Oilpressure

Over the last few weeks, I’ve written on this topic before. But as time goes on, this storyline is getting talked about more and more. Now I’m starting to wonder if David Malukas will ever turn a competitive lap in his Arrow McLaren No. 6 NTT Data Chevy.

We all know of the unfortunate timing of his bicycle wreck, about three weeks before the start of the season. When Malukas had surgery on his wrist, it was not a huge surprise that he would miss the season-opener at St. Petersburg. Callum Ilott filled in nicely while he was out, finishing a respectable thirteenth. Ilott did not qualify for the feature race at Thermal, but did OK in the car. Last Wednesday, he was tabbed to drive the car at the Open Test at Indianapolis. Now it has been made official that Malukas will be out of the car this weekend at Long Beach.

This will be only the second points-paying event since St. Petersburg, but Malukas has yet to turn a competitive lap in the car that Felix Rosenqvist was forced to vacate last season. In the best of circumstances, Malukas knew that this was going to be a high-pressure situation. The only reason this seat was available is because Alex Palou went back on his word (again), and opted to stay with Chip Ganassi Racing. Suddenly, McLaren was scrambling to find a Plan B. Malukas was more than willing to move on from Dale Coyne Racing to Arrow McLaren, even though his second IndyCar season was not as good as his first.

You can’t blame him. It was a golden opportunity. Drivers spend an entire career waiting for an opportunity with a team that good to come along, and it never does. It happened to Malukas going into Year Three of his IndyCar career. But with opportunity comes pressure. Drivers are used to that. If you can’t stand constant pressure to perform, you don’t need to be a race car driver in such a results-oriented business. Malukas knew that going in.

In the short history of Arrow McLaren, they have proven that they give drivers a very short leash. They pay their drivers better than the other teams, but with that increased salary comes higher expectations – just ask James Hinchcliffe, Marcus Ericsson or Oliver Askew.

As the healing continues to take longer than expected, I’m sure Arrow McLaren’s patience is running thin. After all, this was not a racing incident Malukas is recovering from. Nor was it a flukish household incident like slipping on the kitchen floor. This was the direct result of mountain biking with the season just around the corner. I’m sure Malukas has played it in his head a thousand times – “what if I had not gone biking that day?” But he did.

Ilott is not available to run Long Beach. His WEC commitment conflicts with Long Beach this weekend. Speculation centers around F2 driver Théo Pourchaire being tabbed to replace Malukas at Long Beach. Chances are, if Malukas can’t go at Long Beach, he probably won’t be ready to climb into the car at Barber just five days later. Ilott will be available then, but so will Pourchaire.

There is a one weekend break between Barber and the Sonsio Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Who knows if Malukas will be ready by the? Will he try to come back on the fourteen-turn road course at Indianapolis, or will he and the team aim for practice for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500. for Malukas to return to the cockpit?

When I was at IMS last week, this was the question several were quietly muttering to each other. No one knows the answer, but that does not keep people from speculating. I heard theories ranging from Malukas will return at Barber to he will never drive the car in competition. That’s a pretty wide range of opinions. Normally, I tend to err on the side of caution when speculating about a driver’s future, but given the history of lack of patience with Arrow McLaren – I’m beginning to wonder if Malukas will actually drive for McLaren.

Last Wednesday night, I had dinner with someone (who would prefer to remain anonymous), who was once entrenched in the IndyCar media as much as anyone. The Malukas situation came up in our long conversation, and I expressed my concern that Malukas may never drive that car. He said that was a very interesting case to watch. Not only did he point to McLaren’s lack of patience with drivers, but he brought up something I had not thought of.

He pointed out that in the grand scheme of McLaren’s resources, their entire IndyCar budget was a drop in the bucket compared to Formula One. If they decided Ilott had done a decent enough job, and the team liked him – it would be nothing for McLaren to buy out Ilott’s WEC contract, pay off the Malukas contract and sign Ilott to a nice-sized contract. That’s the kind of money they spend all the time.

He did not say for certain, because no one really knows – but he seemed to be leaning toward the theory that Malukas may never race for Arrow McLaren.

If that happens, that would be a shame. I think Malukas is a good driver. I think he proved himself as a rookie driving for Dale Coyne in 2022. Unfortunately for him, things didn’t go as well with Coyne in 2023. Malukas announced in July or August of last season that he wuld not be returning to Coyne in 2024. I don’t know if he had already done his deal with McLaren by then, or if the opportunity came about after he let his intention to leave Coyne become public.

Personally, I hope all of this speculation leads to nothing. It will probably be May before Malukas is in the car – either for the GP or the Indianapolis 500. But if and when that time comes, have no doubt – Malukas needs to make the most of his time in the car. There is a free-agent to-be, waiting in the wings. I’ll discuss that on Wednesday.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on April 15, 2024 at 4:02 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.