Arrow McLaren announced on Tuesday that their Team Principal Gavin Ward has left the organization as of Monday 18th November after two seasons in charge of the team.
The Canadian joined Arrow McLaren from Team Penske in 2019 where he worked as chief race engineer to Josef Newgarden.
Prior to his move to INDYCAR, Ward spent time in Formula One with Oracle Red Bull Racing having completed a six month internship with the team before moving up the ranks of the team.
In July of this year, Ward opened up about being diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.
Speaking following the announcement, Ward said:
I leave Arrow McLaren after two years developing a people-first culture set to topple the 20-year domination of INDYCAR’s championship teams. We’ve made major strides during my tenure. Our 2024 INDYCAR season delivered the team’s most-ever race wins, and we came within two turns of victory in the Indianapolis 500. Arrow McLaren is positioned for further success – with a stable driver lineup, significant off-season recruitment and thoughtful organizational changes. I wish my former colleagues well and hope our work together leads to more wins on and off the track. I plan to spend some time at home with my wonderful wife and two daughters while I evaluate what’s next in my career.”
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown says:
I want to thank Gavin for the time he gave to our Arrow McLaren team the past two seasons. We’ve grown significantly from where we were when he joined the team in 2022, and he was a big part of that transformation. We have a strong team in place, having grown this off-season, and we’re fired up heading into 2025 to fight for race wins and championships.”
Ward’s departure from Arrow McLaren is the second team exit to be announced in just over a week following the news last week from AJ Foyt Racing that Michael Cannon has left the team.
While we also had the news last month that Michael Andretti has stepped away from Andretti Global with Dan Towriss taking over the day to day running of the team.