Pato O'Ward

Patricio "Pato" O'Ward Junco (born 6 May 1999) is a Mexican auto racing driver who competes full-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren. He was signed to the McLaren Driver Development Programme and was a reserve driver for their Formula One team. He is the 2018 Indy Lights champion and is a two time runner-up at the Indianapolis 500.

Early life and career O'Ward was born in Monterrey, Mexico to Patricio O'Ward and Elba Junco. He attended high school in San Antonio, Texas, US. He explained on an episode of The Marshall Pruett Podcast that his surname comes from his Irish great-grandfather, adding that he considers himself "full-blown Mexican".

O'Ward began his racing career in karting at the end of 2005 and remained in karting until 2012. During 2013, he competed in open-wheel racing, in Latam Fórmula 2000, Formula Renault 1.6 NEC and Pacific F2000. In 2014, O'Ward competed in French F4 Championship.

In 2015, O'Ward debuted in the Pro Mazda Championship with Team Pelfrey, finishing sixth in the championship. In 2016, he returned to compete with Team Pelfrey in the Pro Mazda Championship, finishing the season as championship runner-up.

Indy Lights In 2018, O'Ward signed with Andretti Autosport to compete in the Indy Lights championship. He won nine of the seventeen races, was named Rookie of the Year and won the drivers championship at the penultimate race of the season in Portland, beating runner-up Colton Herta.

IndyCar IndyCar debut with Harding Racing (2018)

Two weeks after clinching the 2018 Indy Lights championship title, O'Ward made his IndyCar Series debut at Sonoma Raceway in a second Harding Racing entry, where he qualified fifth and finished ninth. This tied him with David Martínez for the best finish on debut by a Mexican driver in American open-wheel racing.

Part-time drive with Carlin (2019)

In 2019, O'Ward was scheduled to move up to the IndyCar Series full-time, piloting the No. 8 entry for Harding Steinbrenner Racing. However, sponsorship issues led to O'Ward being granted his release from the team on 11 February 2019.

On 7 March, O'Ward joined Carlin on a part-time deal that saw him drive in thirteen races in the 2019 season. O'Ward drove Carlin's second entry for twelve races and drove Carlin's third entry for the Indianapolis 500. O'Ward failed to qualify for the Indy 500 along with Carlin teammate Max Chilton and the Carlin-prepared car of McLaren Racing's Fernando Alonso. His Red Bull deal, which was signed in May, also saw him only compete in eight of the thirteen events he originally signed for. He placed 26th in the final points standings, with the best race finish of eighth, achieved at the Circuit of the Americas.

On 30 October, it was announced that O'Ward had returned to IndyCar by signing a deal with Arrow McLaren SP for the 2020 season.

Arrow McLaren (2020–present)

2020 In his first season for Arrow McLaren SP (AMSP), O'Ward was partnered by Oliver Askew for most races, with Hélio Castroneves replacing Askew at the Harvest GP and with Fernando Alonso in a third entry at the Indianapolis 500. O'Ward had a strong start to 2020, clinching pole position and achieving his first podium finish at the second round of the Road America double-header, finishing second. At Iowa, he finished fourth in the first race. He was fourth in the overall points standings heading into the Indianapolis 500, which was held in August due to the COVID-19 pandemic. O'Ward would go on to finish sixth in his first Indianapolis 500 start and won the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award for his performance. He subsequently scored consecutive podium finishes in the double-header at World Wide Technology Raceway.

O'Ward was placing as high as third in the driver standings before finishing eleventh and ninth at the double-header at Mid-Ohio and a disappointing 22nd place at the first race of the Harvest GP double-header at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which dropped him to fifth in the overall standings. After signing a new deal with AMSP, he finished second in the season finale at St. Petersburg, securing fourth in the final championship standings.

2021

O'Ward's second season with Arrow McLaren SP saw him partner Felix Rosenqvist, previously of Chip Ganassi Racing. O'Ward emerged as a title contender in 2021. He started the season off by earning his second career pole position at the season opener at Barber but was unable to convert that pole position into a win. O'Ward took his first podium of the season with a third-place finish in the first race at the Texas Motor Speedway and took his maiden IndyCar victory in the second race the following day. He became the first Mexican driver to win an IndyCar race since Adrian Fernandez in 2004 at Fontana and the first Chevrolet driver not from Team Penske to win a race since 2016.

