McLaren terminate revolutionary partnership after driver hit with death threats

McLaren’s IndyCar outfit, Arrow McLaren, have terminated their strategic alliance with Juncos Hollinger Racing with immediate effect after the team refused to take ample responsibility for death threats levelled at Theo Pourchaire.

Reigning Formula Two champion Pourchaire was drafted in to replace David Malukas for the remainder of the season after McLaren’s summer recruit broke his hand in a pre-season mountain biking crash. After a successful couple of appearances before the Indy 500, the Frenchman was awarded the drive for the remainder of the season.

During last weekend’s street race in Detroit, the driver of the No.6 Chevrolet crashed into Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Agustin Canapino with an audacious lunge at Turn One. In response to this move, the Argentine’s passionate fanbase flooded Pourchaire’s social media accounts with hateful comments, and in extreme cases, death threats.

In response, Pourchaire posted on X: “I’m sad I received so much hate and death threats in the last 24 hours for such a small incident in the Detroit GP. I hope people can understand that we are all humans and we can make mistakes. But it’s not normal to abuse people online. Please be kind to each other.”

Arrow McLaren posted a statement supporting their driver and condemning the abuse, but this was not immediately reciprocated by Juncos Hollinger Racing. In fact, Canapino was discovered to have liked several comments aimed at the young Frenchman, before posting a poorly-received statement denying the existence of the death threats in question.

This is not the first instance of such abuse happening either. Callum Ilott, who partnered with Canapino at Juncos Hollinger Racing last season, was routinely subjected to abusive comments from his team-mate’s fans after a handful of on-track clashes last year, before departing the team to join the World Endurance Championship grid in 2024.

In response, Juncos Hollinger Racing have paid a dramatic price. IndyCar’s perennial underdogs set up a technical alliance with McLaren at the start of the year, offering them access to better data and insight, but this has been terminated by Zak Brown’s outfit with immediate effect.

Confirming the news, Arrow McLaren released a statement, reading: “Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team has terminated its commercial alliance with Juncos Hollinger Racing, effective immediately. This decision follows actions that occurred earlier this week on social media in regards to an on-track incident at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

“As reflected in the team’s social media community code, Arrow McLaren will not tolerate any form of abuse or discrimination and totally condemns the online abuse directed toward our team and driver.”