Pato O'Ward ready to abandon F1 dream on one IndyCar condition
Pato O'Ward races for Arrow McLaren in the IndyCar series but has close connections with the F1 world owing to his reserve driver role for the McLaren team on the F1 front. While he has made his interest in moving to the European open-wheel racing series public a myriad of times, the Mexican driver revealed one condition under which he will leave behind his F1 ambitions to stay in IndyCar.
The 25-year-old made his debut in IndyCar in 2018 and has since surged to stardom owing to his performances and increased social media presence. On the other hand, O'Ward has flirted with the idea of being an F1 driver multiple times.
Though there is no spot open at McLaren's F1 project for the foreseeable future, there is one edge that the European series still has over IndyCar that draws Pato O'Ward to join the F1 grid. It is the Mexican Grand Prix, a luxury that the American series still eludes to have in its fixture.
Revealing how having the home race on the calendar matters to him, O'Ward asserted how he would not step back in the F1 paddock if IndyCar gets a race in Mexico, and said (via ESPN):
"Once I get my race in Mexico, I'm never going back to an F1 paddock."
Meanwhile, Pato O'Ward attended the 2024 Mexican F1 Grand Prix and was one of the icons of the paddock that day.
Pato O'Ward once talked about his experience at the F1 Mexican GP and how he was a "pop star" at the event
While IndyCar CEO Mark Miles reckoned that O'Ward might not be able to draw in the numbers to make the Mexican IndyCar Grand Prix possible, this theory was proved wrong at the F1 event last year. The grandstands were filled with Sergio Perez and O'Ward heads for the local heroes.
Moreover, sharing his experience from the F1 Grand Prix last year, Pato O'Ward talked about how he was a pop star at the event, and said (via PlanetF1):
"They made me feel like a pop star. I certainly don’t feel like I’m a pop star. I just feel like I’m a racing driver — just a human walking around, smiling... But when I got to the building, there were lines wrapped around the building. I’ve never seen anything like that for me, ever."
“One guy was like, ‘ah, there he is!’ I was like, I need to rush in. Everybody created a tunnel, which is really cool, and then I just ran through there. And the loudest screams I’ve ever heard in my life! It was a really crazy moment for me because I don’t experience that pretty much ever until this weekend," he added.
Meanwhile, the 25-year-old focuses on his 2025 IndyCar campaign as he has bagged a solitary podium in the three races held so far, and hopes to get his championship bid back on track.