After taking his first win, O'Ward never dropped lower than third in the championship standings, consistently fending off series champions Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon while challenging Álex Palou for much of the season. He started on the pole and finished third at the first race at the Detroit double-header and scored his second win of the season at the second race, his first win on a street course. He achieved his third pole position of the season at the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix, where he eventually finished fifth in the race. He achieved another podium with a second-place finish at Gateway, taking the championship lead for the first time in the season. However, a 14th-place finish at Portland by O'Ward saw race-winner Palou retake the lead. At the penultimate race of the season, he clinched a fifth-place finish, remaining second in the points standings heading into the season finale.

At the season finale at Long Beach, O'Ward was one of three drivers who were mathematically in contention for the series title, alongside Palou and Newgarden. To win the title, barring Palou retiring from the race, O'Ward would have to earn the bonus point from qualifying for the pole position, win the race, and hope Palou finished no better than thirteenth to not have a tiebreaker scenario come into play. After a controversial qualifying session where he failed to advance to the Firestone Fast Six and qualified eighth, O'Ward was taken out by Ed Jones early in the race and ultimately retired from the race due to a broken driveshaft, effectively ending his championship hopes. He ultimately finished third in the championship behind Palou and Newgarden. O'Ward secured his first IndyCar track discipline championship when he won the A.J. Foyt Cup as the highest-scoring driver in the series on oval courses in 2021.

2022

O'Ward would return to Arrow McLaren SP in a contract year. He started the season slowly before capturing his first win of the season and first on a permanent road course at the fourth round at Barber. On 27 May 2022, O'Ward announced he had signed a three-year contract extension with Arrow McLaren SP. O'Ward followed up his new contract with a second-place finish in the 106th Indianapolis 500, briefly nosing ahead of Marcus Ericsson for the lead on the final lap but was unable to complete the pass. After a difficult four race stint that saw him retire with mechanical issues in back to back races O'Ward picked up a second win on the season and first on a short oval at the second round at Iowa. He ultimately finished seventh in the championship standings.

2023 O'Ward had a strong start to 2023, with three second-place finishes in the first five races. His performance in the third round at Long Beach, however, was subject to criticism after he attempted an overtake on Scott Dixon that caused Dixon to crash out of the race. O'Ward started fifth at the 2023 Indianapolis 500, his best starting position in the race to date, but crashed out of the race fighting for the second place with Marcus Ericsson. He ultimately finished fourth in the championship, picking up no wins but having the most podium finishes and top five finishes of his career.

2024

O'Ward started his 2024 campaign with a second place in St. Petersburg. Over a month later, O'Ward was awarded the win at St. Petersburg after race winner Josef Newgarden was found to have violated push to pass regulations and was subsequently stripped of the victory. O'Ward led eleven laps and finished second in the 2024 Indianapolis 500, following a last-lap pass from winner Josef Newgarden. After picking up a series of top-ten finishes after the Indianapolis 500, O'Ward scored his second win of the year at Mid-Ohio by holding off polesitter Alex Palou in the final laps of the Honda Indy 200. With his win O'Ward became the first driver to win a race in IndyCar's hybrid powertrain era. O'Ward picked up a third win at the first race at IndyCar's return to the Milwaukee Mile, securing his first season of more than two wins on the year.

2025 O'Ward started the 2025 season with an eleventh place in St. Petersburg. He finished third in the 2025 Indianapolis 500, behind Álex Palou and David Malukas. He would earn his eighth-career victory in his one-hundredth-race in the series at Iowa 1. He would also win at Toronto.

2026 After the 2026 Indianapolis 500, O'Ward sat fifth in the standings with top-five finishes at 2026 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, 2026 Good Ranchers 250, 2026 Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, 2026 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach and the 2026 Indianapolis 500. He won his first race of the year at Mid-Ohio. He also swept the race weekend at the Milwaukee Mile.

Formula One

Stint with Red Bull Junior Team

In May 2019, O'Ward was signed to the Red Bull Junior Team and the following month, was placed on a one-event deal to compete at the Red Bull Ring in Formula 2, substituting for the banned Mahaveer Raghunathan, and was announced as Dan Ticktum's replacement in the Super Formula Championship.

Due to a decision by the FIA to award fewer Super License points for his Indy Lights championship win, O'Ward was unable to attain the required points to be able to race Formula One in 2020 and would not be retained by Red Bull past 2019. With an IndyCar series ride with McLaren available, Red Bull driver development program head Helmut Marko granted O'Ward an early release from his contract after three Super Formula rounds.

