IndyCar’s Pato O’Ward Tests McLaren Formula One Car During Friday’s Free Practice At Bahrain GP

Arrow McLaren SP NTT IndyCar Series driver Pato O’Ward of Monterey, Mexico got his chance to drive the current Formula One McLaren during Friday’s free practice at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. That is the site of the Formula One World Championship season finale, the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

O’Ward ran 22 laps around the road course with a best time of 1 minute, 28.350 seconds (+1.717s), which was 18^th fastest of any driver in the practice session.

“It was a really enjoyable experience today,” O’Ward said. “We got a few curveballs thrown at us, which made things a little bit more challenging and obviously a lot of information that isn’t part of driving the car that I had to digest – but all-in-all I felt it was a successful first FP1.

“I got a lot of tests done for the team and hope those will be a good help for them for this weekend. For me, every lap I get in the car I think I make progress. so hopefully I get another shot next year and just keep improving.”

O’Ward finished seventh in the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series Championship. The driver from Monterrey, Mexico has strong ambitions to one day compete in Formula One.

By comparison, McLaren’s two Formula One drivers fared better in FP1 including Daniel Ricciardo, 21 laps, eighth fastest with a best time of 1 minute, 27.619s (+0.986s) and ninth fastest in FP2 with 12 laps including a best time of 1 minute, 26.124 seconds (+0.978s) in the No. 3.

Lando Norris ran 28 laps in FP2 and was 11^th fastest at 1 minute, 26.377 seconds (+1.231s).

O’Ward drove Norris’ No. 4 McLaren, so Norris did not participate in FP1.

“Having swapped out for Pato in FP1 I was playing a bit of catch-up and I’m still a little bit behind, but I think we made a decent start to the weekend,” Norris said. “We’ll make some tweaks overnight and try to take a step forward tomorrow.”

Andrea Stella, Executive Director, Racing at McLaren, assessed O’Ward’s effort in the latest Formula One creation at McLaren.

“We also had Pato at the wheel for his first FP1 session and first run in the MCL36. He showed excellent control and gave us exactly what we asked for, so well done Pato,” Stella said. “Our job now is to use the data we’ve gathered today and prepare as well as possible for tomorrow’s qualifying session and Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. We want to finish the 2022 season on a high.”

O’Ward finished second in the 106^th Indianapolis 500 in a thrilling battle with eventual winner Marcus Ericsson at the end of the race. O’Ward finished third in the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series Championship. He won the 2018 Indy Lights Series title.