Sergio “Checo” Pérez’s longevity in Formula 1, now in his 14th season, is something that his colleague and fellow Mexican Pato O’Ward recognizes and values.
“I admire Checo a lot, everything he has been able to achieve,” says Pato O’Ward, the Mexican driver of the IndyCar series in an interview with La Opinión.
“Checo is against the best drivers that Formula 1 has seen in history. I understand that the position he is in is not the easiest, but I am happy for him that he has a car that can win races, that can be on the podium consecutively,” adds O’Ward about Pérez at the start of the 2024 season. of F1.
While Checo Pérez was world runner-up last year and is second in the current season behind his teammate Max Verstappen, Pato O’Ward was fourth in IndyCar last season and heading into the Long Beach Grand Prix this Sundaythe third date of the series, takes second place aboard his Arrow McLaren.
O’Ward is also McLaren’s reserve driver in Formula 1 and in the interview with La Opinión he explained how close he is to being able to join the top category. For now, he focuses on his goals in IndyCar and observes what his McLaren colleagues, other drivers and obviously Checo Pérez do in F1.
“He has a car with what and really right now it is in his hands to take advantage of this great opportunity he has,” says O’Ward, 24, about Pérez, 34.
O’Ward doesn’t feel Checo’s popularity has benefited him
O’Ward, originally from Monterrey, does not think that Checo Pérez’s success has really influenced his career and has rather felt a boost due to the growth of motor sports. and the increase in motorsport fans.
“I really don’t think it’s because of Checo, I say it was because of a euphoria that previously existed because of Adrián Fernández, because of Mario Domínguez, because of the Cart series, which is now IndyCar… it’s reviving that a little,” says O’Ward. .
The Arrow McLaren driver also thinks that Verstappen has no rival.
“In Formula 1, whoever you put next to Verstappen, they are not going to beat him in a championship, they don’t beat him. “They may beat him if Max has a lot of flaws, but if they don’t have flaws they won’t beat him.”
The Long Beach Grand Prix is on Pato O’Ward’s list
As for Sunday’s race in Long Beach, Pato O’Ward says he really wants to win it.
“Happy that we are going to return to a track we know… And to a huge market, a lot of Mexicans who come to support,” says O’Ward about competing in the most important car race in Southern California. “After the Indy 500, this is the next race. It is one that is on my list to win, that I would love to win.”
But O’Ward has respect for the Long Beach street circuit: “It’s a track that doesn’t forgive mistakes; “You make a mistake and there is a concrete wall waiting for you.”
When La Opinión asked O’Ward about the physical strain on a pilot, the man from Monterrey revealed that Racing in IndyCar is much more demanding than in other series such as F1 itself, where the power steering is similar to the handling of normal street cars. In IndyCar that doesn’t exist.
“Then all the forces go straight to the pilot’s arms and it’s like you have a 35-pound dumbbell. Imagine just being like this for two and a half hours,” says O’Ward. “It’s hard on your wrists, very hard on your fingers, on your arms. You finish and it burns, it burns, because it is very hard. And also the neck.”
In the following video you can see the strength involved in driving an IndyCar car that O’Ward refers to.
But it’s not a complaint. Pato O’Ward loves his work and says he wants to continue doing it for the rest of his life.
“This hunger to win is because I love cars: I sleep about it, I dream about it, I breathe it. It is my life and I wouldn’t change it for anything,” she says.
Finally, Pato O’Ward emphasizes the pride he feels for Mexico.
“Honored to be able to carry the flag of my country. I have it anchored in my back,” she says. “I have always said that I am a race, I am part of the race and I like to win… We are in this to win. “We are not here to be third, fourth, fifth or sixth.”
The Mexican community in Southern California would celebrate big if that victory comes this Sunday.
Keep reading:
– Pato O’Ward surpasses Checo Pérez in a Formula 1 test in the offseason
– The historic day when Checo Pérez won in Monaco and Pato O’Ward almost won in the Indy 500
– Red Bull confirms that there are talks for the possible incorporation of the Spanish Carlos Sainz