The Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 stand as two pinnacles of global motorsports. For much of the 21st century, these legendary events have shared the same calendar date.
This scheduling quirk has transformed the final Sunday in May into a major celebration for racing enthusiasts. In the United States, fans can start their day watching Formula 1 cars navigate the narrow streets of Monte Carlo over breakfast, with enough time to enjoy a midday barbecue before the green flag waves at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).
It`s a day savored by fans precisely because these two iconic races are separated by roughly 4,500 miles. While you may have heard of the “Double Duty” challenge—completing both the Indy 500 and NASCAR`s Coca-Cola 600 on the same day—the vast Atlantic Ocean prevents any single driver from attempting to contest both of these historic events within 24 hours.
But what about a racing team?
Since 2020, McLaren has been involved in both the Formula 1 and IndyCar championships. Although the F1 team is based in Woking, England, and the IndyCar team in Indianapolis, they are united under the leadership of McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown. The 53-year-old Californian is a familiar presence, often seen supporting the distinctive papaya-colored cars in both paddocks.
For the past three years, Brown has faced a recurring dilemma: which race to attend on this specific Sunday? Monaco or Indianapolis?
This scheduling conflict is soon to become a thing of the past. As part of Monaco`s extended agreement with F1, set to run until 2031, the principality`s race date will be moved to June. This means that this past Sunday marked the last time in the foreseeable future that the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix would be held concurrently.
To commemorate this final instance of the “holiest day of hooning,” ESPN dispatched writers to both Monte Carlo and Indianapolis to gain deep insight into the one team uniquely positioned across both races. This is the narrative of McLaren`s endeavor to compete in two of motorsports` most historic and celebrated races, happening simultaneously on the last Sunday in May.
Bringing the F1 Blueprint to Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS – Early Sunday morning in Indianapolis meant intense work, discreet glances at television screens, and a sea of papaya orange.
At 7:45 a.m. local time, the lights were already out, signifying the start of the race some 4,556 miles away on the French Riviera. As the Monaco Grand Prix got underway, the garages of the Arrow McLaren IndyCar team were already buzzing with activity, having started nearly two hours earlier.
“We are certainly keeping an eye on things over there, where the boss is,” commented Tony Kanaan, Arrow McLaren`s team principal and the highest-ranking official present at Indy while Brown was in Monte Carlo. “But only to a certain extent. There`s a lot of work to do here. So, the TVs over there are on.”
The 2013 Indy 500 champion gestured from the team`s garage area, located in the front row of the famous Gasoline Alley at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, towards an office door. It was closed, marked with a simple black sign reading: “ARROW MCLAREN INDYCAR TEAM. TEAM MEMBERS ONLY!”
Inside, a steady stream of individuals dressed in team colors came and went. This included sponsor representatives and crew members who had been busy preparing their four Chevy-powered Dallara cars. Indy legend Johnny Rutherford, who won two of his three Indy 500 titles driving for McLaren in the 1970s, was also among them. They all sought coffee, a moment of rest, and a chance to catch up on the action unfolding on the streets of Monaco.
“We are always aware of what our F1 colleagues are doing, always,” Arrow McLaren driver Pato O`Ward stated Sunday morning, hours before his sixth Indy 500 start. “What they do and what we do are very different, but it`s still auto racing. You see where they were not long ago, and look where they are now.”
On the screens around him were images of Lando Norris, having just completed his first mandatory pit stop.
“They are leading the way in their situation, and we are still striving to be the best,” O`Ward added. “We will get there. And they want us to get there.”
Indeed, it seems they do. Kanaan, navigating handshakes from fans shouting his nickname “TK!” and interruptions from crew members with questions about the cars undergoing various stages of preparation, was quick to praise the collaborative efforts originating from the Star Wars-like backdrop of the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking.
“This is a 24-hour operation. While we sleep here, they work there, and vice versa,” he explained. “The engineers work on both F1 and Indy projects. If there`s a car on track anywhere, race control at McLaren and those engineers are watching and monitoring. Always.”
This was especially true on this day, with the world`s two largest open-wheel races running back-to-back.
“It`s pretty incredible to be part of this, especially for someone like me because I love all kinds of racing,” remarked Kyle Larson. As Max Verstappen led Norris, Larson stepped out of his motor coach and stood by the McLaren car he used around Indianapolis whenever he was in town for the open-wheel portion of his second attempt at the Indy-to-Charlotte doubleheader. The car even bore a sponsorship decal from his NASCAR team owner`s business. “But what I`ve learned being around these guys on this team is that they love it all too. Racing is racing. And we all either want to be racing or we`re watching racing. If something from F1 can improve the IndyCar team or vice versa, Zak is going to make it happen.”
This integrated approach hasn`t always been the norm. Not the cooperation, nor even the communal watching. For decades, requesting the IMS media center TVs be tuned to F1 in the morning or NASCAR in the evening would be met with a clear refusal.
Even on this Sunday, finding the Monaco race on TV required some searching. The monitors mounted on the Arrow McLaren garage walls only displayed the speedway`s internal pre-race broadcast. As the F1 event reached its midpoint, the team`s four pit stalls were being set up on pit lane. Despite the abundance of screens, only a few showed Norris`s progress in a small window.
However, inside the closed office and the impressive, modern McLaren hospitality center overlooking Turn 1, the images beamed from Monaco were visible everywhere.
“Used to be, there was no crossover, not at all,” said Rutherford, who drove for McLaren`s IndyCar program from 1973 through the end of the decade. The only prior instance of McLaren F1 and IndyCar teams winning on the same day occurred 49 years earlier, in May 1976, when Rutherford won in Trenton, New Jersey, and James Hunt secured the Spanish Grand Prix victory.
