McLaren test driver Patricio O’Ward finds it “ridiculous” that a driver is not eligible for Formula One despite finishing third and fourth in the IndyCar Series
IndyCar driver Patricio O’Ward has kept his eyes on a move to Formula 1, but criticises the requirements for obtaining a superlicence that currently make it impossible. This is because the Mexican does not have enough points to get a licence in Formula 1.
40 points must have been collected by a driver within the last three years. Since the corona pandemic, there is an additional facilitating rule that you can put together three of the past four years for this – but even that doesn’t help O’Ward, although he definitely proved his talent with third and fourth places in the IndyCar Series.
But third place last year only earns him 20 points, while his fourth place finish of the 2020 season earns him ten more. His 2018 IndyLights Series title earns him nothing, as there weren’t enough drivers competing in the series for a classification.
“To me, it’s ridiculous that someone who finished third and fourth in the IndyCar Series doesn’t get 40 points for the Superlicence. I think a lot of drivers would agree with me on that,” criticised O’Ward, who was allowed to do the young driver test for McLaren in Abu Dhabi.
This means he will have to finish fourth again in the 2022 IndyCar season to earn the necessary points for a switch. As a backdoor, there is an extra point for every free practice session in Formula 1 – a maximum of ten in three years. Thus, with ten practice sessions in the coming season, he could also reach his 40 points.
The third option would be an exemption from the FIA. Only that would have helped him for 2022, for example. “At the end of the day, you depend on whether people want to give you something or not. And if they don’t, then too bad, you’ll just have to wait another year and collect another ten points, I guess,” he notes.
Formula 1, however, remains the 22-year-old’s declared goal after testing with McLaren. He has given himself a maximum of two years to achieve this. “At the moment, though, I only have one focus, and that’s IndyCars,” stresses O’Ward, who wants to bring his Arrow McLaren SP team its first championship and its first Indy 500 race win.
“And who knows if Formula One will become a possibility or not. If it comes, I would 100 per cent take it. That’s what any driver in my position would do because it’s Formula One,” he says. “That’s what I used to watch and that’s what I dreamed of. And the dream you have as a kid will never go away. “