McLaren F1 reserve Pato O'Ward will enjoy an outing with team papaya at next month’s Mexican Grand Prix where the IndyCar charger will take part in Friday’s opening practice.
O’Ward – a three-time winner with Arrow McLaren in the NTT IndyCar Series – took to social media on Wednesday to confirm his participation in FP1 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City.
It won’t be the 25-year-old’s first free practice in F1 with McLaren, having enjoyed two previous outings with the team in Abu Dhabi in 2022 and in 2023.
O’Ward has also taken part in several private F1 test sessions with McLaren.
“I cannot wait, this really is a dream come true for me, to be able to jump into an F1 car in-front of my home crowd,” commented O’Ward.
“I can’t thank Andrea [Stella, Team Principal], Zak [Brown, CEO], the whole team enough for this amazing opportunity.”
O’Ward’s stint in the car comes at a pivotal moment for McLaren, as the team has been enjoying strong performance this season, a fact acknowledged by the Woking-based outfit’s reserve driver.
“The car’s been a rocket this year so trying to do my part and help them as much as I can for the rest of the year,” he said.
Following his participation next weekend in IndyCar’s championship finale – the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville – O’Ward will fly to Europe to "start all of [his] Formula 1 duties" in preparation for his appearance at the Mexican Grand Prix.
O’Ward, who joined Arrow McLaren in 2020, is currently sixth in IndyCar’s standings, having conquered his third win in the series just last month in Milwaukee.
Did someone say homecoming?
A dream come true for @PatricioOWard who will drive the MCL38 in front of his home crowd during FP1 at the Mexico City GP! @ArrowMcLaren pic.twitter.com/VDYvGP0Fd6
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) September 11, 2024
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