With two wins, eight podiums and a championship fight still alive, Christian Lundgaard’s 2026 season is making Arrow McLaren’s decision to replace him for 2027 increasingly difficult to understand.
Christian Lundgaard’s time at Arrow McLaren is coming to an end, but the Dane is making sure the team has plenty to think about before he leaves.
Just over a year after making his McLaren debut, Christian Lundgaard finds himself heading into the final race of the 2026 season as one of the leading contenders for second in the championship. And, perhaps more importantly, he has finally answered the biggest question that has followed him throughout his IndyCar career.
He can race on ovals.
That breakthrough came at the Milwaukee Mile, where Lundgaard claimed his first career oval podium, finishing third in Race 2 of the doubleheader. He then backed it up with sixth in the rain-delayed opening race.
The result was more than just another podium. It was a statement.
Arrow McLaren’s decision to replace Christian Lundgaard for 2027 has widely been linked to concerns over his oval performance, with the team instead opting for two Indianapolis 500 winners in Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist alongside Pato O’Ward.
But after Milwaukee, the timing of that decision looks increasingly questionable.
The numbers tell an interesting story
Before Milwaukee, ChristianLundgaard was already having his strongest season since entering IndyCar.
According to IndyCar’s official statistics, he had 443 points, two wins, seven top-five finishes and 11 top-10s after 15 races.
His two victories came at the Indianapolis road course and Road America, while he also added podium finishes at Barber and Mid-Ohio.
Then came Milwaukee.
A third-place finish in the second race gave Lundgaard his first oval podium, while his sixth-place finish in the other race gave him two career-best oval results in the same weekend. IndyCar noted that the results helped Lundgaard move into second place in the championship, ahead of Kyle Kirkwood and O’Ward with one race remaining.
And that matters when looking at who McLaren has chosen to replace him.
| Driver | 2026 position after Milwaukee | 2026 wins | 2026 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Lundgaard | 2nd | 2 | 507 |
| Pato O’Ward | 4th | 3 | 503 |
| Felix Rosenqvist | 9th | 1 | 379 |
| Scott Dixon | 12th | 0 | 318 |
The post-Milwaukee championship figures show just how close the battle behind newly crowned champion Alex Palou has become, with only four points separating Lundgaard, Kirkwood and O’Ward.
There is an important caveat here, Rosenqvist and Dixon are not being judged purely on their 2026 points totals. Both bring enormous experience, including Indianapolis 500 victories, and Arrow McLaren has made no secret of its desire to strengthen its chances at the biggest race of the year. IndyCar itself described the 2027 line-up as being built around O’Ward alongside former Indy 500 winners Dixon and Rosenqvist.
But that doesn’t make Lundgaard’s numbers any less striking.
The oval argument
The biggest criticism of Christian Lundgaard has been his oval record.
And, to be fair, it was a weakness.
His results before joining Arrow McLaren didn’t suggest he was naturally comfortable on the high-speed circuits. But context matters. Lundgaard spent his first three IndyCar seasons with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, a team that struggled badly for performance on ovals.
Even then, he showed flashes of potential.
His first Indianapolis 500 with Arrow McLaren produced a seventh-place finish after qualifying eighth, and he subsequently produced stronger oval performances during the season. A mechanical issue at Nashville also ended what had been a promising weekend after he qualified third.
The problem was that the breakthrough never quite arrived.
Until Milwaukee.
And perhaps the most frustrating part for Lundgaard is that he very nearly turned that first oval podium into his first oval victory.
During the second Milwaukee race, his Arrow McLaren crew lost valuable time during his final pit stop after problems changing tyres. IndyCar reported that the stop lasted 11.3 seconds and may have cost Lundgaard a chance at victory.
Instead, he came home third.
It was still enough to prove the point.
Compare him with the man taking his seat
Pato O’Ward remains an exceptional driver and arguably McLaren’s biggest proven IndyCar star.
He also delivered a huge weekend at Milwaukee, becoming the first driver in IndyCar history to win both races of a doubleheader on the same day. His two Milwaukee victories took his 2026 win tally to three and his career total to 12.
But O’Ward’s 2026 season has also demonstrated the difference between outright speed and championship consistency.
Christian Lundgaard has accumulated more points and more podium-level results, while O’Ward’s two wins have been offset by a less consistent run of results. IndyCar’s official figures before Milwaukee had Lundgaard on seven top-five finishes and 11 top-10s compared with O’Ward’s eight top-fives and nine top-10s.
And then there is Rosenqvist.
There is absolutely no question that Felix brings something McLaren desperately wants. He is the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner and will return to the team after previously racing for Arrow McLaren from 2021-23. His 2026 campaign had produced one win, two poles, four top-fives and six top-10s before Milwaukee.
But the argument that Rosenqvist represents a clear upgrade over Lundgaard isn’t supported by the 2026 championship numbers.
Nor is Dixon’s season.
Dixon’s legacy is beyond question. Six championships, an Indianapolis 500 victory and 59 career wins make him one of the greatest drivers IndyCar has ever produced.
But 2026 has been a difficult season.
Before Milwaukee, Dixon sat 12th in the championship with 290 points, one top-five and six top-10 finishes, without a victory.
McLaren isn’t signing Dixon because of what he has done this season.
They’re signing him because of what Scott Dixon has done throughout his career, and because they believe his experience can help deliver the Indianapolis 500.
That is a perfectly understandable strategy.
But it makes Christian Lundgaard’s departure a surprising gamble.
Arrow McLaren’s biggest question
Perhaps the biggest issue isn’t whether Lundgaard is better than Dixon or Rosenqvist.
It’s whether McLaren gave him enough time to become the driver they wanted him to be.
Lundgaard joined McLaren with an obvious strength on road and street courses. In 2026, he has demonstrated that strength spectacularly.
He has won twice, collected multiple podiums and established himself as one of the most consistent drivers in the championship.
And now, finally, he has shown genuine oval pace.
IndyCar itself identified Milwaukee as a chance for Lundgaard to silence the questions surrounding his oval record and noted that his lack of oval success was believed by some to have contributed to McLaren’s decision.
The irony is that the weekend designed to expose that weakness may have done the exact opposite.
Lundgaard didn’t suddenly become an oval specialist.
He simply showed the kind of progression you would normally expect from a 25-year-old driver still developing.
And that’s where the decision becomes difficult to understand.
Maybe Christian Lundgaard’s next chapter will answer it
There is still one race remaining at Laguna Seca.
Then Lundgaard will walk away from McLaren and become one of the most interesting names on the 2027 driver market.
If he joins another top team and continues this trajectory, McLaren may eventually look back at 2026 and wonder whether it made the decision too early.
Because there is a big difference between saying “Christian Lundgaard can’t win on ovals” and saying “Christian Lundgaard hadn’t won on an oval yet.”
Those are not the same thing.
And Milwaukee may have just provided the evidence.
Arrow McLaren wanted proof that Lundgaard could become a complete IndyCar driver.
He may have given them exactly that proof, just a little too late.
One thing is certain. If Christian Lundgaard ends up fighting for championships and winning on ovals elsewhere, this decision is going to be talked about for a very long time.
