McLaren’s IndyCar team makes leadership changes as Gavin Ward leaves role as team principal

By JENNA FRYER The Associated Press

Arrow McLaren says team principal Gavin Ward has left the IndyCar team after two seasons in a mutual and strategic decision between executive leadership. Arrow McLaren said it will rely on a handful of leadership acquisitions, including former Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan and former IndyCar race director Brian Barnhart. Ward is a Canadian who started his motorsports career volunteering with a local Formula Ford racing team. He moved to England after high school to study automotive engineering at Oxford Brookes University. Ward started with an internship with Red Bull Racing in F1 and ended up winning four championships before his move to IndyCar. He spent the last two seasons with McLaren after a stint as an engineer at Team Penske.