McLaren is competing in more championships than ever before, with the team adding IndyCar, Formula E and Extreme E in recent seasons. The team is set to field four cars in IndyCar next year, as they attempt to compete with big teams such as Chip Ganassi and Andretti for the championship. But with a record three races in the US in Formula 1 next season, why does the team need an IndyCar team? According to Chief Executive Officer, Zak Brown it is all about exposure in the North America market. "When we look at what gets our fans excited, where we sell our beautiful road cars, and what our corporate partners want, as far as market penetration goes, North America comes right to the top of the list," he said in a recent interview for McLaren. "It wasn't long ago, F1 wasn't very popular in North America. It's amazing what's happened in a short period of time, a lot thanks to Drive to Survive - the Netflix show. "But we felt we wanted to have a larger presence in North America than all the other F1 teams, so we're the only team in IndyCar."
Lando doing Indy 500? Brown: I can see it happening
When Brown joined McLaren in 2016, he showed they were doing things differently when he allowed Fernando Alonso to compete in the Indy 500 the following year. It was the first time that an F1 driver has done anything like it in-season for decades, and is something that Norris has eyed up replicating in the future. Brown added: "Lando has mentioned he'd like to do the Indy 500 one day and of course, one of my first days on the job was bringing over Fernando Alonso to do the Indy 500, which was such an awesome experience for everybody. "The calendars are pretty crazy these days, but I think racing drivers like to drive racing cars. And yeah, I could see that day happening."
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