McLaren Before the 2021 IndyCar Series season, McLaren CEO Zak Brown promised O'Ward a test of the McLaren MCL35M if he could win at least one IndyCar race. O'Ward held up his end of the deal with McLaren after winning the XPEL 375 and Brown subsequently confirmed O'Ward would get the promised F1 test. O'Ward got his first opportunity to drive a Formula One Car on 14 November 2021, when he demonstrated a McLaren MP4/13 at Laguna Seca. Two time Formula One World Champion Mika Häkkinen, who drove the MP4/13 to his first Driver's Championship, was on hand to help familiarize O'Ward with the car. During the run, O'Ward beat his fastest lap time around Laguna Seca in the Dallara DW12 with the UAK18 aero kit by over a second with the MP4/13.

On 14 December 2021, O'Ward tested the MCL35M at the end of the season in Abu Dhabi, where he finished fourth-fastest after completing 92 laps. Despite speculation that the test could lead to O'Ward moving up to Formula 1 upon a strong performance, Brown dismissed those rumors by confirming O'Ward would be back with McLaren in IndyCar for the 2022 season, following McLaren's purchase of 75% ownership stake in Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Brown later stated that the Abu Dhabi test could lead to O'Ward getting additional Formula One tests and even race weekend practice time, if O'Ward adapts to the car and the tires well, but added that O'Ward would have to win the IndyCar Series championship for McLaren to consider moving him from IndyCar to Formula One. In July 2022, O'Ward was confirmed for additional Formula One tests with McLaren along with late season race weekend practice time being a possibility.

In September 2022, it was announced that O'Ward would carry out another test with McLaren at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya together with Álex Palou. He participated in another test at the Red Bull Ring in October, together with Álex Palou once again. O'Ward made his free practice debut with McLaren at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

In April 2023, McLaren formed a new Driver Development Programme with O'Ward signed to it. In September, McLaren announced that O'Ward would participate in the free practice session. In November, McLaren confirmed O'Ward as one of their reserve drivers for the 2024 season.

O'Ward made his first free practice appearance of the 2024 season during the Mexico City Grand Prix, and finished the session in thirteenth. This marked the first time that O'Ward competed in a Formula One session within his home country.

O'Ward made his free practice return during the season, at his home once again for McLaren. He repeated this feat at the , and followed it up by partaking in the young drivers' test at the Yas Marina Circuit a few days after.

O'Ward continued as the reserve driver for McLaren during the season.

Sports car racing In 2017, O'Ward competed in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with Performance Tech Motorsports in the Prototype Challenge (PC) class. O'Ward and his co-drivers won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring in the PC class, making him the youngest driver ever to win both races, at seventeen years old. He went on to win the 2017 Prototype Challenge drivers championship, alongside James French, and the North American Endurance Cup, alongside French and Kyle Masson.

In 2022, O'Ward participated again in the 24 Hours of Daytona in the LMP2 entry with DragonSpeed, partnered by Colton Herta, Devlin DeFrancesco, and Eric Lux. The team won after an overtake by Herta for first place in the final 11 minutes of the race.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2013 Pacific Formula F2000 Dave Freitas Racing 5 4 2 5 5 165 5th Formula Renault 1.6 NEC Provily Racing 6 0 0 0 0 117 7th Latam Fórmula 2000 Paradise Racing 6 0 0 0 0 44 12th 2014 French F4 Championship Auto Sport Academy 15 1 0 0 2 143 7th 2015 Pro Mazda Championship Team Pelfrey 16 0 0 1 3 250 6th 2015–16 NACAM Formula 4 Championship Martiga EG 12 6 2 5 11 247 3rd 2016 Pro Mazda Championship Team Pelfrey 16 7 5 8 9 393 2nd Mazda Prototype Lites Performance Tech Motorsports 2 0 0 0 1 32 16th 2017 Indy Lights Team Pelfrey 4 0 0 0 1 58 15th IMSA SportsCar Championship – PC Performance Tech Motorsports 8 7 0 8 8 283 1st North American Endurance Cup – PC 4 3 0 4 4 56 1st 2018 Indy Lights Andretti Autosport 17 9 9 4 13 491 1st IMSA SportsCar Championship – Prototype Performance Tech Motorsports 2 0 0 0 0 41 41st IndyCar Series Harding Racing 1 0 0 0 0 44 31st IMSA Prototype Challenge – LMP3 Charles Wicht Racing 1 1 0 0 1 35 30th 2019 IndyCar Series Carlin 7 0 0 1 0 115 26th Super Formula Team Mugen 3 0 0 0 0 3 18th FIA Formula 2 Championship MP Motorsport 2 0 0 0 0 0 26th 2020 IndyCar Series Arrow McLaren SP 14 0 1 1 4 416 4th 2021 IndyCar Series Arrow McLaren SP 16 2 3 2 5 487 3rd 2022 IndyCar Series Arrow McLaren SP 17 2 1 2 4 480 7th IMSA SportsCar Championship – LMP2 DragonSpeed USA 1 1 0 0 1 0 NC† Formula One McLaren F1 Team Test driver 2023 IndyCar Series Arrow McLaren 17 0 0 1 7 484 4th Formula One McLaren F1 Team Test driver 2024 IndyCar Series Arrow McLaren 17 3 0 1 6 460 5th IMSA SportsCar Championship – LMP2 United Autosports USA 1 0 1 0 0 285 42nd Formula One McLaren F1 Team Test driver2025 IndyCar Series Arrow McLaren 17 2 2 1 6 515 2nd Formula One McLaren F1 Team Reserve driver 2026 IndyCar Series Arrow McLaren 17 3 0 1 3 503* 4th* † Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.

