When McLaren became a major partner with the existing Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team at the end of the 2019 season, it was making a commitment to the future of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

Arrow McLaren SP doubled down on the future by hiring two young drivers who were the past two Indy Lights champions. Pato O’Ward of Mexico is just 20 years old and won the 2018 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires title. Oliver Askew of Jupiter, Fla., is 23 and won last year’s Indy Lights championship at Andretti Autosport.

Askew, the kid with the movie star looks, is ready for a starring role in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

“It is real,” Askew said. “I’ve been thrown in the deep end for real this time. But the team has a lot of experience in INDYCAR. To have Pato as a teammate, we can really push each other, and I think we can bring the best out of each other as well, which is really important to have a teammate relationship.

“I’m looking forward to getting started and finally seeing where we’re at and where we can improve. It’s a steep learning curve for me. I have a lot of really smart people around Pato and I, to make sure we’re ready for St. Pete and doesn’t feel like my first race weekend when I get there.”

One of those really smart people is an engineer who helped a young driver from France win four consecutive Champ Car World Series championships from 2004-2007. That driver was Sebastien Bourdais and the engineer was Craig Hampson.

The talented race engineer moved to Arrow McLaren SP after spending the past three seasons reunited with Bourdais at Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan.

“He’s playing the role of overseeing both sides of the team,” Askew said of Hampson. “He’s not on one side or the other. It’s a very open room between the two cars anyway. I think he’s going to definitely fill some of the gaps where we might have been weak in the past.

“He’s had very quick cars at (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) and on road courses as well. It’s just a great resource for the team in general to have Craig on board, so we’re really excited about that.”

Several team members are being integrated into the team from McLaren in England, but the core of the operation will include INDYCAR veterans from the Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

That also includes a very fast and very talented driver who is fighting his way back to racing after a crash at Pocono Raceway in 2018.

“We have to look toward the people around us in the garage and engineering room and also we’re going to have Robert Wickens as well, who is going to be a great resource for us,” Askew said. “He has driven a car recently and has recent experience with the car and is willing to share as much of that as possible.

“I think we’ve seen it recently in Formula One and INDYCAR. Drivers who are good and have good equipment will eventually rise to the top and eventually become successful. So, there are a lot of variables that go into it, but I think our base is where it needs to be. I don’t think there’s anything we’re restricted to do because of our short experience between us two.”

Askew’s rise to INDYCAR has been swift and impressive. He won the Cooper Tires USF2000 championship in 2017, finished third in what is now Indy Pro 2000 presented by Cooper Tires the following year and advanced to Indy Lights in 2019.

Askew dominated the 18-race Indy Lights series with seven wins, 15 podiums and seven poles.

Askew is hoping to achieve continued success in INDYCAR, but he realizes it is going to take time to learn the series and to improve against incredible competition.

“Honestly, I don’t have any expectations at the moment,” Askew said. “A realistic goal is to win rookie of the year. That’s really important to both myself and the team. That’s what we’re pushing toward and working so hard for, and obviously we want to win races. We’re not here to run outside the top five or the top 10. We need to be up close to the front right away.

“As long as we work hard and check each box, I’m sure the results are going to come.”

The 17-race NTT INDYCAR SERIES season begins March 13-15 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the city streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.