“They were Formula 1. We were Indy,” Rutherford explained. “What exactly could we do for each other?”
This historical separation existed despite the legacy of team founder Bruce McLaren (who passed away in 1970), whose career included four F1 wins, numerous Can-Am victories, and victory at the 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans. Under Zak Brown, that spirit of cross-series engagement, viewing, and mutual support is revitalized. Just last month, McLaren nearly echoed that 1976 feat when Oscar Piastri and Norris finished 1-2 in China, while O`Ward and teammate Christian Lundgaard had to settle for 2-3 after starting on the front row at Thermal, California.
“People laughed when I said we just wanted to copy what they`re doing in F1, but I was serious,” Lundgaard clarified Sunday, standing between the Arrow McLaren garages and the office-turned-Monaco-viewing room. That room, along with the hospitality center, had recently erupted in cheers following Norris`s second win of the season.
Now, personnel from both areas gathered around Lundgaard, O`Ward, and rookie Nolan Siegel, still buzzing from the Monaco result and energized for the upcoming Indy race. It was 11:15 a.m. in Indiana, 5:15 p.m. in Monte Carlo. Fans, sponsors, family members, and crew members applauded as they walked with their drivers out of the garage, under the iconic Gasoline Alley sign, and onto the front stretch, where Kyle Larson was already waiting.
McLaren had completed its task in Monaco. It was time to shift focus to Indianapolis.
Sipping Champagne in Monaco
MONACO – On Saturday morning, Zak Brown was torn about whether to take a jet that evening to fly to Indianapolis. The decision facing McLaren`s CEO was resolved the moment Lando Norris crossed the finish line to claim McLaren`s first pole position at the principality since 2007.
“I think Zak`s just glad he doesn`t have to go to Indy,” Norris quipped in the TV media area shortly after, when asked about being greeted by a visibly delighted Brown in parc fermé after exiting his car.
Walking down the paddock just after the celebrations with Norris, Brown had already made up his mind: he would be staying in Monte Carlo.
“Yeah, I just decided now,” Brown told ESPN as he headed towards McLaren`s hospitality center by the harbor, hand-in-hand with his wife, Tracy.
His reasoning was straightforward.
“A chance to win [Monaco], I`m staying. If we don`t have a chance to win, I`m going [to Indianapolis],” he explained. “My worst nightmare is not being at one or the other for a win.”
Norris starting from pole position and Oscar Piastri directly behind in third place at a circuit known for its stark contrast to the unpredictable and wild nature of the Indy 500 proved to be a spectacle too compelling for Brown to miss. His McLaren team has delivered numerous winning moments in the past year, and Norris added another—one he and the CEO had long dreamed of—with a determined and masterful victory under tense conditions on Sunday.
As is often the case in Formula 1, attention truly shifted to the Indy 500 only after the events in Monaco had concluded and the celebrations began to wind down. The differences between the two events are many, including the buildup: Indy features a nearly month-long slow burn leading up to the main race, while Monaco follows F1`s standard three-day, in-and-out race weekend format. In today`s Monaco paddock, following the race happening in Indianapolis can sometimes feel like an afterthought, even if many people are eager to watch it.
F1`s tight schedule did not easily allow most rank-and-file McLaren team members to watch the Indy race. With Monaco sandwiched between Imola and Barcelona in a sequence of three races over three weeks, many team members were already at Nice airport, waiting to board flights as the Indy 500 entered its final stages. Most had to make do with huddling around a phone or an iPad. Although most team members ESPN spoke with wanted to sit down and enjoy the spectacle, time simply didn`t permit it; a Sunday evening flight offered an extra full day at home, a valuable and rare commodity during F1`s packed calendar.
“I`ll watch it at the hotel,” Brown told ESPN.
Asked if he was a patient spectator in such circumstances, he laughed.
“No. No. Horrible.”
It likely wasn`t a particularly enjoyable viewing experience. After securing second-place finishes in two of his previous three Indy 500 starts, Pato O`Ward was Arrow McLaren`s highest finisher this time, coming in fourth. Teammates Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel finished ninth and 16th respectively, while Kyle Larson crashed out on Lap 92.
Adding to the difficulty, the race was won by Álex Palou, a three-time IndyCar champion who is currently the subject of a $30 million breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by McLaren.
At least Brown could find some solace in knowing that his decision to remain in Monte Carlo was justified.
Watching the race taking place across the Atlantic was slightly easier for those who call Monaco home.
“I will probably be watching on my couch at home,” F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri said during the Sunday news conference, before turning to Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, both fellow Monaco residents, seated alongside him. “Unless I get an invite? You`re welcome to come if you want, but yeah, probably on my couch. And I`ll keep my answer short because I want to go watch it.”
The Australian driver is content to remain a spectator when it comes to the famous event in Indianapolis. “Not for me,” he told ESPN about ever attempting the Indy 500.
As for Norris, he stated that he had achieved a lifelong dream Sunday night, proudly anticipating that one day his children will be able to say their father won the Monaco Grand Prix. However, he doesn`t foresee them ever having anything to say about him competing in the Indianapolis 500.
“It is something I`ll never do, I can say it right now,” Norris declared Sunday evening. “I`m not doing it. Just have no interest in doing it. Not my thing. It`s not what I enjoy. I have a lot of respect for these guys. There are a lot of incredibly talented drivers over there in America, and some of them could do very well in Formula 1.”
With a playful grin, he concluded: “But, yeah, I like turning right as well. So, that`s the main thing.”
Dominic Ashworth