McLaren IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward will drive in front of his home crowd in a Formula 1 car for the first time at this year’s Mexican Grand Prix.
O’Ward, who has won three times for McLaren in IndyCar this year, will take part in the first practice session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.“I cannot wait,” said O’Ward. “This really is a dream come true for me, being able to jump into an F1 car in front of my home crowd.”
“The car’s been a rocket this year so [I’ll be] trying to do my part and help them as much as I can for the rest of the year. I’ve got Nashville in IndyCar this weekend so that’s my priority now but can’t wait to get going.”
O’Ward previously criticised IndyCar’s management for failing to add a Mexican round to the championship after NASCAR announced last month it will race at the Mexico City track in 2025. American single-seaters last raced at the Mexican circuit in 2007.
“Not only did they beat us there, but now that is not an option for IndyCar,” O’Ward told the Associated Press. “You need to understand that these people save up their money to go to these events.” He has expressed an interest in joining NASCAR for its Mexican round, though it clashes with IndyCar’s race in Gateway.
O’Ward has driven for McLaren twice before in first practice sessions in order for the team to comply with the requirement to run an inexperienced driver in each of its cars over the course of the season. His two previous outings came at Yas Marina in 2022 and 2023. McLaren is yet to announce which driver it will choose to fulfil its obligation under F1’s rules.
With eight rounds of the championship remaining, the Mexican Grand Prix is one of few where teams are likely to replace one of their race drivers for first practice. They prefer not to run inexperienced drivers at street tracks like Baku, Singapore and Las Vegas due to the high risk of damage. The rounds at Circuit of the Americas, Interlagos and Losail are sprint events which feature only one practice session, which teams are even less likely to hand over to a junior driver. That leaves October’s Mexican Grand Prix and the season finale in Abu Dhabi in December as the preferred time to run junior drivers.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories - and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
Formula 1
- Hamilton dismisses ‘negativity’ over his radio calls. ‘Other drivers are almost abusive’
- Eddie Jordan, former F1 team principal, manager and driver, dies aged 76
- Antonelli “got really scared” when he made “big save” on first lap of Australian GP
- Hadjar agrees with Marko over “embarrassing” reaction to Australian GP exit
- FIA’s new rear wing test ‘directed at other teams, not McLaren’ – Norris
Jere (@jerejj)
11th September 2024, 15:11
I’m surprised he didn’t receive a Mexico FP1 driving opportunity before already.
Unicron (@unicron2002)
11th September 2024, 17:13
That’s so cool to see, well done McLaren for that decision. Excellent PR, great for O’Ward and great for his fans. Everyone’s a winner.
I’ve always been a big fan of O’Ward, I see him as the same type of driver as Montoya or even Colin McRae – they all seem to have the ‘bin it or win it’ style. On their day, rapid. But also prone to chucking good results away.
I’m a fan of that style, it means they are/were never boring to watch.
Asd
11th September 2024, 22:25
O’Ward will be the best Mexican F1 driver that weekend. And it won’t be even close.
Alesici
11th September 2024, 21:27
Yes, he’s terrific to watch. Though I’m in two minds about the small possibilty of his switching to F1. He is one of the most talented of all drivers I’ve ever seen at catching a drifting car, but F1 cars tend to either be on rails or snapping uncontrallably off the road. His incredible flair would perhaps be more entertainingly demonstrated in Indycars rather than F1, as the driving of Indycars is infinitely more entertaining to watch than that of F1 today. Although seeing him revelling in the 1990 Mclaren MP4/6 at Laguna Seca was much more like it. It reminded me why I love Indycars – they handle very much like early 90s F1 cars. No wonder nobody bothers to ever watch them… :(
The multiple champion-elect Alex Palou has a far smoother calculated style that would be perfect for modern F1, so I have an outside hope that perhaps Audi might recognise this and take a chance on him.
Asd
11th September 2024, 22:27
100% true! O’Ward was sending it in every 90’s F1 car he has driven, and he has driven a lot of them!
I love watching every single of his Laguna Seca F1 runs:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3W8aobOuocQ
chimaera2003 (@chimaera2003)
11th September 2024, 22:32
I am a big O’Ward fan but I agree with your assessment that Palou would be the better fit for a modern F1 car.
bull mello (@bullmello)
12th September 2024, 2:58
Good for him!
Glad to see him driving an F1 car and hoping for the future for him, and us too.