Was this a perfectly acceptable IndyCar debut or an underwhelming one that combined a lack of pace with a crucial, race-defining error?
Nolan Siegel - installed at Arrow McLaren for the rest of this year and next after Theo Pourchaire, who had been signed until the end of 2024, was dropped days before last weekend’s race - was 12th on his McLaren debut, and that’s the kind of result on paper to celebrate so early on.
After all, Pourchaire was 11th on his IndyCar debut at Long Beach earlier this year.
However, Siegel’s race was by no means straightforward. So let’s dig into it and see what lessons we can glean from another controversial McLaren signing who unseated the reigning Formula 2 champion without so much as a title on his own CV.
What happened in Siegel's race
Siegel was last in first practice, second to last in second practice, and failed to graduate from his group in qualifying, where he was eight and a half tenths off doing so. That left him starting 23rd.
Coincidentally the last driver progressing from that first group in qualifying was David Malukas, who was dropped by McLaren while recovering from a fractured wrist, and who qualified 12th on his first weekend back with that hand still in trouble.
Understandable on his McLaren debut, perhaps, but many more results like that are going to question McLaren’s decision-making even further.
At the start of the race, a tepid first lap dropped Siegel to 26th out of 27 cars, where he stayed, around 30s behind the leader, until he made his first stop on lap 20 of 95.
He wasn't the earliest to pit, but his stop was certainly earlier than many of the frontrunners'. He had spent that stint stuck behind Sting Ray Robb, who has only one top-15 finish in a year and a half of racing in IndyCar.
Siegel did finally pass Robb just before the caution on lap 36, putting him 35s off the lead. He elected not to pit while others did, meaning he took the restart 12th.
Trouble for @nolan_siegel!