Andretti Global is one of the Big Three teams of IndyCar. Whilst they were challenging for wins in the first half of 2025, it wasn’t easy sailing. This year, they are hoping to return to their former consistency and challenge Álex Palou.

Ahead of the 2026 season, their drivers, Kyle Kirkwood, Marcus Ericsson, and Will Power, had their say. Reflecting on last year, their off-season, and looking ahead, here’s what they had to say.

Kyle Kirkwood

“I think we had a good run at Palou for a short few races, but at least we had a run at him.” At the start of 2025, Kirkwood was challenging Palou for the championship title, winning three of the first eight races. However, the second half of the season wasn’t as fruitful. When reflecting on his season, he shared how in the latter half, his “execution wasn’t impeccable.” To ensure his 2026 is even better, Kirkwood’s focus is to “keep pushing”.

One of Andretti Global’s strengths comes on the street courses, and over the years, Kirkwood has gained the name ‘The Concrete King‘ due to his performance on those tracks. For him, “it’s important” to have strength on those tracks, as it will “help our championship run even more so.” He shared how the revised schedule, with one less oval and two new street courses, is a “promising layout” for the team.

“Things are looking up for us, and if we can just get a little bit better at some of the road courses and some of the short ovals, we’ll be really good.”

Regarding his new teammate, Will Power, Kirkwood shared how they are “some of the closest friends.” Power has “got a lot of information, a lot of knowledge” that he can bring to Andretti. Kirkwood feels that his addition will be “really good”. The Floridian may be the longest-serving Andretti driver, but he doesn’t believe that makes him the leader of the team. “I think it all equals out. We all share responsibility.”

Marcus Ericsson

“It’s a bounce-back year for me.” Ericsson admitted that the “negative spiral after the month of May was something that was really tough for us and me.” To rebound after a less-than-ideal 2025, he’s been “self-reflecting and seeing what I can do better.”

To improve over the off-season, Ericsson’s goal was to “challenge myself, go outside my comfort zone.” To do that, he competed in some GT races, and he shared how that has helped him “learn things about myself and as a racing driver.” The Swede was also candid about gaining a mental coach. Together, they’ve been “working on a bit of a different technique” for his mental strength.

In Ericsson’s opinion, Andretti has been “too inconsistent”, and to challenge Palou, they need to “find consistency in our performances.” To learn more about what Ericsson had to say on his preparation, you can read Megan Smith’s feature.

Will Power

After 17 seasons with Team Penske, 2026 represents a new challenge for Power as he joins Andretti Global. Due to contracting, Power couldn’t start with the team until January 1st. Whilst that was “strange” for him, the driver shared how he had “everything ready to go the day that I could go there.”

He’s already done his first test in the No. 26 Honda car and shared how the “Honda power felt really good.“ Although the “car was really balanced. It was also fast.” Power remained realistic over the fact that it was just one test.

“Until you’re getting into those pressure situations where things can go wrong, or in a competitive situation where you kind of see where you really stack up, it’s really hard to tell. So you’re just putting everything in place to execute the best you can and then start working from there.”

Power will be utilising his “experience with short oval cars and developing them” to help Andretti improve on last year’s performance. However, he stated that “the team has all the ingredients“ and they will “continually get better”.

With the help of their drivers and engineers, Andretti Global are focusing on levelling their performance across the different track types. Kirkwood, Ericsson, and Power are positive that they are on the right track and look forward to seeing what comes in 2026.

“I believe the team will be the best team in the next three years.”
~ Will Power.

See more articles on drivers’ goals and teams’ outlooks for the 2026 IndyCar season here.