Patricio O’Ward had to fulfill special expectations of McLaren on his home debut in Mexico: Lando Norris’ new underbody must not be damaged
For Patricio O’Ward, Friday was a dream come true. The IndyCar driver was able to take part in the free practice session in Mexico in front of his home crowd in his role as reserve driver for McLaren. Although the 25-year-old has been in the car for Friday training sessions in the past two years, he has never done so in his native Mexico.
“It’s a dream come true for me,” grinned O’Ward after the session, which he finished 13th and second best of the five rookies. “I saw the Mexican flags, I saw floating Pato faces in certain areas – it was really cool.”
O’Ward was also under particular pressure on Friday, because he was allowed to take a seat in the car of championship contender Lando Norris – and that in a session that was even more important for preparing for the weekend due to Pirelli’s tire test in the afternoon.
What did the team tell him in advance? “‘Pato, don’t wreck the car’, ‘Pato, if you try to drive too fast, I’ll yell at you’, and ‘We need information, and that information is extremely important for the rest of the weekend’,” he describes.
“So it was clear that I had to prioritize everything that was needed from me in terms of information gathering and consistency,” said the Mexican, who added: ‘That’s pretty difficult when you don’t know the car, don’t really know the track and are just trying to learn on your own.’
New underbody must not be damaged
And: The car was also equipped with a new underbody during the session, which was brought along for this weekend and should help Norris in the World Championship fight. Of course, the Formula 1 rookie was not allowed to damage it under any circumstances.
“They told me: ‘Hey, that’s a new underbody. Don’t crash, don’t crash, don’t crash, don’t crash,” said O’Ward. ‘They know I’m quite lively and like to find the limit of the car by going beyond it.’ But he didn’t have to do that on Friday, he emphasized.
Reflecting on a special day on track in his home country.
@PatricioOWardMexicoGP pic.twitter.com/mJ80dHGNkj
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 26, 2024
Asked about the changes to the underbody, he plays down: “Even though I didn’t feel the differences much, I know what they are. But I won’t tell you because otherwise I’m sure I’ll get yelled at,” he laughs.
In the end, the Mexican was very satisfied with his appearance: “I think we gathered everything we needed in a pretty chaotic session. I think they were quite happy with my performance – I certainly am,” he emphasizes, saying that he felt “quite useful” because he was able to test many things for the team.
“I can’t wait to drive this car again. Hopefully I can do it again before the year is out. That would be really cool,” said O’Ward.
O’Ward hopes for an early chance in Formula 1
And at some point, the IndyCar driver, who also drives for (Arrow) McLaren in the series, would like to not only sit in the Formula 1 car as a substitute, but as a regular driver. But he is still focused on the IndyCar series, which he finished fifth in 2024. “My job is to become champion there,” he says.
“I think I would regret it most if I got the opportunity in Formula 1 and then was there for a long time but wasn’t able to achieve what I want to achieve in the IndyCar Series.”
Formula 1 is definitely high on his list: “I feel super privileged to maybe have a chance to get into Formula 1 in the near future,” he says. But before that, he still wants to win what he considers the best race in the world: the Indy500. He was close in 2022 and 2024 with two second places.
“And I want to win the championship there. I want to win the race and the championship. And if I can do that, then great,” he laughs. ‘And I can either stay there and win more or take on a challenge in Formula 1. For me, that would be the perfect life and the perfect scenario. But you never know if it will really happen.’