The Colombian legend, who won the race for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2000 and for Team Penske in 2015, will join the team’s full-timers Patricio O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist at the Brickyard.
Montoya departed full-time open-wheel racing at the end of the 2016 IndyCar season, but returned to Penske for Indy in 2017 – his most recent IndyCar race.
“I’m very excited to be joining Arrow McLaren SP for the Indianapolis 500,” said Montoya, who scored three of his seven Formula 1 wins racing a McLaren. “I have some great history with McLaren from my F1 days and I’m looking forward to making some more at next year’s Indianapolis 500.”
“Arrow McLaren SP is thrilled to have a driver of Juan’s caliber join the team for next year’s Indianapolis 500,” said Arrow McLaren SP co-owner Sam Schmidt. “His experience will elevate the entire team, including our young, talented lineup of Pato and Felix. When you think that he’s only started the Indy 500 five times but won it twice, that’s impressive.”
“I’m delighted for Juan to rejoin the McLaren family and return to the Indianapolis 500 with Arrow McLaren SP,” said Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing. “He is an intensely competitive, highly versatile driver, with deep experience at the top level of motorsport and a big following.
“Having him with us at the 500 next year will be great for the team and IndyCar fans everywhere.”
Montoya’s race engineer will be the team’s full-time R&D engineer Craig Hampson.
Since departing IndyCar, Juan Pablo Montoya has added the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar championship to his resumé. Next year he competes full-time for DragonSpeed in the WEC, and for Meyer Shank Racing in the four IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds.
Montoya drove for McLaren in Formula 1 in 2005 (above) and ’06, winning three races (Britain, Italy and Brazil) in his first season with the team. He famously missed two races in ’05 after sustaining a shoulder injury, which he claimed he sustained while playing tennis.
A first-corner clash with teammate Kimi Raikkonen at the 2006 United States Grand Prix came before he announced he was quitting F1 to race in NASCAR for 2007. Days later, McLaren announced that he was being replaced by Pedro de la Rosa with immediate effect.
Montoya also made his Le Mans 24 Hours debut with Brown’s United Autosports team in 2018, finishing third in the LMP2 class.