IndyCar: McLaren, Arrow SPM to uphold Robert Wickens promise

Should Robert Wickens be able to compete in IndyCar again, Arrow McLaren Racing SP will uphold the promise that Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports made.

In a blockbuster deal, Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and McLaren formed a partnership to become Arrow McLaren Racing SP for the 2020 IndyCar season, and despite fact that the former were under contract with Honda as their engine supplier for another year, they confirmed a switch to Chevrolet.

While it doesn’t currently have anything to do with on-track competition, one of the talking points surrounding this news pertained to Robert Wickens.

Wickens was paralyzed from the waist down in a nasty crash at Pocono Raceway last August when his #6 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda launched into the turn two fence on the first green flag lap of the 200-lap race around the three-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) oval in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

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However, despite his paralysis, the 30-year-old Canadian has made huge strides in terms of his recovery, and he still believes that he will compete in IndyCar again.

He recently drove an Acura NSX equipped with hand controls ahead of last month’s race on the streets of Toronto, a race in which he placed third in his rookie season last year prior to his accident. The necessary modifications for him to pull off this amazing feat were made by Arrow, which became Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ title sponsor before the 2019 season.

So what does this have to do with McLaren?

Ahead of the 2019 season, Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports announced Marcus Ericsson as Wickens’s replacement in their driver lineup, but as the driver of the #7 Honda, not the #6 Honda. They later committed to having Wickens’s #6 Honda ready for whenever he is ready to return to IndyCar.

With this new partnership, there were questions about whether or not this would remain the case now that McLaren are involved with the team and Chevrolet will be providing them with engines as opposed to Honda with Wickens having ties to Honda.

Those questions were answered by both McLaren CEO Zak Brown and Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

Been asked a bunch if the Schmidt promise of a car when @robertwickens is ready still stands under new McLaren deal. "Yes, definitely," says @ZBrownCEO
— Jenna Fryer (@JennaFryer) August 9, 2019

A lot of questions about our promise to @robertwickens... YES - that promise remains. 🖤❤️ https://t.co/EntUZwEsyM
— Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team (@ArrowMcLaren) August 9, 2019

No further comment needed.

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From this point forward, we need to keep hoping, praying and believing that Robert Wickens can get back to doing what he loves, and that is competing in IndyCar once again.