“I’m locked in with McLaren”: Pato O’Ward plans to stay with his IndyCar team instead of chasing Formula 1 dreams


“I’m locked in with McLaren”: Pato O’Ward plans to stay with his IndyCar team instead of chasing Formula 1 dreams

Pato O'Ward

With the Mexican Grand Prix having been held only a week ago at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, a big part of the spotlight fell upon F1 hopeful Pato O’Ward. Rumors have it that the IndyCar racer, who has stayed under McLaren‘s wing since 2020, might be considered for a seat in the Papaya team’s Formula One section in future, but those notions do not seem to be true as of now.

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For the next season, McLaren have already recruited F2 Champion Oscar Piastri for pairing up with Lando Norris, who is supposed to stay with the British team till 2025. Thus, chances of Pato O’Ward making the move to F1 holding hands with Zak Brown’s team does not seem like a possibility as of this moment, and thus, the Mexican racer has decided to refrain from severing ties with his current IndyCar team because of some promises that he might make it to the highest league of motorsports.

Although O’Ward has not received the invitation into an F1 race circuit as a full time driver, he has already gotten his hands on the F1 cars on a few occasions. In fact, he is all set to go for a free practice run for McLaren at the Abu Dhabi GP at the tail end of this current season.

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“It really feels like home”: Pato O’Ward believes sticking with his team is the best step for his career

Pato O'Ward
Pato O’Ward

Motorsports is a dynamic business, and drivers change teams almost every other season in order to go for better salaries and winning chances. But for Patricio O’Ward, staying in the team that he loves, with the people who make it feel like home, is more important than chasing some F1 dreams that do not have any basis yet. He said, “I’m locked in with McLaren until 2025.

In a conversation with PlanetF1, he also said, “I love the people that I get to work with. I admire many people within the organisation in terms of the engineering and bosses and mechanics. It really feels like home. So right now I’m focused on getting my IndyCar goals accomplished. Then we’ll see what lays out from there.

In other news, McLaren is going to big adieu to eight-time Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo as they want to recruit Oscar Piastri in his place. But only time will tell how the newbie would fair in the Woking-based team, and if Piastri will be able to fill in the shoes of someone as experienced as his Aussie predecessor.

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