star Piastri, who dominated the championship that year.

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Oscar Piastri gave Christian Lundgaard reference

When quizzed on why he signed Lundgaard for the Arrow McLaren team, Brown admitted he had several reasons for doing so, one of which was that Piastri - one of his current drivers in F1 - had given Lundgaard a glowing reference.

“His pace,” explained Brown. “He raced against Oscar Piastri over in Europe, and [Oscar] says he’s unbelievably quick.

“I thought the race that he won here [in Toronto in 2023] was an awesome drive.

"He dominated, but the part that was more impressive to me is when he got shuffled back in that late yellow, you could have a rookie winner kind of panic and overdrive, and he was like ‘no problem, I got this’.

“I thought it was a very mature win, very fast. I think he and Pato will be awesome team-mates, as fast as anyone, and Nolan [Siegel] will learn from having two unbelievably quick team-mates.

“Ultimately, his pace and his reputation, what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard, thought, ‘Here’s a guy who’s championship caliber who can give Pato a run for his money’.”

Lundgaard currently sits P11 in the 2024 IndyCar standings.

So far this season, the Danish driver has one top-5 finish to his name, as well as four top-10s.

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