Nobody liked Arrow McLaren’s decision to release David Malukas before he had a single IndyCar start. Unfortunately, the relocation had to be done.
Arrow McLaren faced criticism for releasing David Malukas after he missed his fourth race of the 2024 IndyCar season due to a lengthy recovery from wrist surgery following a summer mountain biking injury.
The team was coming off a race in which none of its three drivers finished in the top 20, and Malukas’ No. 6 Chevrolet vehicle, which he was supposed to drive this year, had yet to finish in the top ten.
So the notion that doubt about Malukas’ status, which is still up in the air as we speak, was part of the problem was viewed as overly harsh.
David Malukas’ release: harsh or fair?
Malukas was signed by the team in free agency following two successful seasons with Dale Coyne Racing. As a rookie, he finished in the top ten three times, including a podium finish, on his way to 16th position in the championship standings, with an average finish of 14th.
Alex Palou’s stats as a rookie with Dale Coyne Racing in 2020 were identical, and he is now a 10-time race winner and two-time series champion with a top-tier team, Chip Ganassi Racing.
Malukas had another podium finish, a fourth place finish, and four top ten finishes in his second year in the championship before joining Arrow McLaren, although he never had the opportunity to race in one of the papaya-colored cars.
Arrow McLaren made an extremely hard decision, and the team acknowledged that it was difficult to make. The latter opinion was questioned, given Malukas’ swift discharge after missing his fourth race. But, at the end of the day, it was a commercial decision that they sadly had to make.
Arrow McLaren’s contract did not change in order for him to be released. There was a stipulation in his contract — and presumably the contracts of other drivers affiliated with the corporation, not just the IndyCar team — that allowed them to remove him after four missed starts in the 2024 season.
Keep in mind that he was initially expected to miss only the season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the exhibition race at the Thermal Club. He was supposed to return for the race on the streets of Long Beach, California, but he missed both that race and the next weekend’s race at Barber Motorsports Park before being released.
Whether or not the Thermal Club race should have counted is irrelevant; while it was not a points event, it nonetheless qualified as a race under the provisions of the agreement. He would have missed his fourth points race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course this past weekend.
I’m sure Malukas would have had more flexibility if he had a defined rehabilitation timeline. Even he was suspicious about his ability to return in time for the fifth race at the Indianapolis road track, and as it turned out, he would not have been able to do so even if he had not been released.
It has since been revealed that he would not have been ready for the Indy 500 on the track’s oval later this month, and he clearly did not participate in the open test at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana racetrack in April.
Callum Ilott, who is scheduled to drive the No. 6 Chevrolet in that event after filling in for Malukas twice earlier this season, replaced him during the test.
At the end of the day, designating a full-time driver for the No. 6 Chevrolet became the team’s first priority, and the indefinite delay in Malukas’ rehabilitation made it impossible to do so without fully cutting relations with him.
Arrow McLaren’s decision wasn’t easy.
They have subsequently confirmed that, aside from the Indy 500, Theo Pourchaire, who has made three outings behind the wheel of the No. 6 Chevrolet this season, will drive the car full-time for the remainder of the season.
They couldn’t make any full-time driver announcements because Malukas was still under contract with the team and unable to race.
What would have occurred had Malukas been cleared? Pourchaire would have been out of a ride unless they continued to operate on a race-by-race basis, which they plainly did not intend to do (and were not required to do).
Arrow McLaren would have faced additional criticism for declaring a new full-time driver, only to replace him with the original full-time driver once the latter returned and was ready to go.
An terrible circumstance turned into an even worse lose-lose situation as time passed, thus Arrow McLaren made the appropriate decision as quickly as possible. It wasn’t like they were foaming at the mouth to get rid of Malukas, as it might have appeared.
Could you claim that the team should have maintained some contact with Malukas during his rehabilitation process, regardless of how long it took, given that they said on several times that they “supported” his recovery?
Absolutely, and I believe this is where a lot of the post-release discontent comes from people.
But it isn’t as simple as reserving a bike for him when he returns, whether later this season or in 2025. They wanted clarity, and there wasn’t any, no matter how long they waited. Even now, there is little certainty about the 22-year-old’s condition.
McLaren contract history causes fan dissatisfaction.
It stands to reason that McLaren’s propensity of early contract terminations contributed to some of the unhappiness surrounding Malukas’ release. If this had been any other team, the reaction would most likely have been less severe.
Whether it’s their IndyCar team with James Hinchcliffe in 2019 or Oliver Askew in 2020, or their Formula 1 team with Daniel Ricciardo in 2022 — and the organization as a whole when it came to the idea that IndyCar’s Palou could join the Woking-based team in Formula 1 in 2023 — there has been a lot of contract management, which many may not consider “doing right by their drivers.”
And, of course, there was an added sense that, given how quickly they pulled the plug on the night he missed his fourth race, Malukas wasn’t their top free agent target last year when they found out they’d miss out on Palou again; Ilott simply wasn’t on the market yet, as he wasn’t released by Juncos Hollinger Racing until after Malukas was signed.
But, at the end of the day, they took a decision that they believed was in the best interests of the team, and the fact that Malukas’ recovery is still underway just adds to their desire to designate a new full-time driver for the No. 6 Chevrolet when they did.
The best way to state it is that two things can be true. Malukas did certainly get a terrible deal, and I don’t think anyone doubts it even now. However, Arrow McLaren made a necessary decision that may have received far more criticism than it deserved. It was, of course, a business choice, but in retrospect, it was so much more.
It should be highlighted that Malukas clearly still respects the organization and its advisor, former Indy 500 winner and IndyCar champion Tony Kanaan.
Kanaan is claimed to have had a significant impact in the team’s choice to sign him, and he expressed his support for the Chicago, Illinois native throughout the difficult process.
