Pato O’Ward will participate in free practice for F1 in Mexico
IndyCar driver Pato O'Ward will make his final appearance in F1 with McLaren during Free Practice 1 of the Mexican Grand Prix. This is an opportunity for him to take the wheel of the MCL38 for the very first time.
The Mexican driver, who has already taken part in the Free Practice 1 (FP1) of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2022 and 2023, will take the wheel of the McLaren at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico, as part of the mandatory FP1 sessions for young drivers.
A true dream for the IndyCar star, who will have the opportunity to test the MCL38 for the very first time in front of his home crowd: « I really can’t wait. It’s a dream come true for me to be able to get into an F1 car in front of my home crowd. The car has been a rocket this year, so I’ll try to do my part and help them as much as I can for the rest of the year. I have Nashville in IndyCar this weekend, so that’s my priority now, but I’m looking forward to it. »
The McLaren driver had also criticized the direction of IndyCar earlier this year for not adding a Mexican round to the championship, while NASCAR announced last month that it would race on the Mexico track in 2025.
“[…] Not only did they beat us there, but now it’s no longer an option for IndyCar,” O’Ward told the Associated Press.
From Formula 4 in 2014 and 2016 to winning the Indy Lights championship with Andretti in 2017, the 25-year-old driver also competed in the F2 championship in 2019 with MP Motorsport, for only two races. It was in 2020 that he joined the McLaren team in IndyCar, under the Arrow McLaren SP banner. He achieved his best result in the final standings of the IndyCar Series championship in 2021, finishing in third place.
Currently sixth in the 2024 standings ahead of the Nashville final, McLaren’s reserve driver also finished second in the Indy 500 in May, behind Josef Newgarden.
As there are eight races left on the F1 calendar, the Mexican Grand Prix is one of the few where teams might replace one of their regular drivers for the first practice session. They prefer not to field inexperienced drivers on urban circuits like Baku, Singapore, and Las Vegas, due to the high risk of damage.
