Intro To Indy - Arrow McLaren - Pt 2 - Christian Lundgaard

Korinne Dunn

Korinne Dunn

— 3 min read

Moving on from the Arrow McLaren team post, we step into their newest driver, Christian Lundgaard.

Here is his profile from the IndyCar drivers website.

A headshot of Christian Lundgaard. A man in his early twenties with dark hair and light blue eyes. Graphic includes his name, his car number (7), his nationality and flag (Denmark), his team (Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team) and his engine supplier (Chevrolet).

Christian Lundgaard was born in July 2001 in Denmark. His father Henrik is a rally driver.

For those unfamiliar, rally driving is an adventure driven racing series. It has a variety of different skillsets that are put into a singular race. Easiest way to compare it is that a driver like in IndyCar or Formula 1 is flying (driving) from Point A to Point B. Rally drivers, on the other hand, are competing in The Amazing Race.

Like so many drivers, born into a racing family, Christian started to kart at a young age, and stepped into the competitive karting world in 2012 (11/12 years of age). That year saw him win one major category.

2013 he stepped up into cadet (lower level) racing and came second in two separate competitions. 2014 was another steady step up.

2015 he stepped into the CIK-FIA European Karting Championship junior league, and won the junior category. Following this, another step up, to the senior category, with mixed results.

2017 was the step into F4 - the second step on the Road to Formula 1. He won F4 SMP title; SMP covers the northern European zone, like Finland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Russia. He also won Spanish F4.

Following that, the logical step would be to step up to GP3 or F3. 2018 was GP3 and Formula Renault, another junior formula. Results varied, but he came second in GP3 to now retired driver Max Fewtrell, and placed above current F1 driver Oscar Piastri and previous F1 driver Logan Sargeant.

Then the step up to F3 came in 2019. Running the full season, he came in sixth. The winner that year is current rookie Robert Shwartzman; second place was fellow F1 driver Marcus Armstrong.

Though F3 wasn't his strongest campaign, the Road to Formula 1 doesn't really allow for more than one repeat without an unsaid stigma that a true Formula driver wouldn't have to repeat.

Whether he felt he was ready or the pandemic threw a wrench into his plans, Christian's first F2 campaign with ART was decent but not excellent. Up against a great crop of drivers such as winner Mick Schumacher, fellow IndyCar drivers Callum Ilott in second and Shwartzman in fourth, current F1 driver Yuki Tsunoda in third, and current Ferrari F1 reserve driver Guyanu Zhou, it was a stiff field of competition.

He chose to repeat F2 in 2021. Though several competitors left for F1 or IndyCar, Lundgaard stayed and placed lower in his second year. The winner that year, Oscar Piastri, moved to be a reserve driver at Alpine. Second place, Shwartzman, took a year off, and third place Zhou moved to Sauber in F1.

Then came the jump across the pond. Signed for the 2022 season, Christian debuted at RLL Racing during 2021 at the second race IMS, placing twelfth. Following that, he had a relatively consistent rookie year, only placing outside of the top eighteen three times and taking a second place finish at IMS. A strong performance for any RLL driver, he finished fourteenth overall and took Rookie of the Year ahead of longtime competitor Ilott.

While I've spoken in previous articles about how Arrow McLaren itself struggled through 2022 & 2023, the same could not be said for Lundgaard at RLL. His second year in the seat, he came in eighth in the standings, taking his first pole at IMS and his first win - converted from pole - at Toronto. That year, he placed higher than Herta, Kirkwood, and then driver of the #7 car, Alexander Rossi.

2024 saw him return to mid-pack; qualified for the race in Thermal, one podium, again at IMS, but overall uneventful. However, his usual consistency and ability to keep the car high in the Winner's Circle showcased his talent. In a season full of surprises, his ability to smooth things over found him with a new contract.

Arrow McLaren's 2024 was nothing short of messy, and their inability to come to an agreement with the #7 driver Alexander Rossi meant they were looking for someone stable. Someone who could peacefully deal with the megawatt rays of O'Ward, someone more experienced than Siegel.

So Christian found a new home, and a new engine manufacturer. Though to some it may be nothing, his first showing at St. Pete showcased a rapid, steady driver ready to compete for the top step.

Overall, Lundgaard's inclusion to Arrow McLaren was not only smart due to his track record of being dependable, but also not being messy. Who knows where the Dane will end up in 2025?

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