The Mexican pilot Pato O’Ward will try to stand out this weekend in one of the most important and traditional races of the IndyCar series and in general in the country, the Long Beach Grand Prix.
Winning in Long Beach, as well as in the Indy 500 – where O’Ward was second a couple of years ago – are goals for the 24-year-old man from Monterrey, who also aspires to fight for the IndyCar championship with the Arrow McLaren team. He finished in 4th. place last year the same as in 2020 and was 3rd. in 2021.
But in a recent talk with La Opinión, Pato O’Ward revealed his dream of jumping into the highest category of motorsports: Formula 1.. He feels ready and says he just needs one more vote of confidence. O’Ward, in fact, is the team’s reserve driver McLaren.
“Formula 1 continues to flirt with me… What makes me most anxious is that it keeps flirting with me, it keeps pulling me, pulling me,” said O’Ward. “But I am also against time, I am already 24 years old. I think I have two, maximum three years for that door to open… If no one opens that door for you, you will never have that opportunity. “Someone has to believe in you.”
Pato O’Ward was already about to debut in F1 with Red Bull
Pato O’Ward was already very close to racing in F1. It was in 2019 with Red Bull, the team in which his compatriot Sergio “Checo” Pérez, the world runner-up, now shines. Unfortunately, The International Automobile Federation (FIA) did not grant O’Ward the so-called “Super License”, which is a requirement to race in F1.by not validating the 2018 Indy Lights series championship, as O’Ward himself explained.
“I have already done everything I need to be able to enter Formula 1. I have my Super License. All the tests and tests that I have had with the Formula 1 car, well they have not let me off the car because I have done a good job,” commented O’Ward, who for now intends to fulfill his dreams in IndyCar and be ready if the opportunity of the F1 arrives.
Very sure of himself, Pato O’Ward believes that if the call from F1 comes to him, he will not waste it.
“I have always said it: I know that I am more than capable of being in Formula 1. I have raced with many of those on the grid, I know what it’s like to race against them and I have no doubt that as soon as they give me that opportunity they won’t let me out of that car,” explained O’Ward. “The problem is when they are going to give it to you.”
A win in Long Beach would give Pato O’Ward a big boost
O’Ward will look for his first Long Beach win in this Sunday’s race (12 p.m. Pacific). On the first date of the season he was second in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Long Beach is a highly prestigious Grand Prix, founded in 1974. It is the largest motorsports race in California. and it is considered the most important in the country in terms of street circuits.
Those who watch Pato O’Ward race aboard his Arrow McLaren with the No. 5 on the always attractive circuit of the port city of Southern California could be watching the next Mexican to reach F1. The Long Beach circuit, by the way, is not easy at all.
“I feel very lucky to be in the position I’m in because I have opportunities to win the Indy 500, win the IndyCar championship,” O’Ward admitted.. “Many other drivers don’t have that opportunity to have that challenge in two different categories. So, take advantage of the opportunity and develop more as a driver to become better.”
Keep reading:
– Mexican Pato O’Ward started the 2024 IndyCar season with a podium in St. Petersburg, Florida
– The day Checo Pérez and Pato O’Ward made history for Mexican sports in different races
– Helmut Marko believes that Checo Pérez’s future with Red Bull will be defined in the middle of the season