Kanaan applying lessons from the past to refocus Arrow McLaren

Tony Kanaan has a single race to draw from as the new team principal at Arrow McLaren. Granted, the IndyCar champion and Indy 500 has a lifetime of experience to use from his days as an elite driver, but he’s still in heavy learning mode when it comes to running the three-car IndyCar Series team owned by McLaren.

Even so, there’s one area of expertise Kanaan brings to the squad that doesn’t need time to develop, and that’s fostering a stronger feeling of brotherhood and sisterhood across the papaya-colored crew and drivers. From his time at Andretti Autosport as teammate to Dario Franchitti, Bryan Herta, and the late Dan Wheldon, Kanaan is well versed in building bonds, creating unity, and using those interpersonal connections to push and elevate those in his orbit.
As often as Kanaan’s seen smiling and being a cheerleader, there’s a layer of brutal honesty that gets delivered to the people who need to hear some harsher truths. It’s in that duality — the best friend or the father figure holding folks accountable — where Arrow McLaren has grown and become better, even in the early phase of Kanaan’s influence, which made a front-row lockout in qualifying for The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix possible.

Kanaan inherited an excellent team from former team principal Gavin Ward, and as Pato O’Ward posed for pole winner photos with his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevy crew on Saturday, the Brazilian reflected on the achievement – the team’s first pole since 2023.

“The are the days you don’t take for granted,” Kanaan told RACER. “I know by tomorrow morning, this is all gone, but I will enjoy today. I’m so proud of everybody, and we’ve been working so hard to get better. I care so much about this team and making our people believe that we’re good enough.”

Being a motivator is important for Kanaan, but the success is found when his teammates return the same positive energy. That wasn’t the case with everyone at Arrow McLaren when he took over during the offseason, and while it was a tough decision, the call was made to part ways with those who weren’t aligned with Kanaan’s vision.

“It’s a fine line of putting enough people together, and they’re gonna take it in a positive way and make themselves better,” he said. “Making them believe that they’re capable, that we don’t need any outside help if we put our heads together and then execute, even though every session when we’re being judged.

“We had a bad day yesterday. And what happened. Everybody went back, worked to improve what they can control, and transformed that in a positive way, and we’re able to execute, and today was much better, obviously. We’re not replacing anyone. We’re not. We need to believe we are the best, and as long as we understand what we need to do to extract the best, we will keep growing.”

Kanaan’s time at Andretti alongside Franchitti, Herta, and Wheldon continues to inform his approach to running Arrow McLaren, and it’s unlikely to change. O’Ward, in particular, has received his message about handling the pressure of expectations to lead the team, win all the big races, and fend off Lundgaard, the fastest teammate he’s had since joining the outfit in 2020.

“I think about my career, and it never came easy for me. I think the team knows that, so I can speak easier about what we need to do and how we need to come together. I was the least successful guy at Andretti, and when it wasn’t my turn to win, I made my teammates better, and we all won,” said Kanaan, who did happen to win the 2004 IndyCar title with the team.

“Some people won more, some people won less, but I made them understand that pressure is good. Because even as a human being, we only improve if somebody is pressuring us. That’s the world, right? So I think Pato has matured quite a bit, and he definitely understands now.

“Before, the old Pato would be mad and thinking, ‘Why did you bring this Lundgaard guy here? I want to go to somewhere else.’ Now, he’s like, ‘Well, gotta raise my game.’ I believe Pato’s one of the best talents in IndyCar. Now we need to define that to become a champion, an Indy 500 winner, otherwise he’ll be known as one of the best that never really won everything. So hopefully I can help him with that. The keys are believing you can do it and then executing and actually doing it, and that’s what we’re all working on together.”