Nolan Siegel sets his sights high as he enters his first full season in the NTT INDYCAR series.
The 20-year-old stepped into the number six Arrow McLaren car for the Grand Prix of Long Beach in April of 2024. Filling in for David Malukas and then Theo Pourchiare, the young Californian immediately impressed the team and signed a multi-year contract.
Siegel’s 2025 hopes
Despite not completing a full season in the series, Siegel isn’t limiting his hopes for 2025. During IndyCar content day with Pit Debrief and other media outlets, he spoke openly about how his goal is to ‘be on the podium and win races’.
“The goal is to be on the podium and win races. It’s super competitive. It’s an incredibly competitive race series, and it’s by no means easy and every weekend isn’t going to be smooth, but I think if we capitalize on the weekends where we have a strong race car and we’re in the positions that we want to be in. We’re going to have chances to be upfront and be celebrating on Sundays.”
In 2025, Siegel is facing a far more stable year in motorsport. He talked about how being a part of Arrow McLaren offers the peace of mind that he lacked in 2024 as he jumped between INDYNXT and IndyCar, first with JHR.
“Last year, I mean, really all year, I’d go to the racetrack, and whether it was I didn’t know if I was racing the next weekend or didn’t know what I was driving or something new came up. There was so much to think about apart from driving the race car.”
Siegel described 2025 as more ‘simple’ than 2024, despite shouldering the responsibility of a full-time IndyCar seat. Most importantly the Californian was clear that he was raring to go, looking forward to getting on track.
“We’ve done a lot of work this off-season, and I think I’m really happy with the people that I have on my car. I’m excited about the group that we have on the 6. I can’t wait for St. Pete. It’s been too long.”
McLaren’s expectations
Beyond being an IndyCar driver, Nolan Siegel has also stepped into the larger world of being a McLaren driver.
McLaren goes beyond IndyCar and opens the 20-year-old to a larger world of fans, expectations and attention. For a driver who is just starting his Indycar career, he faces new challenges that others on the IndyCar grid don’t.
Siegel admitted that being an Arrow McLaren driver isn’t an easy job.
“It is difficult at times from that perspective. I think the expectations are very high from a team like McLaren. There are a lot of people watching. There are a lot of eyes on it.”
However, the Californian focuses on the opinions of those who are important to him, trying to block out the many voices that come with the position.
“At the end of the day, the people whose opinions I care about are still the people that I work closely with, and from that perspective, it’s no different than any other race team.”
Other than the pressures of being a McLaren driver Siegel recognises the opportunities that come with McLaren beyond IndyCar.
“But it’s an honour to be representing a brand like McLaren, and to be able to go to the Formula 1 races and see what those guys are doing and be a part of that organization, as well, it’s an honour for me, and it’s very cool and not something that I expected to be doing right now.
“I’m grateful to be here and grateful for all aspects of being a McLaren driver.”
IndyCar returns in March with the St. Petersburg Grand Prix and Siegel is ready to get back on track and prove himself.