Season still in progress.

Complete French F4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete NACAM Formula 4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

American open-wheel racing results

Pro Mazda Championship Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points 2015 Team Pelfrey STP4 STP14 LOU4 LOUC BAR5 BAR7 IMS6 IMS10 IMS5 LOR7 TOR2 TOR3 IOW3 MOH7 MOH6 LAG18 LAG6 6th 250 2016 Team Pelfrey STP1 STP2 BAR1 BAR1 IMS1 IMS1 LOR1 ROA4 ROA4 TOR9 TOR2 MOH7 MOH4 LAG1 LAG10 LAG6 2nd 393

Indy Lights Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points 2017 Team Pelfrey STP5 STP3 ALA8 ALA15 IMS IMS INDY ROA ROA IOW TOR TOR MOH MOH GMP WGL 15th 58 2018 Andretti Autosport STP1 STP7 ALA1 ALA1 IMS4 IMS7 INDY2 RDA2 RDA4 IOW1 TOR1 TOR2 MOH1 MOH1 GTW3 POR1 POR1 1st 491

IndyCar Series (key) Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Rank Points Ref 2018 Harding Racing 8 Dallara DW12 Chevrolet STP PHX LBH ALA IMS INDY DET DET TXS ROA IOW TOR MOH POC GTW POR SNM 31st 44 2019 Carlin 31 STP COA ALA LBH IMS INDY DET DET TXS ROA TOR IOW MOH POC GTW POR LAG 26th 115 2020 Arrow McLaren SP 5 TXS IMS ROA ROA IOW IOW INDY GTW GTW MOH MOH IMS IMS STP 4th 416 2021 ALA STP TXS TXS IMS INDY DET DET ROA MOH NSH IMS GTW POR LAG LBH 3rd 487 2022 STP TXS LBH ALA IMS INDY DET ROA MOH TOR IOW IOW IMS NSH GTW POR LAG 7th 480 2023 Arrow McLaren STP TXS LBH ALA IMS INDY DET ROA MOH TOR IOW IOW NSH IMS GTW POR LAG 4th 484 2024 STP THE LBH ALA IMS INDY DET ROA LAG MOH IOW IOW TOR GTW POR MIL MIL NSH 5th 460 2025 STP THE LBH ALA IMS INDY DET GTW ROA MOH IOW IOW TOR LAG POR MIL NSH 2nd 515 2026 STP PHX ARL ALA LBH IMS INDY DET GTW ROA MOH NSH POR MRK WSH MIL MIL LAG 4th* 503* Season still in progress.

Indianapolis 500 Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team 2019 Dallara Chevrolet DNQ Carlin 202015 6 Arrow McLaren SP 2021 12 4 2022 7 2 2023 824 Arrow McLaren 2024 8 2 2025 3 3 2026 6 4

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Rank Points 2017 Performance Tech Motorsports PC Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 DAY1 SEB1 COA1 DET1 WAT1 MOS1 ELK1 PET3 1st 283 2018 Performance Tech Motorsports P Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY8 SEB13 LBH MOH DET WGL MOS ELK LGA PET 41st 41 2022 DragonSpeed USA LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY SEB LGA MOH WGL ELK PET NC† 0† 2024 United Autosports USA LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY SEB WGL MOS ELK IMS PET 42nd 285 † Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.

Complete FIA Formula 2 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points MP Motorsport BHRFEA BHRSPR BAKFEA BAKSPR CATFEA CATSPR MONFEA MONSPR LECFEA LECSPR RBRFEA RBRSPR SILFEA SILSPR HUNFEA HUNSPR SPAFEA SPASPR MNZFEA MNZSPR SOCFEA SOCSPR YMCFEA YMCSPR 26th 0

Complete Super Formula results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 DC Points 2019 Team Mugen Honda SUZ AUT SUG FUJ MOT OKA SUZ 18th 3

Complete Formula One participations (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)