After a 17-season unbroken tenure that included 42 wins, 71 pole positions, and two IndyCar titles, Will Power is leaving Penske.
That exit, which comes two days after the conclusion of a season where his Penske future was the subject of intense speculation, has been described by both Power and the team as being of his making.
Was the timing right? What's his Penske legacy? And what has the team's tumultuous 2025 - which will be better-remembered for its Indianapolis 500 scandal than anything it achieved on track - done for perceptions of the driver who held it all together?
Here's what our team think:
The driver market's been opened up
Jack Benyon
I'm glad Power has elected to leave, because it would have been an awful decision for Penske to part ways with him after his performances this year.
It's no secret Penske has struggled, but Power led the organisation in the standings and that's before considering he was taken out on the first lap in St Petersburg, had a tyre failure at Gateway, a fire in his car at Mid-Ohio, and an engine failure at Iowa.
David Malukas hasn't quite convinced most people that he would be better in that car yet, although it's clear, at the age of 23, he has a lot of potential and time to develop.
Whether this is a good move for Power or not, only time will tell. First off, Penske has been embroiled in controversy twice in two seasons now, and fired its senior management team after the Indy 500, all personnel whom Power has worked with through his tenure there.
If by some miracle a seat has opened at Andretti or McLaren, then props to Power and this will be a great move.
If he's going to Rahal, that's a team which had the third-worst average finish across its cars in 2025 and has long been in flux. That's likely to be a short-term hit when he doesn't have that many years left and deserves to be in a winning car.
Time will tell! But this is the domino that needed to fall to ignite the silly season into action. Will an unlikely team put all of its chips forward to get Power? Or is he consigned to taking a sad step down from winning ways in his final chapter?
This isn't going to change IndyCar
Matt Beer
I've long raised an eyebrow at top American racing teams for hanging on to talismanic veteran past champion drivers long after competitive logic suggests they should've done.
But that wasn't the case at all with Power and Penske. After a spell in Newgarden's shadow, he's been a revelation in his mid-40s. If it wasn't for the basically unbeatable presence of Alex Palou, you could imagine Power still adding a third title, nearly two decades after he first stunned the field with his raw speed when given his initial stand-in chances at Penske after looking so promising in Champ Car's final months.
Speaking of Palou, as big as this split feels for IndyCar, it also still feels like wherever Power goes and whatever his replacement achieves, it'll all just be a subplot in 2026. This championship (and Penske in particular) needs someone to give Palou a proper challenge, and that's not going to be Power at this end of his career or - on the evidence we've seen so far - his likely replacement David Malukas.
Power had nothing left to prove at Penske
Josh Suttill
I've felt change has been overdue at Team Penske for some time now.
Not that the drivers are the problem, but some fresh blood in what has become a stagnant (albeit quality) driver line-up will be a good thing.
And of the drivers to make way I'm glad it's Power.
His two titles, eight years apart, were a remarkable achievement and he's never really had a 'bad' season at Penske. OK, maybe I'll give you 2021, but look how he then responded in 2022!
And given he was once again the top Penske driver in 2025, what did he have left to prove there? It's the perfect time to start a new chapter elsewhere.
I feel like Josef Newgarden still needs that third title to draw a line under the scandals and near-misses he's had since his last championship in 2019. It makes more sense for him to be central to Penske's rebuild, given its downfall has probably hit him the hardest.
And Scott McLaughlin? Well he's proven to be the best left-field convert to IndyCar in recent times, but there's still the unfinished business of a first proper title challenge to be had.
So Power moving aside just makes a lot of sense for everyone involved and closes the book on one of IndyCar's most potent partnerships.
Power leaves with his reputation unharmed
Scott Mitchell-Malm
It's no bad thing to sever ties with Penske at this time, and off the back of a season in which Power can say he definitely wasn't the problem.
There was a team limitation before there was a driver limitation which is a credit to Power given he could easily be on a steeper form rampdown at this stage of his career.
But actually he looked the more convincing Penske driver all round. So he leaves with his reputation unharmed even if he might well find new career peaks hard to come by.
As for Penske...I can’t tell whether it is on the brink of an emphatic return to form, or slowly unravelling. Was this season an anomaly or the beginning of collapse? It was quite convincingly behind Ganassi, McLaren and Andretti this year. And not just because of individual drivers. As a collective.
My gut feeling, from an admittedly uninformed position, is Penske needs quite a big refresh. I think McLaren's progress and Andretti's revival have shifted the landscape a little - something Palou's brilliance and Scott Dixon's guile have helped carry Ganassi through, whereas Penske has been found wanting.
Is it hubris? Arrogance? The weight of being the best team - or the hangover of the controversies? I don't know. But Penske didn't feel like a team to fear much this season. And it's now lost the driver who spent it being its biggest threat.
