IndyCar Driver Contracts: Which Seats Are Up for Grabs, and Who is Staying Put?

The domino effect of Arrow McLaren’s massive driver shake-up

On July 6th of this year, big news broke that for 2027 Arrow McLaren would be moving forward with a driver lineup consisting of their six-year vet Pato O’Ward and two new faces: six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon and Indy 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist. This meant that Christian Lundgaard, a two-time race winner this year, and Nolan Siegel were being let go by the team, leaving their futures up in the air for now.

Lundgaard remains the biggest question for now, as the Danish driver has enjoyed a relatively good IndyCar career over the past five years. Last year he finished third overall driving for McLaren, and at the time of writing sits in P3 again, behind Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti and Palou. 

Nolan Siegel likewise has not made any official moves yet. The young driver is looking to stay in the series, and is exploring options, and with several teams still looking to fill seats, he might have a few to choose from.

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What seats are available and how ‘silly’ will silly season actually get?

Several teams on the grid have seats that still need to be filled for 2027, leaving a few options for both of the soon-to-be ex-McLaren boys. 

Of course, there are the seats that Dixon and Rosenqvist are vacating at Chip Ganassi and Meyer Shank, respectively. Chip Ganassi is looking like a potential landing spot for Lundgaard, but neither camp has confirmed anything yet.

AJ Foyt Racing, Dale Coyne Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing all have both seats waiting to be confirmed, with six total drivers on contracts expiring at the end of this season, including Romain Grosjean and Santino Ferrucci. Whether they will stay where they are or join the hunt for a new home base remains to be seen.

Another question is Mick Schumacher’s seat at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, as speculations around whether he will remain in the series continue to stir.

And lastly, we cannot skip talking about potential new names for 2027. In particular, talk of ex-Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda switching over to IndyCar has been growing lately. His camp has reportedly spoken to several teams on the IndyCar grid, including Meyer Shank. Tsunoda most recently made a short return to the Formula 1 grid, substituting for Liam Lawson in Racing Bulls while Lawson took the reins at Red Bull for Isack Hadjar, who is recovering from a wrist injury.

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The drivers locked in for the long-haul

A few teams on the grid are staying stable and not making any changes to their lineup. Andretti, for example, is keeping their three drivers, as with the August 6th announcement that Marcus Ericsson had signed a one-year extension to stay alongside Will Power and Kyle Kirkwood. 

Likewise, Christian Rasmussen recently got a multi-year extension on his contract that will see him racing with Ed Carpenter Racing until at least 2028, if not longer. His teammate, Alexander Rossi is also locked in until 2027. 

Alex Palou’s deal with Chip Ganassi may have been set to expire at the end of the season, but the team offered him a multi-year extension recently, securing him on their roster until at least 2028. His teammate Kyffin Simpson may be in a contract year, but is expected to extend, leaving all but one seat at Chip Ganassi accounted for as of now.

Lastly, all three drivers over at Team Penske—Newgarden, McLaughlin, and new-this-year Malukas—look to be sticking around through the next year. 

A few others are also not likely to be going anywhere. Marcus Armstrong, who recently revealed that he will remain at Meyer Shank Racing for another year, and Pato O’Ward, who, as mentioned earlier, is the only one of the current Arrow McLaren lineup to be staying with the team. 

All in all, silly season will definitely be full of moves to watch out for as at least 10 different drivers remain in limbo at the time of writing. For a complete picture of the current situation, however, here's a team-by-team contract summary: