Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin has acknowledged his first full-season IndyCar season will be a year of learning but won’t rule out his competitive instincts getting the better of him.
The triple Australian Supercars champion made his IndyCar debut last season in St.Petersburg and the 2021 campaign will mark his first full campaign in the series after signing a multi-year deal with Penske.
Prior to stepping into an IndyCar, the Kiwi hadn’t raced single-seaters since 2010 where he competed in the Victorian Formula Ford Championship.
McLaughlin is aware of the learning curve ahead of him at Penske but is prepared for his instincts to help push him on.
When asked if he would be okay with being beaten by his vastly more experienced team-mates, McLaughlin said: “My competitive instincts, probably not going to be okay with it.
“I’m very competitive, but I’m realistic at the same time. I’ve got a lot to learn.
“Yeah, I’d love to try and beat them a few times throughout the season. I’m not putting off that I can’t.
“I think if I feel the car and work with my engineer well enough and get better and better, there’s no reason why we can’t be at the same pace as those guys, if not better.
“Look, it is a learning year. I’m being realistic. I know it’s going to take time.
“Those guys got experience. Everyone has experience here. I’d love to [win] -yeah. My competitive instinct will kick on at some point for sure.
McLaughlin also feels having such successful and experienced drivers around him in the Penske outfit will be massively beneficial to his growth as an IndyCar driver.
“I’m trying to soak everything up like a sponge, learn their data, learn how they drive the car, what does Will [Power] do, what does Josef [Newgarden] do, what does Simon [Pagenaud] do?” he added.
“They’re three very different guys in terms of driving style. I got best of both worlds. I can pick sort of what I want to do, how I want to feel the car kind of thing.”
“I’m preparing like crazy. I’m looking at footage, data, trying to make sure I’m ready for round one and we can hit the ground running.”
The Honda Grand Prix of Alabama will mark the start of McLaughlin’s first full season in IndyCar on April 18.
